Early this morning I was greeted with brilliant blue skies and informed by my phone of very little chance of rain. So, I hand watered some of the garden as our irrigation system had a valve get stuck open and couldn’t be turned off (we had to turn off the water supply to get one zone of sprinklers to stop) Strange going ons in the garden.
Then, an enormous thunderstorm blew in and it rained off and on until late afternoon. Relief for my parched garden; I was in and out between rain showers cutting flowers for this vase.
The vase is a Rose` bottle, I like the bottle better than the wine. I have wrapped the bottle with Bromeliad foliage to add some color. The burgundy leaf at the top is Luca Neoregelia, the yellow leaf is Lemon Blanchetiana Aechmea.
Below is a closer view, I was searching for contrasts in color and texture of the plant material. The lurid purple berries are from Beautyberry (Calliocarpa americana); orange flowers are Mexican Bush Honeysuckle (Justicia spicigera) and the ferns winding their way through are Wild Asparagus Fern that pops up in the garden.
To see more vases from gardeners around the world visit Cathy at www. ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com.
Happy Gardening, hopefully I will get the valve unstuck on my irrigation this week. Hand watering is not fun in the South Florida summer.
The Shrub Queen 
A very cool arrangement. Sprinklers can be a pain. Our 20 year old one has had to have work done it.
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Thank you, sprinklers are a pain!
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Great textures. It’s fun to see the Calliocarpa berries. I had help cutting back in spring and I think mine is gone now. (It was always in the wrong place anyway.)
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Thanks, Susie, it is kind of a gangly shrub – berries are the saving grace. Leaves are supposedly a mosquito repellent ? I put them in my shoes if the mosquitoes are bad.
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Never had heard that trick for mosquitoes.
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Commonly done in Missouri in the dark ages they used branches under the collars of horses. There was research being done for use as a mosquito repellent. Fun facts…
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Your beautyberry is on steroids compared to mine, mine is like a skinny cousin. 😉
Like the leaf-wrapping and the bright splashes of orange.
Hope your sprinkler troubles are resolved easily this week!
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The Beautyberry here are impressive, bigger and earlier than anywhere I have seen. I was going to ask the Entymology guy if it is because so many butterflies nectar the flowers here. Thanks I have a love hate relationship with the well and sprinklers..
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What a good idea to wrap the leaves around the bottle – most effective! – and how stunning the callicarpa is, with only those minimal additions
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Thanks, Cathy I enjoy the occassional leaf wrap..
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Oh, how lovely! Your fern foliage has reminded me that my partner‘s Mum had one in a hanging basket as a houseplant, and every summer it was hung outside on the washing line post. They seriously insisted it was called an Asparagdus, with a d in it. 😝 I do like the idea of wrapping leaves around the vase. Looks so effective. 😃
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Thank you, Cathy. There are a couple of different Asparagus Ferns here. They just pop up and are considered a nuisance. I cut enough for flowers arranging it is never a problem. The d must be the German version??
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Using the bromeliad leaves to wrap the bottle was a clever touch. Once again I find myself envious of the Callicarpa, which my local garden guide assures me I can grow here despite the fact that I’ve yet to find anything in this genus on my local garden centers. I hope you’re able to quickly resolve the irrigation issue – it sounds like a pain in the neck!
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I am not sure why you couldn’t grow this…I am sure to have a zillion seeds and they are supposed to be easy to grow I will send you some. Ack, the irrigation…first I have to unearth that valve.
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A stylish arrangement, with humour…it has tickled me anyway.
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Thanks, Noelle. It is a fun and funky one..I agree.
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I love the way you wrapped the bottle with the leaves and twine. I had beautyberry growing wild in New Hampshire but didn’t realize that it would grow in Florida.
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Thanks Karen. The Beautyberry is really gorgeous here compared to the ones further north. I am always amazed at the quantity of berries. Floridians make jam from them.
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Great recycling of the wine bottle and I really like the way you wrapped it. Another great vase from you
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Thank you, Dorris – did you try the cilantro?
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I did. It’s really lovely. I have been adding it to green salads. Thanks
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Beautyberry!
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