It was a stormy Sunday morning, I dodged rain showers while collecting flowers in the garden. April is frequently the driest month of the year in my garden, desertlike this year. I was happy to see the rain and noted the change in flowers, the spring flowers are slowing down and the summer blues are appearing. This seasonal interlude is reflected in the vase.
This is another nicely fragrant vase. I have learned to appreciate basil flowers in arrangements this winter. Cutting the flowers adds a nice touch to vases and invigorates the plants to produce more foliage. I read recently that it is a good idea to cook with the flowers, but have not tried it. Dill flowers add another herbal note blending with spicy Dianthus and Agastache fragrance.
A closer view. The purple flowers are Agastache, which surprises me by growing here and seemingly in everyone else’s garden. This is my first year with them and they are in a container happily flowering. The smaller pink flowers are Heirloom Pentas (Penta lanceolata), which are common here and are a short lived perennial, usually available in pink, white and red and an excellent butterfly plant. The bigger pink flowers are Giant Dianthus, a cool season annual, beginning to bow out. Blue flowers are Plumbago (Plumbago auriculata) a very common trailing shrub that just keeps creeping along and will grow up into trees. White spikes are basil flowers and chartreuse flowers are dill flowers. The silver goblet vase (with ample patina) is another odd heirloom from my mother. It leaks like a sieve and has to have a repurposed yogurt container inside to hold water.
I’m hoping for more rain this week and the outlook is promising. Unfortunately, rain brings humidity. On the bright side, the orchids will love it even if I don’t.
Visit our intrepid hostess, Cathy at ramblinginthegarden to see more vases.
The Shrub Queen 
What a beautiful combination, Amy, I love the pastel soft colors. So pretty!
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Thank you – kind of anti tropical.
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The blue of that Plumbago is gorgeous! And I do like the idea of having those fragrances all mingling together too. I hope your Agastache keeps on doing well for you. I grew a pretty peachy one (sold to me as a ‘Mexican’) last year, but it didn’t survive our winter. The fragrance was wonderful. The blue more hardy ones smell nice but not quite the same.
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Thank you. I think I have seen that peachy one and missed the opportunity to buy it. Keeping an eye out.
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My goodness that screams spring with those gorgeous blues and pinks. I love how you use the herb flowers too. One of my favorite flowers is Agastache in all its varieties especially the natives here.
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Thank you, it boggles my mind I can grow Agastache here.
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That is so pretty, makes me miss my Plumbago!
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Is it too dry?
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That arrangement is SO pretty, Amelia! I love the combination of blue and pink and don’t know why I haven’t managed such a combination myself recently. I wish I had a spot for plumbago but the darn plants wants to become giants here.
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Thanks, Kris. I like the rose pinks and blues. Plumbago can get remarkably big, it surrounds my front garden and I doubt there are more than 3 out there.
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Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous…the colors, the forms, and your arrangement. Dill, Basil, Agastache, Pentas, Plumbago: wow! Very nice!
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Thank you.
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The perfect spring vase. The Blue Plumbago really pops. I think the deer that ate mine for years is finally gone, so I’m hoping it will come back.
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Thank you. I am not sure the Plumbago can be conquered. Even by deer.
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That’s good news. I may just throw some fertilizer on it now.
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That blue is so gorgeous I gasped out loud. It almost doesn’t look real. Lovely.
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LOL, I assure you it is real. Thank you.
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Plumbago is impressively resilient. It survived in an abandoned landscape here without irrigation for many years. It performed so well that when it got overgrown, I pulled pieces of it up to install on an embankment across the road. It stayed there through autumn and winter, and by spring, was ready to resume growth without irrigation.
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They are. The creeping tendencies are kind of weird, they will grow up trees here.
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Although mine do not do that, I have seen them pile up onto highway sound walls, and overwhelm small trees.
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I just pulled some out of a palm trunk. The creeping shrub habit is new to me and may be a tropical thing.
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Such fresh colours, and a really interesting mix, Amelia. Never heard of Penta, so I guess it is not available here. I have never thought of using Agastache in a vase, so that is something to remember for the future – it is not reliably hardy here, so last year I potted mine up and to overwinter them in the greenhouse, which seems to work well. Thanks for sharing, as always
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Thanks, Cathy. Pentas are common here and in the South as summer annuals. I think they are native to Egypt and love heat, which may be why you don’t see them in the UK.
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