We had another difficult week in the US. Fourteen bombs delivered to prominent critics of the President. Eleven more people gunned down in a house of worship. The frequency of such unimaginable, intolerable, and heart-wrenching events has become overwhelming. Those who call for unity after each new tragedy only to immediately turn around and attack those who disagree with them with vitriol and hyperbolic claims are beyond comprehension. The only thing that keeps me from moving into a cave somewhere is the hope that next week good, sensible people will vote to move the country back in the direction of civility, reasoning based on facts, and a shared sense of humanity.
My garden is less colorful at the moment since I pulled the spent summer bloomers from my cutting garden last week. I've sown seeds and planted bulbs and plugs with the expectation of having my first cool season blooms there within the next couple of months. In the meantime, I have to scout other areas of my garden to find vase-worthy materials.
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| Yellow-flowered Senna bicapsularis has a brief bloom period but it's at its peak right now |
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| Finding suitable companions for the Senna's flowers wasn't easy, however; hence my use of unripe guavas as a less than satisfactory feature at the back of the arrangement. The guavas here are consumed only by the resident squirrels and I don't expect they'll miss these. |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Senna bicapcularis, noID guava fruit, dried flower stems of Leonotis leonurus, foliage of Leptospermum 'Copper Glow', and feathery plumes of Pennisetum advena 'Rubrum' |
The bush violets (
Barleria obtusa) are also plentiful at the moment, providing the focal point for my second vase.
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| Violet buds open at regular intervals but the spent flowers also drop continuously so using the flowers in a vase is a mixed bag |
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| I clipped Moroccan daisies (Pyrethropsis hosmariense) to dress up the back of the vase/mug |
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| Top view |
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Barleria obtusa, Correa 'Ivory Bells', Erysimum linifolium 'Variegatum', Osteospermum '4D Silver', and Pyrethropsis hosmariense |
For more vases,
visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2018 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
