I decided to focus on the blues in my garden this week for In a Vase on Monday, the popular weekly meme hosted by Cathy at
Rambling in the Garden. If it has a blue flower and it grows in my climate, I probably grow it or at least have tried to.
Limonium perezii, also known as Sea Lavender and Statice, was the starting point for my first arrangement.
![]() |
| The tall stems of the papery-flowered Limonium began appearing back in January but the flowers took their time to open, which they're now doing en masse |
![]() |
| I added a woody stem of Vitex trifolia to the back of the vase as the leaf color picks up the purple color of the Limonium flowers |
![]() |
| Top view |
![]() |
| Clockwise from the upper left: Coleonema album (aka White Breath of Heaven), Dianthus caryophyllus, white and blue Freesia, Osteospermum '4D Purple', Prunus laurocerasus (aka Cherry Laurel), Vitex trifolia 'Purpurea' (aka Arabian Lilac) and, in the center, Limonium perezii |
When I prepared my post for
Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day last week, I noted that some of my favorite bulb blooms had yet to make an appearance. Then our Santa Ana winds showed up, causing humidity levels to drop dramatically and sending our temperatures soaring from the 60sF into the low 80s. Overnight, both the Dutch Iris and the Portuguese Squill began to bloom. I'm going to give the Iris another week or two to develop but I cut one stem of the Squill (
Scilla peruviana) for my second vase.
![]() |
| Scilla peruviana has very short flower stems, calling for a small vase. I picked up this one almost a year ago but I believe it's the first time I've used it. |
![]() |
| The back of this arrangement is a mess. Whether beaten down by rain or bent by wind, many of my Osteospermum stems are crooked, resulting in downward-facing flowers. |
![]() |
| Top view: The tall stem is Aristea inaequalis. It's blue flowers were open in the sun but unfortunately closed in the lower light of the house. |
![]() |
| Clockwise from the upper left: Argyranthemum frutescens 'Mega White', noID Ceanothus, Aristea inaequalis, Euryops chrysanthemoides 'Sonnenschien', yellow Freesia, floppy Osteospermum '4D Silver' and, in the middle, Scilla peruviana (Note: The Squill was mistakenly labeled as "peruviana" because it was transported on a ship called "The Peru" after its collection but it's native to the Mediterranean area of Europe, not South America.) |
Dry conditions are causing my
Freesias to wither rapidly and, fearing that my remaining tulip blooms were likely to suffer the same fate, I cut two stems for a bud vase to sit on my desk.
![]() |
| Last week Amelia of The Shrub Queen offered a possible ID for the "two-tone" tulips I purchased as pre-sprouted bulbs from my local garden center: 'Cerise Gris de Lin' |
For more Monday vases,
check in with Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
All material © 2012-2019 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
