I tried some new combinations of flowers for "In a Vase on Monday" this week, with mixed results. I'm relatively pleased with the first one, although I think a vase with a wider mouth might have given the arrangement a looser, more pleasing structure.
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| The starting point for this vase were recent blooms of Arthropodium cirratum (aka Renga Lily). It's one of my favorite flowering plants; however, its plentiful but small blooms often get eclipsed by larger blooms when they're combined in a vase. |
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| Back view: This time, with the exception of 3 Shasta daisies, I combined it with other smallish blooms |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left, the vase contains: Arthropodium cirratum, Centaurea gymnocarpa, Polygala fruticosa 'Petite Butterfly', Leucanthemum x superbum, and Pelargonium cucullatum 'Flore Pleno'(which isn't as fuchsia in color as it appears in the photo here) |
After finding that I'd managed to lose 3 dahlia tubers to rot, I picked up a new plant from my local garden center a few days ago. It already had buds and I cut one open bloom with little thought as to what I had available to combine with it. The dahlia,
'Otto's Thrill', is pink with yellow highlights.
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| This is a mature bloom I cut when I put the plant in the ground last week |
I've noticed that pink flowers can be a surprisingly difficult to mix as some have strong yellow undertones while others are decidedly blue. I sat the flower I'd cut down next to
Lantana 'Irene' which varies in color from yellow to pink to fuchsia and decided on the spot to try them together.
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| Although the 'Irene' is described as a mix of yellow and pink, it reads as more orange than pink here. I considered removing both the Lantana and the yellow Achillea but that made the arrangement dull to my eyes so I left it alone. |
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| Back view: I reused the Heuchera blooms from last week |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left, the vase contains: Dahlia 'Otto's Thrill', Achillea 'Moonshine', Heuchera maxima, Leucadendron salignum 'Chief', Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl', and Lantana camara 'Irene' |
I'd cut stems of a peach-colored sweet pea too but it was way too far off for the second vase so I tossed those stems into a tiny vase with other leftovers.
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| The ancillary buds of Eustoma grandiflorum 'Black Pearl' (Lisianthus), used in one of last week's vases, had bloomed and the stem was still in good shape so I combined it with stems of Lathyrus odoratus 'Blue Vein', a small off-shoot of Arthropodium cirratum, and the foliage of Abelia 'Hopley's Variegated'. The smoky purple Lisianthus flowers might have been better with the foliage alone but it was a chance to show off the blue veins of the sweet pea before I pull all of them. |
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
