What is mixed media? In my garden it is tropical plants vs. more conventional plants. For some reason, I don’t really like to mix the two – though I am slowly getting past that. Possibly latent brain washing from design school. Tropical plant material was not on the menu where I went to college.
Who knows? There is not really a color scheme here, either. Totally mixed media. I started cutting the weird red Dahlias (a mistake from the bulb supplier) and just kept going. Added some white for fragrance and then decided more color was needed….snip, snip, snip.
Voila, it had to go in a clear glass vase. An old florist vase from a long ago gift of flowers.
What’s the media?
Tropicals, in red and yellow, ‘Lady Di’ Parrotflowers (Heliconia psittacorum); in white, Tropical Gardenia (Tabernaemontana diviricata). Conventionals, in chartreuse, Envy Zinnias; peach spikes are Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea) – there is a dilemma, it is called Tropical, but really is not?
White spikes in back are fragrant Sweet Almond (Aloysia virgata); blue flowers are Chinese Forget Me Nots (Cynoglossum amiable); white daisies, Bidens alba; Red Dahlias of unknown name. Oops from the bulb supplier, these have oddly short stems – I think? These are my first Dahlias, so please share any Dahlia insights with me. The corrected Dahlias (Labyrinth) have arrived and should be cactus type. I have planted them and am breathlessly waiting for big, fluffy cut flowers. I hope they haven’t been overwatered.
Thanks to Cathy at http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting. Follow the link for some potentially less mixed vases.
Happy Gardening!!
The Shrub Queen 
A beautiful mixture. Congrats on the dahlia and I love the zinnia and forget-me-nots!
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Thanks, Susie
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Zinnias are in the tropical list – that just sent my head spinning! The mixed media is interesting and I can see why you would normally avoid it. It kinda works, though eh? The colours come together in a fun, fresh way, perfect for late spring.
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Zinnias are native to Mexico!? I love them and they are a rare annual that will tolerant summer heat in my garden. Amazing how many places they will grow.
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I guess then a heck of a lot of the annual flowers here could be considered tropical…I love how with one new-to-me usage of a word, its meaning can expand and open up new possibilities.
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You made it work, but I understand not mixing as I can’t plant palm trees in my Piney Woods yard.
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Thanks and I love it the palms cause you pause. There is a natural landscape here called Pine Flatwoods that is Slash Pines with Saw Palmetto understory….
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lovely arrangement
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Thank you
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Dahlia growers say the best way to grow them is to let mother nature provide the water. But we can’t always have that happen. I tend to water them a bit daily until the rain comes. If I get a good inch of rain I stop watering for a while. I do love your mixed media….so tropical and fun to look at for all the different plants in it.
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Thank you, Donna. still waiting for the new Dahlias, we have had very little rain.
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Hoping the gentle rain comes soon
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Same here!
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That’s an interesting dilemma, not one I would have considered possible!! Personally, I would see no reason not to throw them all into the mix, which you do to great effect. And your first dahlia, well, nearly two first dahlias – how exciting! How long did it take to get from dry tuber to first bloom for you?
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I would not have considered it prior to living in Florida…the dahlias took 48 days from dry tuber to flower, how does that compare to yours as they are native to Mexico?
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Hmmm, well, I actually pot them up in the g/h perhaps in January, but don’t water them perhaps until March when the days start getting milder and longer and mine should start flowering by the end of May, but won’t really get going till June. A minimum of 3 months really, and there is always still a risk of frost in May and I probably start mine earlier than many people, so it can be a risk planting them out before the end of May but I watch the forecast and am prepared to cover them if need be. I would certainly not think of it in number of days, so it is interesting to read how quickly yours bloom
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Wow! that is dedicatiion to Dahlias! Though I understand, they are so beautiful. I planted a few more tubers (they have to be in pots here) about 10 days ago and they just came up, so I am hoping for June Labyrinth Dahlias. I was interested to read about their native environment and wonder why I don’t see more here…could be fungus? I will soon see, fungus season is upon us.
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Our growing seasons are very different, of course, and the time from bulb/tuber/seed to flower will always be longer – and when the dahlias start flowering they will continue until the first frost, so at least 5 months
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Oh, I did not know Dahlia would flower that long. That is wonderful news, I hope mine do.
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No idea whether it would be the same in your climate as they may of course flower themselves out sooner in your temperatures
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My guess is that is exactly what will happen flowering out in the heat…
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And they do need a lot of water to flower well although generally I don’t need to water mine here in the UK
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It takes a while for dry tubers to sprout here
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I don’t recognize the dahlia but I like it – the single-flowered varieties with open centers are beloved by bees too, which is something the big, fluffy dahlias can’t claim. Watering dahlia tubers before they’ve sprouted is always an awkward issue but, as it’s been so dry, I’ve found myself doing that again this year too. I’ve only had one tuber rot this year but several are stubbornly doing nothing. A friend of mine plants her tubers barely below the surface so she can monitor soil dampness, slowly adding more soil once the tubers show signs of life.
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Thanks for the info, Kris. I think your friend has a good idea..I think they may be best started earlier in my garden..we will see.
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Hey, it works for me! I like all the bright colors, so does that mean it leans more toward tropical? It hardly matters. 🙂
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Thanks, Eliza..I think I lean tropical as well.
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The arrangement simply shouts your prowess as a gardener. Yesterday I walked through some of the tropical glasshouses at Bristol Botanic gardens, and thought of you.
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Thank you, Noelle it is a long running experiment.
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Western Line Design was the standard while we were in school during the late 1980s. Is it still the standard? The arts have gotten too weird to monitor since the 1990s.
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I have to look that one up, Western Line? sounds like the power company.
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Oh, it does. I figured that you would know what it is or was. I do not know much about floral design, but had to know the basics to grow the flowers that the florists wanted.
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Not at all. Landscape Architecture does not focus on floral design at all and planting design is not much of a focus either. I love the Western Line arrangements, just looked them up, will have to try one!
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Well, I figured that you would be familiar with floral design just because you enjoy it.
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I know zzip about floral design…I think a friend called me a posey pusher.
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Well, it comes out well.
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I really love this vase Amy! I am a great believer in ‘anything goes’. 😉 The Heliconia and forget-me-nots alone are a fabulous combination simply because they have possibly never been put in a vase together before! 👍Brilliant!
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Thanks, Cathy. Anything goes!
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Read mine too motivational thaughts and poetry
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