Thankfully, the weather did turn cooler last week so the foxgloves got a stay of execution; however, the winds have been persistent so, when it came time to select flowers for "In a Vase on Monday," the meme hosted by Cathy of
Rambling in the Garden, I was still focused on using the flowers I thought might soon be gone, including the foxgloves and Renga Lilies. This week I chose to combine the two and used
Centaurea 'Silver Feather' to bring out the pinkish-lavender colors in both.
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| Front view with freshly cut artichokes |
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| Back view |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the left, the vase contains: Centaurea 'Silver Feather'; Achillea 'Moonshine'; last week's mystery plant, tentatively identified by 2 Texas bloggers as Artemisia ludoviciana; Arthropodium cirratum (aka Renga Lily); Digitalis purpurea; Polygala myrtifolia 'Mariposa'; and Tanacetum niveum |
So what's with the reference to artichokes? The buds of
'Silver Feather' made me think of artichokes as they break into flower, which in turn sent me on a foray down the back slope to see if there were more artichokes to cut for dinner. We've already eaten several. I cut two more, immediately dropping them a bucket of soapy water. (Horrid things crawl out of the chokes when they're cut but soapy water puts a quick end to them.)
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| I allowed the largest artichoke on the plant growing along the back slope to flower this year, as shown on the left. The artichoke-like buds of the Centaurea can be seen on the right. |
As today is Memorial Day in the US, a red, white and blue combination was also called for but I didn't have any suitable red flowers on hand so I went with orange, white and blue.
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| Front view: the parade of Agapanthus has begun! |
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| Back view: the Leonotis looks like it's going to put on a good show this year |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the left, the vase contains: noID Agapanthus, Abelia x grandiflora 'Hopley's Variegated', Cuphea 'Vermillionaire', Leonotis leonurus, Leucanthemum x superbum, Salvia clevelandii 'Winnifred Gilman', and Zinnia 'Whirligig' with Ornithogalum dubium |
Best wishes to all enjoying a long holiday weekend in the US, UK and whichever other countries are observing a holiday at the end of May.
Visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden to find more vases cobbled together from floral and foliage materials close at hand.
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| My vases in their places |
All material © 2012-2017 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
