Today is the seventh anniversary of In a Vase on Monday. Cathy, the hostess of IAVOM issued a challenge to celebrate – creating a vase without flowers, hence the title – without flowers, sounding much sportier in Italian.
Here is a closer view:
This vase is mostly composed of edible plants that I haven’t eaten. The dark green leaves in the back are from Tree Spinach (Cnidoscolus aconitifolius), an odd tropical vegetable that is very poisonous unless cooked correctly – I have not learned the method and haven’t eaten any. Purple berries are Beautyberry (Calliocarpa americana), Floridians make beautiful jewel tone jam from these – reviews always mention it tastes just like sugar! The grey foliage is the top of a pineapple, I admit to growing and eating it. Burgundy fruits on left side are Roselles (Hibiscus sabdariffa), an edible Hibiscus. I have been freezing these for a later, undetermined use. Ferny bits are from Asparagus Ferns and the grey succulents are Graptosedums of some sort, I am wondering if they will root or rot in the vase? The leaves creating the vase by covering a pickle jar are from Blanchetiana Bromeliad (Aechmea blanchetiana)
Thank you to Cathy for hosting this addictive (yes, very) meme on WordPress. Seven years is outstanding and I am looking forward to many more..
Happy Blogaversary and Happy Gardening….
The Shrub Queen 
There certainly are a lot of interesting leaves. Your vase is very creative. Are you getting rain from the storm?
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Gusty sporadic downpours.. miserable weather.. have lost odd chunks of plants to wind. Thanks..spinach is a bit weird in a vase..
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Lovely as usual, Queen. I have never heard of tree spinach.
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Thanks, it’s actually an interesting plant..I have it for butterflies, nectar in flowers is very nutritious for them..
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Amelia, you’ve outdone yourself. Wonderful arrangement full of texture and nicely balanced in your use of color. Tree spinach is an oddity–great leaves though. Hope all is well with you. Stay safe and well. I’ve enjoyed seeing you vases through the years.
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The large green leaves remind me of pawpaw, and the whole arrangement is beautifully executed.
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Thank you – the spinach leaves are about 1/3 the size of Papaya leaves – we have a native fruit tree here called Paw paws – Asimina triloba..
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Well done, Amelia! I love the mix of colors in your foliage and, as always, I’m impressed by your leaf-wrapped vase.
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Thank, Kris…leaf wrapping is easy a little scotch tape and jute twine…
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The spinach leaves are such a gorgeous shape and colour. The whole vase is a lovely mix of shapes and colours altogether and the leaves around the jar are so effective. Lovely!
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Thanks, Cathy. I like the spinach leaves, too! I meant to tell you the Double Clicks you grow so beautifully are not meant for my garden- spider mites ate them up and only those, so weird..trying sulphur cosmos now.
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😕Sulphur Cosmos are lovely too. Shame about the Double click ones though. Can you grow Cleome? They look as if they might like your climate.
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It is and the Sulphur are unmolested so far. I planted some Cleome seeds recently, so we will see how they do. Still having windy tropical storms here…haven’t planted anything in the garden yet.
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I really like the added twist of the contents being edible – perhaps that could be a challenge for another time?! The overall colours look really warm and rich, thanks to the dark green of the tree spinach leaves and the purple of the calliocarpa berries. The leaf wrapping always looks so effective, and you could hide all sorts of containers with a foliage wrap, couldn’t you? Thanks for sharing
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Thanks, Cathy, I have seen some gorgeous vegetable arrangements and herbs are pretty as well. I have been eyeing the Roselles since they started to flower. I like this color combination in the landscape as well.
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I think that Tree Spinach is very attractive – I thought it was a type of Oak at first. With the Beautyberries, it could be a substitute of holly and berries for Xmas arrangements.
Love the Italian subtitle, too – spices it up a bit! 😉
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It does look like a Red Oak..Merry Spinach Holiday..and good with pasta, Thanks, Eliza
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That is stunning Amy, very stylish. And how classy to give it an Italian name. And who knew that callicarpa berries were edible? They don’t look as if they should be.
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Thank you, Liz. I tasted the callicarpa while making the arrangement, no discernable flavor though they are supposed to repel mosquitoes!
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Well, that’s brave, I don’t think I would have the courage to eat one.
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I see the jam recipes every year and think about making some, the edible Hibiscus I have been growing is relatively tasteless so far! Though I haven’t tried it with sugar.
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Tree spinach is pretty striking. It looks sort of like bigleaf maple (which is yellow now). Of course, the beautyberry is rad too.
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