Lobster with a side of asparagus and a glass of rose` sounds like a rocking dinner. A large quantity of melted butter would be necessary for this gastronomic delight and another side dish, roasted potatoes, I think. Hmmm. Well, this vase is not for dinner, though the conceptual components are there and the rock was necessary to hold the plants in place.
I know summer is in full force when the Heliconias start to flower and the solstice was their day. There are flowers still opening and this is really the best Heliconia year to date. I am guessing the vast rain fall helped. These flowers are so dramatic they need little embellishment, kind of like lobster.
The flowers:
The Lobsterclaw Heliconia (Heliconia rostrata). These are planted outside my Living Room windows to give a rainforest vibe to the view. This is sort of a large, leafy plant but very linear and easy to see through so I have enjoyed the view.
The Asparagus Fern accents the Heliconia and is held in place by the rock. The vase is a rose` bottle from a dreadful bottle of rose` I bought from Aldi based on an internet rave review. The last rave review I ever bought wine from, though I have enjoyed the bottle as a vase.
The rock:
The rock. My father was a geology professor who loved crystals and especially tourmaline and quartz. This is black tourmaline and a quartz crystal likely found somewhere in North Georgia where I am from.
It is closing in on dinnertime in South Florida and I am wishing for the above ingredients! No such luck this week
Thanks to Cathy for hosting IAVOM, to see more vases follow this link http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com
Happy Gardening!!
The Shrub Queen 
Very clever menu theme.
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Love that Heliconia, it is fabulous!
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Thanks, Eliza. There is a cold hardy Heliconia now to Zone 8b!
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I guess I’ll just have to vicariously enjoy yours!
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The Heliconia is so dramatic and I like the sound of the tropical jungle effect as you look through the vine. I thought your bottle was a cola bottle at first! I would definitely like the asparagus on your menu (with melted butter, vegan of course! 😉), but could do without the lobster and the rosé. Love the theme though!
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Thanks, I could really do without the lobster or rose as well….I have been eating vegan butter for a while now. Melt is my favorite.
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A perfect dinner indeed. Beautiful “lobster” flower. I too love rocks and crystals. Those are beautiful.
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Thank you.
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Again some flowers which remind me of your childhood, each time I returned home, I was sure to have some of these ‘Lobster Claws’ packed at the bottom of the box of flowers my mother sent me back to England with.
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They must have been spectacular. The Heliconia I remember from Hawaii dwarfs these.
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Black tourmaline, for some reason, is one of my very favourite rocks, Amy 👍
Your vase is stunning – no more, no less – but with those ingredients, it couldn’t fail to be stunning!
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Thank you, Cathy. I like the tourmalines, too. My father was a granite specialist and there was black tourmaline everywhere..
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The Lobster Claw is impressive. I wish I could grow them.
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There is one that is more cold hardy. H. schiedeana, they look a little different but I think they would grow there. There are some down the street that took the full blast of our 38 degrees this year and did not budge.
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I’ll have to check them out. I have been trying to cut back on pots that I take in and out of the garage. My back is complaining.
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I can’t do that pot thing either.. If you know Fred in France he has that Heliconia.
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Lobsterclaw Heliconia is dramatically irresistible. I’m hungry now too.
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That is a great way to describe it..no lobster here!
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I love that Heliconia! I’m glad I read your post after lunch this week as your dinner menu would’ve made me very hungry 😉
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Why is that heliconia not popular in the Los Angeles regions?! I can understand why it is not here, but it should be there. Perhaps it requires more humidity. I happen to like the heliconia that are popular there, but they are nothing like this.
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No idea.. have you seen the Heliconia in Hawaii..way bigger.
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I have seen them only in pictures. Until recently, that is how I saw blue ginger. However, I am growing it here now. I would not pass up an opportunity to try a weird but reasonably hardy Heliconia.
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Heliconia schiedeana is supposed to be cold hardy. They perform better than H.psittacorum here but it is not that cold!
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Oh my! I have seen that, but did not know what it was! I thought it was a cultivar of Heliconia psittacorum. Heck, I know a place from which I could actually grab a bit of that when I go back down south.
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Try it. The cold wind off the Atlantic and temps in the 30s did not phase it here.
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I might now that I know it is something different, and if it is still where I remember it living. It was right downtown. It is what I thought lived in Brent’s garden; but Brent explained later that his is yellow Heliconia psittacorum.
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Wow, that is so dramatic. Your Heliconia doesn’t really need anything else. It’s a stand-alone beauty. I love the way you have displayed it with the asparagus and beautiful stone. The rosé bottle is a good shape for a vase so you didn’t waste your money.
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The heliconia has very dramatically turned black.
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