Earlier this year, I decided to add some bling and kinetic energy to my tropical garden. Never being shy about moving things around, I found myself hard at work Sunday, doing just that when it dawned on me I should put my Monday vase together.
It seemed all that was flowering abundantly was weeds, volunteers and vegetables. I decided to cut all three. The weeds in the arrangement are; in white: Bidens alba, common name usually Indian Needles, this is one of those really cute, chronically reseeding plant that knows no bounds. The reason fell from the flowers, I counted thirty seeds stuck to my shirt and the kitchen counter.
The volunteers (a constant source of wonder in my garden) are Boston Ferns (Nephrolepis exaltata) in the back, the palm is a seedling from the Sabal Palm (Palmetto sabal), the red flowers are from Turk’s Cap Hibiscus ( Malvaviscus penduliflorus), yellow daisies are Beach Sunflowers (Helianthus debilis) another prolific reseeder.
The vegetable in the vase is the Red Mustard, I plant it for burgundy winter color as I hate the taste.
Here’s the kinetic garden bling:
A copper spinner in a checkerboard of salt finish concrete tiles and tumbled turquoise glass bits…plantings are still under consideration. I did go to a plant sale over the weekend.
The Shrub Queen 
The weeds were lovely. The bling is wonderful. Good job Queen.
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Thanks, Flower
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Would that the weeds in my garden were as attractive as yours!
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Your pea gravel would be overrun!
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Weeds are pretty too. I hate to confess that I have let some grow that I thought were pretty.
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Me, too and regretted it!
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Yeah, I left out that part.
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If you had not told us your vase had weeds and invasive in it, I doubt any of us would have noticed. I am thrilled that I’ve kept my Boston fern alive for over a year (indoors) so the idea of it being invasive in your garden is hard for me to imagine! Your first steps in the redesign are wonderful.
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Laughing, I know – I kid people about my not having a cutting garden. The Boston Fern is native here and just appeared one day in a space I would not have dreamed anything would grow. And it is thriving from my cutting it and removing a few weeds. Florida weirdness. Thanks, I am soon to finish the garden and will post some pictures.
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I like the way you decided to use all that was flowering abundantly, albeit weeds, volunteers and vegetables – and it shows how attractive the results can still be even with the over-exuberant contents of our gardens. I love your copper spinner – have you made this, or has it been purchased?
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Thanks, the palm fronds are such a dramatic statement, it ties everything together..the spinner was made in China! I learned to weld in college and was not very good at it.
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Nice! I like the way the palm lifts and expands.
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Thanks, Susie.
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You’ve got nice weeds! I like the Hibiscus pops of red. Bidens is genus of great variety. We have a yellow one that flowers down by the river in late summer and there’s a white trailing one that is offered as an annual.
Love the new sculpture – it must be neat to watch when there is a breeze.
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Oh, interesting. I never focused on Bidens til I had a million of these. The spinner has been great fun and stands up to an amazing amount of wind. Oddly, spiders build webs on it to catch the bugs and the webs don’t blow away.
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Oh to have such lovely weeds. Your bling is fabulous. I’m a big fan of using glass in garden paths and this is stunning. Well done as always, your majesty.
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Peter, thank you.I first spied some glass like that on Maui. Maybe it is a western thing? Rarely seen here.
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One woman’s weeds are another IVOM triumph!
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Thanks, Noelle. I actually enjoy the odd weed here.
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What exotic weeds you have. Such a lovely dramatic arrangement. Great use of bling, I love the glass.
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Thanks, Liz.I have been puzzling if it might be possible to keep a bed of the Bidens…puzzling??
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Your volunteers make a colorful vase. My own weedy volunteers (Centranthus, Geranium incanum, and Barleria obtusa) are proving harder to wrangle. I love the bling!
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Thanks, sounds like a great vase of volunteers
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Oh, I wish my weeds were as pretty as yours! I love that hibiscus. 🙂 I agree, a bit of bling is a nice lift in any garden and that copper spinner is just great – I could imagine something like that in my future garden here… 🙂
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I think it has something to do with the perpetual growing season.. on and on.
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Certainly not weedy, another successful combination of surprising sources
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Weedy sources,but thank you
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What a refreshing talent you are!
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Thank you, Cynthia. I would say the same thing about you!
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