I decided on a Southwest theme for my vase this week. I live surrounded by bits of the desert aesthetic. The architectural style of our house might be called Pseudo Southwestern Florida as it has some elements of all three. My husband and I fell in love with the sort of funky Adobe style of the house. I have succulents and some desert palms in the garden, but it is difficult to get past the humidity and make a true desert garden, though I do love the look.
The vase is an heirloom from my mother made by the Ute tribe in Arizona. Succulents and salvia would likely grow in a desert garden. The fern is an unlikely survivor of desert conditions. I’m thinking of it as a nice bronze accent.
The palette:
The fern is a Autumn Fern (Dryopteris erythrosara). This is probably my favorite fern with bronze new foliage and is realistically not likely to survive in my garden. I have it on my front porch in a pot surrounded by small bromeliads. The fern should be growing much further north and is probably wondering what happened and how it ended up in such an odd place. My salvias are making a repeat appearance this week, White Flame and Mystic Spires. I am finding these love to be cut and it makes them flower more.
The succulents:
Hanging over the edge of the vase is a Sedum – S. adolphii, I think, though it seems there is a new botanical name for Sedum. The grey rosette was a gift from a friend who calls it Graptosedum. Having attempted to figure out what it is, I am not sure at all! This will grow just about anywhere a bit gets dropped and is kind of crunchy, they fall off here and there in the garden so I am constantly finding them. Here are two I lost track of while arranging a vase not too long ago.
I think this means Graptosedum (or whatever it is) will grow on rock dust in my foyer. More surprises from the garden.
That is all from my garden this Monday. To see more vases drop by Cathy’s blog and say hello.
The Shrub Queen 
That’s a wonderful combination, Amelia, and perfectly suited to the vase! I wish my ‘White Flame’ Salvia looked anywhere near as good as yours – maybe their appearance will improve after the current deluge is over 😉 There are Graptosedums and Graptoverias aplenty now – plant breeders seems as enamored with those intergeneric hybrids as they are with Mangaves.
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Thanks, Kris. I think that is probably a Graptosedum. It came from a friend, her mother had it for years. The Mangaves just don’t rock my world.
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The salvias in that vase are perfect, your salvia ‘white flame’ is pristine!
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Thanks, the salvias are having a good winter.
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My first thought was what are you using for Southwestern in Florida. You pulled it off.
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A challenge!
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Very pretty, I love it, a perfect match of flowers to vase.
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Thanks, Eliza
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The addition of succulents and the story of your home design and theme of the garden is fascinating, Your vase this week is so exotic. Thanks for sharing.
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Thank you, Noelle. No snowdrops here!
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I still like those Salvia. As much as I prefer white, I think that this white looks better with blue in the same form than it would alone. I still like the vase also.
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I agree, the pure white salvia don’t contrast as well with the blue. Thank you.
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For me, your post is full of new information, although there may be some slight similarities between our climates. I am in subtropical Australia, and I may have the answer to why your fern grows happily in the situation you describe. You say it is with bromeliads, which hold water in their centres. This water, when warm, creates humidity, which must be enough to keep your ferns happy. I have heard the same applies when growing orchids in an area where the heat is dryer.
I really enjoyed reading about your home and garden and seeing your beautiful vase arrangement. Thank you! 🙂
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Thanks, Joanne. I am in South Florida, it is usually humid here, horribly humid in summer. This winter has been oddly wet – it is usually our dry season. I have orchids here and there mounted in trees.
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So the orchids will love the humidity too. 🙂
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yes, the orchids are fantastic outside. I can’t do anything with them indoors.
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I love the SW style of the vase and flowers. Those succulents are gorgeous and you chose perfectly what to use to surround them.
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Thank you.
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Yes, noticeably different from your tropical look, Amelia, and very fetching too! It’s good to know that your Mystic Spires responds well to being cut - I am eagerly awaiting any signs of regrowth from my acquired plant! I though you might have named the mineral and crystal..?
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Thank you, Cathy. I did the Chelsea chop (nervously) on the salvias about two months ago and have been feeding them bi weekly, best salvias I have had. I was thinking about trying cuttings! The rock is tourmaline with white quartz crystals, probably from Stone Mountain, Georgia – the biggest piece of exposed granite in the world.
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I rarely remember to feed during the season, but this clearly implies it’s a good idea. I feed my roses and clematis early on, then forget (or am too busy) to do them again 😉 Thanks for hthe info about the rosk, I though that’s what it might be – Stone Mountain sounds an intriguing place – does it yield a lot of crystals and minerals, or maybe it’s protected?
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yes, these salvias are bountiful though the soil here is not soil but amended sand so it has little in the way of nutrients. Stone Mountain has a lot of quartz, feldspar and tourmaline and who know what else. It is a gigantic piece of granite. There is some discussion about whether it is a batholith or a pluton, I think. It is five miles around.
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Will look up a picture of it – and I remember batholith but not plutons, so that’s something else to check!
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I like this arrangement very much Amelia. It is cooler than many of your vases with just the blue and white salvia and green foliage. And the vase is perfectly suited. Good to hear the salvia like being cut!
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Thank you, Cathy. I love the blues.
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