I was on my way home from the Washington DC area last Monday after attending the
2017 Garden Bloggers' Fling and, arriving home in the late afternoon at the height of a heatwave, I missed out on "In a Vase on Monday" for what I think was the first time since I began participating. As much as I missed joining in on the meme, I also lamented the absence of flowers in the house as I've grown used to having them there to greet me every time I walk in the door. I thought of cutting some flowers "off schedule" but it was a busy week and I never quite got round to it. The garden was screaming for attention too but I've barely made a dent in that either.
The biggest issue in the garden at the moment is the blanket of pink fuzz from the mimosa tree (
Albizia julibrissin) which covers a large area of the back garden. This tree, inherited with the garden, is a major mess-maker, especially in the summer when it's in full bloom as it is now.
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| The tree sits just beyond the edge of the back patio, stretching its branches in all directions. It flowered lightly during the height of our drought but it's over-achieving this year and the floral free-fall is continuous. |
I'll save the specifics of my complaints about the mimosa for another post at another time. On Sunday, I decided to try making lemonade out of lemons and cut a few small branches from the
Albizia to use in an arrangement, along with a host of other pink blooms that recently made an appearance.
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| This mason jar contains the pink ensemble I collected on my pass through the garden. The fuzzy pink blooms on the right are those cut from the mimosa tree. |
I soon became frustrated with the
Albizia flowers, as they dropped all over my kitchen and stuck to my clothing. In the end, I omitted them from my arrangement. I had plenty of better-behaved plant material to use.
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| This is the completed arrangement, sans the annoying Albizia blossoms |
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| Back view |
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| Top view, showing off the free noID lily I planted 5 years ago. It's not flashy and it has no scent but it's returned every year while other lilies disappear after one or two years in the ground here. |
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| Clockwise from the left, the vase contains: Eustoma grandiflorum (from one of my original plants, hanging on for yet another year), Abelia x grandiflora 'Edward Goucher', Artemisia ludoviciana, Coprosma repens 'Plum Hussey with Origanum 'Monterey Bay', and the noID lily |
I cleaned up a couple of small stems of the
Albizia and plopped them in a tiny vase on the kitchen counter. I vowed that as soon as the flowers started to drop, I'll toss the lot.
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| They were jettisoned by dinner time |
There were plenty of other flowers begging to be cut. I forced myself to stop after creating two more vases. Here's the first:
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| A simple arrangement consisting of shades of yellow, silver and white with another returning Lisianthus front and center |
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| And Shasta daisies adding interest in the rear |
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| Top view, highlighting the silvery cones of Leucadendron 'Pisa' |
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| Clockwise from the left, the vase contains: pale yellow Eustoma grandiflorum, Abelia 'Hopley's Variegated', Leucadendron 'Pisa', Leucanthemum x superbum, and Tanacetum niveum |
And here's the last vase:
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| This one features a deep blue Lisianthus as well as a white variety showing just the faintest touch of lavender |
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| Back view, featuring Cupid's Dart |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the left: blue Eustoma grandiflorum, a white form, Catananche caerulea, Duranta 'Sapphire Showers', and Vitex trifolia |
Hopefully, I'll have more Lisianthus to share in future weeks. I planted plugs of a variety said to produce flowers that are nearly black, as well as a white variety edged in blue. Neither has bloomed yet.
For more IaVoM posts,
visit our host, Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2017 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
