After 2 pleasantly cool, fall-like weeks, summer is mounting a re-run here this week, with temperatures expected to climb back up into the mid-to-upper 80sF as our notorious
Santa Ana winds return. Those winds can shrivel flowers in record time so I felt only a little guilty about cutting the roses and other flowers that have appeared since the temperatures dropped.
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| My 'California Dreamin' rose produced 3 blooms on short stems. This rose has never been robust. |
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| I'm still cutting snippets off the top of my silver Leucadendron as I remain concerned that it's too top-heavy to hold up to strong winds |
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| I finally got a few blooms on the white Japanese anemone I inherited with the garden |
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| Clockwise from the left: Rosa 'California Dreamin', Anemone hupehensis japonica, Leucadendron 'Pisa', and Pentas 'Kaleidoscope Appleblossom' |
A dahlia I'd purchased in a nursery pot from a garden center 6 or more weeks ago bloomed for the first time this past week so I created an arrangement around it too. I'd been under the impression that the bloom would be a lavender/white bi-color but it looks pink with blue undertones to me. I had a hard time finding suitable companions for it so my choices are a bit of a jumble.
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| The dahlia is pretty but, with just a single bloom to date, I'm not sure it was worth the purchase |
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| The rear view isn't especially attractive so it's a good thing I've got it facing a wall |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the top right-hand photo, the vase contains: Dahlia 'Veracruz', Zinnia elegans, Pseuderanthemum 'Texas tri-star', noID violet and white Pentas, Ocimum hybrid 'African Blue', Eustoma grandiflorum, Cosmos bipinnatus, and Abelia x grandiflora 'Hopleys' Variegated' |
I've become very reliant on photo collages for my IaVoM (and many other) posts; however, this week I discovered that PicMonkey, the collage maker I've been using, has decided to charge for use of the tool. I may opt in eventually and pay the membership fee but, for now, I'm trying another tool, Be Funky. I tried one other but found it less than intuitive to use. If you know of a good free collage tool, let me know!
Visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden, our "In a Vase on Monday" host, to find more floral and foliage arrangements created by gardeners from materials close at hand.
All material © 2012-2017 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
