We got more rain! A rainstorm moved in early Saturday and stayed through early morning on Sunday, delivering the best soaking we've had in my location this entire season, two-thirds of an inch of rain. Our seasonal total-to-date is still a pitiful 2.54 inches but both weather services I monitor show the possibility of rain again Tuesday through Friday. It's not exactly the "
March Miracle" we witnessed in 1991 but I'm appreciative that Mother Nature is finally showing us some mercy.
For the first time I can remember, I searched for flowers and foliage for "In a Vase on Monday" in the rain. The flowers and I were both wet when I finished.
![]() |
| The harbor below us was completely invisible throughout the morning hours. The effect is even more eerie at night when the ubiquitous lights of the harbor are extinguished. |
![]() |
| The only sign of civilization visible from the back garden was the indistinct view of a house across the canyon from us |
The Dutch
Iris visible in the first photo provided the starting point for my vase, another spin on the blue and yellow color combinations I used last week.
![]() |
| Both Iris stems showed signs of second blooms emerging below the first blooms. In cutting the stems, I hope I haven't prevented the secondary blooms from making an appearance. |
![]() |
| Back view, showing off a couple of blue Eustoma (Lisianthus) blooms, as well as the first blooms of papery Limonium this season |
![]() |
| Top view |
![]() |
| Clockwise from the upper left, the vase contains: Abelia grandiflora 'Hopley's Variegated', Limonium perezii, Aristea inaequalis, Coleonema album, Euryops chrysanthemoides 'Sonnenschien', Eustoma grandiflora, Freesia, and, in the center, Iris x hollandica |
I'd decided to stop at one vase this week but, when the skies cleared mid-afternoon, I ventured out to see how things looked and, perhaps to no one's surprise but mine, I ended up cutting a few more blooms for a second vase to replace the scrappy remnants of last week's vase in my front entry.
![]() |
| While clouds and moist are still shrouded the shores of Long Beach in the distance, the harbor itself was clear |
![]() |
| When the fog lifted, the harbor even revealed a cruise ship in port |
![]() |
| I cut some of the Freesias that annoyed me by blooming in shades of dark pink rather than the blue tones promised on the packages I purchased last October |
![]() |
| I once again reused the Coprosma stems I cut for a vase 2 weeks ago |
![]() |
| And I tucked in stems of a neighbor's jasmine that hangs down on my side of our common fence |
![]() |
| Clockwise from the upper left, the vase contains: Coprosma repens 'Plum Hussey', Freesia, Jasminium polyanthum, and Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl' |
For more Monday vases,
visit our host, Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2018 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
