One of my favorite winter gifts from the garden are the pink flowers of the Tropical Hydrangea (Dombeya wallachi). Unlike French or Mophead Hydrangeas, the flowers are borne hanging down from the branches like Christmas ornaments. These same flowers do not appreciate being turned upside down for flower arrangements – they tend to be top heavy and fall out of the vase for spite, this is after the bees chase you into the house because the most delicious cake batter scented treat in the garden is being repurposed for aesthetic reasons.
The recalcitrant flowers were conquered by a riff on the hand tied bouquet. I made mini bouquets of four flowers twist tied together, then placed them on the edge of the container.
Dombeya flowers in their natural state:
Someone described these as dreamy, I tend to agree. A big plus to the plant is they are very easy to grow. Unlike their blue French relatives, who I could never grow in my northern garden. I am going to try some cuttings for propagating when flowering is finished.
A closer view of the vase:
The vase is a Fostoria crystal ice bucket that belonged to my grandmother. I think the pattern is Americana. It dawned on me this was probably a wedding gift and over a hundred years old.
The foliage backing up the Dombeyas – in purple stripes, Transcandentia zebrina. The ferns are Asian Swords, a lovely weed. I compost or throw out a lot of both of these plants monthly. They both appeared, unbidden, in my garden – I use them where I would rather not mulch and recycle the rest.
To see more vases from gardeners worldwide, visit our hostess, Cathy at http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com.
Happy Gardening!!
The Shrub Queen 
I never saw a Dombeya, they’re true show stoppers! You’ve displayed them beautifully with the fern making them almost look 3D.
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Thank you, Annette. I enjoy the show..the shrub is 15 feet tall.
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Perfection. Your Dombeya makes a good show against the special foliage.
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Thanks, Susie
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Christmas ornaments, maybe large pink earrings, quite gorgeous in the crystal vase.
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Thanks, Chris…large pink earrings with bees? maybe not.
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😆😆😆
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I love the glossy foliage, and your clever trick in tying these blooms together – what a great result!
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Thanks, Cathy
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What a beautiful flower on your tropical hydrangea….I love the foliage you added to the vase.
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Thank you..Happy New Year,
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Your trick worked and the vase looks great. I am guessing it gets too cold here for Dombeyas. I think I have the same fern, which totally froze last year and they all came back. They do not seem to travel far as I never find them in other parts of the yard.
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Thanks, I am close to their northern limit. They are good container plants if you really want one! I think the ferns stay in the moister areas here, considered an invasive…
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Sweet, compact arrangement, Amy. I love the look of the pink flower amidst the deeper greens. I can only imagine the scent!
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Thanks, Eliza…another new favorite flower.
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I can see the Hydrangea comparison but I think your Dombeya is more dramatic with its hanging flowers. I recently received a Dombeya burgessiae from a blogger friend who needed to find it a new home. It handled transplanting without a problem and I’m looking forward to seeing it in bloom but apparently it’s a spring-summer bloomer. The addition of the Tradescantia stems in your arrangement was an inspired touch.
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That is such a wow to those of us under grey cold overcast skies. A clever use of foliage to set off your Dombeya.
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Thank you
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What beautiful flowers. That shrub must be a wonderful sight when in full bloom. I like your description of the scent too. 😉 An ice bucket is rather exotic to me… a crystal one even more so, but an antique crystal ice bucket is simply amazing!
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Thanks, Cathy I love the Dombeya..believe it or not women raised in the South East US of a certain age had crystal ice buckets with matching trays to hold condensation and tiny silver tongs for the ice. I still have the tray but the tongs are lost to history.
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Incredible. My Mum has some silver tongs… for sugar! They go with a silver sugar bowl with a blue glass inset. 😉 Probably belonged to her granny.
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Oh yeah, there were sugar tongs, too, smaller than ice tongs, and so many weird forks. Granny tongs! they’re everywhere.
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Have you ever tried using Southern magnolia? They are too heavy, and pull themselves over. If they fall out, they might shatter, or at least get bruised. Anyway, these tropical hydrangeas sure are pretty.
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Southern Magnolia will grow here but they are thin and look better further north.
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