The question is: Is the marriage a good one?
Dahlia 'Loverboy' has been blooming his heart out for over a week now, outstripping the other
Dahlias in my cutting garden, so it was a natural choice for inclusion in a vase this week. However, with its vivid red color, I was at a loss as to which plants to partner with it. I have other reds in my garden, mostly in the form of foliage, but those generally have yellow-brown undertones, while this
Dahlia has purplish-blue undertones.
Eustoma grandiflorum (aka Lisianthus) fit the purple-blue spec but I'm not sure the marriage is entirely happy. You can judge for yourself.
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| If I had a plentiful supply of props like our host, Cathy at Rambling in the Garden, I'd have paired this vase with a wedding cake. I guess I could have scrounged up a couple of rings but that was an afterthought. |
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| This photo shows that Eustoma grandiflorum deserves the comparison with roses it often receives - could there be anything closer than a blue rose bud than this? I almost prefer this view of the back of the vase to that I selected as the front. A lighter touch with the Dahlia blooms may have been a good move in composing this vase. |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left, the vase contains: Dahlia 'Loverboy', Aloysia citrodora (aka lemon verbena), African Blue Basil, blue Eustoma grandiflorum, Eustoma 'Rosanne Black Pearl' (which is a LOT smaller than it appears in this photo), and a very dark purple-red Pelargonium peltatum. My husband sniffed and asked "what's that smell?" when I was preparing this vase and his tone wasn't positive. I think the combination of the lemon verbena and the basil is lovely but tastes clearly differ. |
The first sunflowers bloomed in my cutting garden late last week so I cut the head off the tallest one while I could still reach it without a ladder.
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| Helianthus annuus 'Lemon Queen' needs little accompaniment but of course that didn't stop me from cutting all kinds of accent plants |
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| Back view |
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| top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left, the vase contains: Helianthus annuus 'Lemon Queen', Coreopsis 'Redshift', Jacobaea maritima, Leucadendron salignum 'Chief', Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum', Phlomis fruitcosa (flower), Phlomis seedpod, and Tanacetum vulgare |
Two very different vases!
Visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden to find more.
All material © 2012-2017 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
