The title would make one think I had been eating seafood while imbibing in red wine. Oh, how crass! I have not. I am not a big fan of red wine and drink white regardless. I have probably now surpassed crass.
The shrimp in the vase are Red Shrimp Plant and the Zin, Zin Master Zinnias. The zinnias are supposed to be a mixture of cactus and other types of zinnias, so far they all look like these, disappointingly regular zinnias. For some reason, these are the best looking Zinnia plants I have ever grown – so, maybe the other flowers will be more spectacular. I think I have twelve or so in big terracotta pots under planted with Blue Scaveola and chartreuse coleus. Hopefully another garden miracle in the making. Seed mixes are like a box of chocolates – you never know what you are going to get. Paraphrasing Forrest Gump.
Red Shrimp Plants (Justicia brandegeana) are a sort of pass along perennial in Florida. A neighbor gave me one about ten years ago. I regularly forget about it and it just keeps on going and flowering without a care in the world. It occurred to me I should root some for other areas of the garden I tend to forget about. It also makes a great cut flower.
A closer view:
The ‘Zin Master Zinnias with a little Red Shrimp below and some Licorice plant (Helichryseum) tendrils above.
Firebush (Hamelia patens var patens) are the tubular orange flowers in the arrangement. The vase is a bromeliad leaf wrapped pickle jar from a couple of weeks ago. I left it as I was wondering if it would dry into something attractive. It is looking a bit like wood now, not quite dried out.
This Monday the garden is in similar shape to the vase, not quite dried out. We have been getting regular downpours and the plants are very happy. Of course, all the weeds are ecstatic. Summer fun.
To see more vases from Cathy’s international entourage of gardeners; visit Rambling in the Garden and follow the links in the comments.
The Shrub Queen 
I recognized all of your flowers this week. I grow the red shrimp and it has taken over a bed. If it touches the ground it roots.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yay! I have a hole in the garden I am going to shrimp up!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like the arrangement. I love the Zinnias and all the others.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Maria
LikeLike
Ooh, zinnias! Good to know that the plants are looking good, even without the variation you had hoped for. They look lovely here with the shrimp plant and firebush, and I like how the bromeliad leaf wrapped jar has aged. Glad to know you and the garden are not all dried out too!
LikeLiked by 1 person
LOL, not sure it is possible to dry out in summer here!
LikeLike
Your post titles are always so clever, Amelia! I love the combination of flowers and foliage in your arrangement too. Your Zinnias are way ahead of mine – my seeds are only just germinating.
https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Kris. I haven’t quite figured out how to have zinnias year round, but think it is possible. Of course, I have no idea when I planted the seeds! Thank you for the link.
LikeLike
Gorgeous arrangement, I love the bold colors. And the shrimp flower! tzgarden.blogspot.com
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Tracy. A wacky but wonderful little flower.
LikeLike
Your arrangements look so perfectly designed, every bit of material sits happily in place. Lovely. Congrats on the zinnias. I had same experience with a mix that was supposed to include cactus type.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Susie. I wonder if you just have to buy cactus type seeds, I love those.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, I think that’s safest.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Actually, I am not sure I have ever done that! a new fall project.
LikeLike
A beautiful design, Amy. The combination is perfectly complementary and I love how the ‘vase’ cover is aging.
Good luck with the weeds. Our recent downpours have made ours quite enthusiastic as well. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Eliza. Working on the nut grass, ugh.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful vase. I love zinnias, not only pretty, but so welcome to all the butterflies and bees that visit my garden.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, I used to think zinnias were just common and now I love them So many colors and shapes and sizes. The butterflies have not found these yet.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It sounds sort of 80ish, from a time when those silly shrimp cocktails were popular and white zinfandel was new. I was in high school right near Paul Masson Vineyards, which is why I, even as someone of Italian descent, dislike wine. Vineyards were something of a joke amongst all the former orchards of the Santa Clara Valley. Cases of wine that fell off of trucks on Saratoga Avenue made big smelly puddles on hot pavement. Goodness, that is crass. Licorice plant has been weird to maintain a for us. When it gets too deep and shabby around the edges, I just kick it back within its confinement and trample it into submission. I know it sounds awful, but it works. New growth comes up through the old. I do not know what happens to the old growth below. I do not care. Oh my, that is crass again.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is 80ish, my parents loved that Paul Masson wine, yuk! The trampling maintenance concept is new to me. I have been trimming the licorice plant a lot and cutting off the dead leaves and it looks pretty good. I can’t recall if these last the summer here,
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, I doubt that that trampling maintenance concept has been invented yet.
LikeLike
I like your zinnias and would be more than happy if I could grow ANY zonnias that look half decent. I have given up! Your colour theme is lovely – all the flowers complement each other so well. And the leaf around the jar still looks great! It must be hard to stay cool and dry in your climate, but I suppose everyone has air conditioning these days. We only have about two or three weeks a year where I would love air conditioning!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, it is odd the things we can and cannot grow. I can’t grow cosmos, this seems absurd to me. My neighbor does not use air conditioning and freezes everywhere she goes. I could not do it.
LikeLiked by 1 person