My Bridal Bouquet Frangipani was getting too tall, so I planned an arrangement around the prunings. This variety of Frangipani is columnar and tends to break apart in thunderstorms, if anyone else is familiar with the dreadful Bradford Pear (I hope that tree never made it out of the US) the branching structure of this Frangipani is similar and breaks in the same way. The problem with the branching structure of both these trees is that the branches are held at such a steep angle to the trunk the weight of the foliage breaks the branches and sometimes the trunk splits.
The good news is the Frangipani usually doesn’t get more than ten feet tall and rapidly repairs itself if branches break off. This arrangement is four or five feet tall, so there is plenty of shrub left and it looks reasonably good. Better than broken in two anyway.
The red accents in the arrangement are just for fun. No pruning was needed, it just happened. The tall red element is a Raggedy Ann Copperleaf (Acalypha “Raggedy Ann”) A somewhat unfortunate pruning story. This plant is the closest thing to a Japanese Maple that will grow in Tropic Florida. Japanese Maples are one thing I pine for in my garden- so I bought this thinking I could prune it into a tree form ‘Japanese Maple’. Reality is this plant has none of the graceful habit of a Japanese Maple and is totally upright and frankly kind of scraggly looking, especially after tree forming by someone trying to make a Japanese Maple.
The big red foliage leaves are from Blanchetiana Bromeliads, I love these plants for their coarse highly colored foliage and crazy flowers. It took me a couple of years to figure out how to cut the leaves off – kitchen scissors, go figure.
Here is a close up of the flowers in my arrangement:
The Shrub Queen 
Great combo today, SQ! Even though you might hanker for northern plants, I envy your southern ones, like the fragrant frangipani. I had to laugh about the results of your pruning your Copperleaf, esp. with the name ‘Raggedy Ann’ – with a name like that, I would be suspicious from the start! ;-D
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Thank you, I think Raggedy Ann is an apt name for that plant!
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Another creative arrangement. Very beautiful.
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Thank you.
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I love your vases because the flowers and foliage are almost always unknown to me. We have two Japanese maples in our garden and I can never bring myself to cut anything for an arrangement, though I have used prunings. We’ve planted many Jp. maples and lost them all (to weather mostly).
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Thank you, I guess I am little too far south for the Jap Maples and you are on the verge of too far north. Sigh.
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I always look forward to seeing what exotic plants you are growing and cutting for a vase…this is just yummy!
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Thanks and massive!
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Lovely and dramatic! For some reason, I hadn’t connected your Frangipani with the Plumeria that grows here, perhaps because I’ve never seen an all-white Plumeria. I have one poor little stick – currently sporting just a handful of leaves – in a large pot. It produced a few flowers last year but has yet to branch. There are some tree-sized specimens in the area but I’ve been fearful of putting mine in the ground as I’m afraid it wouldn’t get the water it needs. I admire the Acalypha too but it’s also too thirsty to survive here.
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Thank you, I would say the Plumerias are relatively drought tolerant once established – I live on sugar sand, it hasn’t rained here in weeks and the one that gets very little irrigation is thriving.
Was having trouble with your blog comments, love the first foliage arrangement and the Agapanthus, mine are really being difficult.
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Beautiful vase today.
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Thank you.
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[…] Jul25 by theshrubqueen […]
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Gorgeous Amy. Do I remember you saying that this white one doesn’ t have the amazing frangipani fragrance? It looks stunning with your Raggedy Ann CopperLeaf. I have never heard of Acalypha, but then so many of your plants are weird and wonderful to me.
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Thank you, Liz. Yes, I have to strain to catch the scent of the Frangipani, did you notice the foliage is different as well? Acalypha are somewhat like Coleus, many varieties of highly varigated usually red foliage, some will grow 8-10 feet tall and wide, the flowers are like Chenille plants – weird and wonderful.
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Love the white Frangipani. I have never seen one before so must go and investigate online now to get a better picture of its growth habits. 🙂
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That is one of my favorite plants, the foliage and habit are different from other Plumerias.
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Lovely.
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