We got rain! It's rained on and off since late Friday night. The latest storm system arrived early this morning (with lots of lightning and thunder!) and the trailing edge is still moving through. Although Northern California and the Pacific Northwest have received significant rain courtesy of
El Niño, Southern California, which forecasters originally predicted would receive the lion's share of
El Niño's bounty, is still running substantially below "normal" rain levels. According to the little weather station attached to our roof, our total rain for the season to date (i.e. since October 1st) is 4.74 inches. It's not much by comparison with many areas but we've had ourselves a good soak, which is much appreciated.
I took advantage of clear skies between storms Sunday afternoon and cut flowers for "In a Vase on Monday," the meme hosted by Cathy of
Rambling in the Garden. I meant to use the pink
Freesia blooming in the back border but those blooms were in bad shape; however, I noticed that the pink
Alstroemeria were starting to bloom and took off from there, selecting other flowers to complement those blooms.
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| Front view |
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| Top view |
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| Back view |
I don't feel any of the flowers I used can claim the starring role in this arrangement. It seems to be an ensemble cast.
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| Clockwise from upper left: noID Alstroemeria; Argyranthemum frutescens; Bulbine frutescens; Freesia in shades of dark pink, gold and yellow; Heuchera sanguinea 'Bressingham Hybrids'; and Pelargonium 'Katie' |
After bemoaning the failure of my anemones to bloom in comments in response to a few IAVOM contributors, I noticed 3 small blue anemones in the backyard border. Unwilling to risk the chance that they'd be pummeled by rain, I cut those too.
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| I used a tiny, 3-inch vase to suit the short stems |
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| I included: Anemone coronaria, lavender and white Freesias, and 2 short stems of my new Osteospermum '4D Silver' (plus leatherleaf fern, Rumohra adiantiformis) |
After 4 years of drought with no end in sight, most everyone here gets a little giddy when it rains. Articles on rain, or the lack of it, appear in the Los Angeles Times every week and reports of rain are frequently the lead story on local TV news reports. My own mood soars whenever rain is forecast (followed by a frenzy of activity in the garden). If I could sing on key, you'd find me singing and dancing in my garden. However, my singing voice leaves a lot to be desired so I'll pass the task to Gene Kelly, who did it best:
More rain is forecast for the end of the week. It's not exactly a
March Miracle but it'll do. Meanwhile, my newest arrangements add color in the face of gray skies.
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| The sunny floral explosion sits in the front entry |
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| My anemones and their companions sit on my desk |
Visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden to see what she and other gardeners are featuring in their vases this week.
All material © 2012-2016 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
