I'm a little in love with my first vase this week. I finally broke down and cut a stem of the green
Eustoma grandiflorum (Lisianthus) growing in the backyard. Of the 6 plugs of the green variety I obtained by mail order this spring only one plant has produced green flowers thus far. The blooms fade as they age, looking more pale yellow than mint green in the strong outdoor sunlight.
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| The Lisianthus flower buds look greener than the fully opened blooms |
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| The back view flaunts the foliage elements |
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| Top view |
I considered a number of possible companions for the pale blooms of the green Lisianthus but, to avoid eclipsing their delicate color, I stuck mainly to plants with equally soft colors.
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| Clockwise from the upper left, the vase contains: unnamed green Eustoma grandiflorum, Achillea 'Moondust', Bouteloua gracilis 'Blonde Ambition (shown with Leucadendron salignum 'Chief), Coprosma 'Evening Glow', Phylica pubescens (aka Featherhead), and Xylosma congestum. The vase itself is a decorative teapot that once belonged to my mother-in-law. |
Thrilled as I am with the green Lisianthus, the fuzzy Featherhead and the
'Blonde Ambition' ornamental grass may steal the show. I've coveted the latter since I saw it at Tongva Park in Santa Monica back in 2013. (
Click here if you'd like to view my post on Tongva Park, which was designed by James Corner, the landscape architect responsible for the High Line in New York City.) For unknown reasons, the plants haven't been available locally but I recently obtained 5 from a mail order nursery. (Once again I broke my own rule against planting during the summer months - but the plants were on sale and they're drought tolerant!).
I still have some pink
Eustoma grandiflorum so of course I again have a second vase containing that flower. The blooms are gradually fading and they don't last as long in the vase as they did when the stems were fresher but even I'm surprised at the value I've gotten from these plants. The double pink-flowered Lisianthus may well be the
Energizer Bunny of summer blooms. Maybe it's no coincidence they're both pink.
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| Front view |
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| A very similar back view, highlighting the fuzzy beauty of the ornamental grass's purple tassels |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the left, the vase contains: Eustoma grandiflorum ('Echo Pink' cultivar I think), Coprosma 'Plum Hussey', burgundy Pelargonium peltatum, dark pink Pelargonium, Pennisetum 'Fireworks', and dry seedpods of Phlomis fruticosa |
Last week's vases met a premature end. No, Pipig played no role in their demise (this time). Our air conditioning system conked out. The earliest date we could get a repairman in was Wednesday of this week so, despite slightly cooler temperatures, we steam-cooked inside over the next few days as the humidity rose. (Southern California's heat has traditionally been called a "dry heat" but it's seemed a lot less dry this year.) While we waited out the arrival of the repairman, my husband rush-ordered an inexpensive replacement part on the chance that it'd do the trick. The great news is that it did so the AC is back on and we hope to string our system out through the remainder of the summer, planning to replace it in the fall when the prices of AC units should fall to more palatable levels. Hopefully, with cooler indoor temperatures, this week's vases will last a bit longer than the last ones.
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| The first arrangement sits on the dining room table |
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| The second arrangement sits in the front entry |
Visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden, our "IaVoM" host, 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
