Category Archives: flower arrangements

In a Vase on Monday – Four for the Fourth

This is the Fourth of July week and in celebration I decided to put together a red, white and blue vase with four different types of flowers. That might be too much math. It seems like something should add up to sixteen somewhere. Math was never my true calling.

July is being true to its nature. It is hot, humid and we are having frequent thunderstorms. The garden is well hydrated, I am picking mangoes daily and contemplating weeding. Not actually weeding, just thinking about it. As I was cutting flowers, I had a rather startling experience.

This is a good, non venomous snake. I am not sure if it is a Black Racer or an Indigo snake. Both eat all kinds of bad things including venomous snakes. I usually see them scurrying away. This is a first – one hanging out in the shrubs and waiting around long enough for me to get a picture. I am hoping he or she was eating invasive lizards.

The red in the arrangement is from the seasonally appropriate Firecracker Plant (Russelia equisetiformis); White flowers are from Bridal Bouquet Plumeria (Plumeria pudica).

Blue spike flowers are Mystic Blue Salvia and the white spikes are Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea). The airy flower buds and varigated foliage are from Dianella tasmanica or New Zealand Flax. A trimmed palm frond is in the back of the vase. The vase is a florist orphan.

Happy Monday from steamy South Florida. Visit Cathy at RamblingintheGarden to visit less steamy gardens and see what has been plucked and plonked into a vase this week.

In a Vase on Monday – Shrimp with Zin

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.

In a Vase on Monday – Summer Brew

I put this vase together on Father’s Day, so it was very appropriate to use one of my parents wedding gifts as a vase this week. My parents married in 1950, I think these teapots must have been popular at the time. I remember this teapot sitting on the kitchen counter very frequently as my mother used it to brew tea for iced tea year round. A pink plastic pitcher of iced tea was a constant presence in my childhood. If you grew up in the Deep South, iced tea is the beverage of choice for lunch and dinner (or if you are really Southern, lunch is called dinner and dinner is supper)

The flowers in this vase wouldn’t make a tasty brew. I am fairly certain the Tropical Gardenias are toxic, but it might smell pretty good.

A closer view:

I have accepted a few (guffaw) wild grape vines as a fact of life in my garden. These are muscadines (Vitis rotundifolia) I think it would take a small thermonuclear device to get rid of all of them and then I would have to start over. Not happening. So I cut a few here and there, add some to a vase, make a wreath and feed wildlife. The Gardenias are Tropical or Florida Gardenias (Tabernaemontana diviricata); our massive rain event this week produced a wonderful flush of flowers.

Pink flowers in the vase are the bitter end of the winter annual Giant Dianthus. I am puzzling over what to do with it. Put it in a shady place and hope for a miracle or consign it to the compost heap? It is a dilemma. Light blue flowers are Blue Plumbago (Plumbago auriculata); deep blue spikes are Mystic Blue Salvia, the spikes are oddly shorter due to dry weather earlier in the summer. A few sprigs of chartreuse coleus and fuzzy grey Licorice Plant (Helichrysum) add color.

Thanks to Cathy at RamblingintheGarden for hosting this weekly event. Follow the link and find more vase enthusiasts from around the world.

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – In a Pickle

I had my heart set on a linear arrangement to display my first Lobsterclaw Heliconia of the season. The problem – my linear vase broke in the dishwasher. I was in a Pickle, until my dilemma was solved by, of all things, a Pickle jar. My husband is a compulsive jar saver so the perfect vase was soon in hand and fortunately covered in label glue. This made it very easy to roll a bromeliad leaf around it and tie it up with raffia.

The Lobsterclaw Heliconia is definitely a harbinger of summer. We have had some very hot alternating with very pleasant days and no rain. I finished mulching the gardens this morning as it seemed like possibly the last cool morning for a while. My cool and everyone else’s are probably entirely different things!

The Lobsterclaw Heliconia (Heliconia rostrata) is hanging around with two red Nodding Hibiscus (Malvaviscus arboreus) and a few leaves from Mammey Croton (Codieum varigatum)

The linear aspect of this arrangement is enhanced with foliage from Blanchetiana Bromeliad (Aechmea blanchetiana) – this is wrapped around the pickle jar and leaf leftovers I decided to pop in to hold the Heliconia upright. The ferns are Boston Fern (Nephrolepis exaltata)

Hoping for rain in my garden this week! To see more vases, visit Cathy at ramblinginthegarden.

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Sayonara Spring

Memorial Day marks the beginning of summer in the US and that is today. I am reluctantly bidding Sayonara to spring and battening down for the summer months. The summertime blues (and purples) came right on time to the garden.

Afternoon thunderstorms have already been making their presence known. These are a double edged sword, I am grateful for the rain quenching the thirst of the garden – however, the growth of warm season weeds has been astounding. My paver driveway is already studded with Horseweed (Arghh) and the Johnson’s Grass is peppering the beds. These tropical weeds have the ability to produce a zillion seeds and the highest fertility rate of any known plant. The roots on these weeds have a peculiar ability to grip sand and can only be pulled right after a rain. Time for battle.

Front and center are Tropical Gardenias (Tabernaemontana diviricata), I have difficulty resisting these when cutting flowers, and here they are again. Lavender spikes with purple backed foliage are Arabian Lilac (Vitex trifolia). I think these get a bad rap here for being weedy and invasive. I planted one and still have one. They do have an odd growth habit I have not conquered. A few stems of the white version of Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea) are in the middle.

Adding a deeper blue vibe to the vase in blue spikes are Mystic Blue Salvia. The white spikes are Sweet Almond Bush (Aloysia virgata); purple striped foliage is Inch Plant (Transcandentia zebrina) – I think this grows an inch a minute in summer and another battle to wage soon.

My compost pile should expect some new additions! No seedy weeds, though.

Follow this link RamblingintheGarden to visit Cathy’s blog and travel the world’s gardens through vases linked to her post.

In a Vase on Monday – L’ Estate

Decades ago (no need to discuss how many) I spent the summer in Cortona, Italy with an Arts Studies Abroad Program. This time of year usually causes me to reminisce about riding around on a bus listening to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and eating pasta. For the life of me I could not remember the Italian word for summer – L’ Estate.

Summer has dropped its full load on South Florida this week. The skies are black with thunderstorms this afternoon and we have had ‘feels like’ temperatures over 100 F this week. No need to discuss humidity, my husband refers to this as ‘Africa hot’.

The vase was done in all hot colors in honor of the arrival of L’ Estate.

The close up:

In orange, Firebush (Hamelia patens) sets the tone for the vase. A few bits of Licorice Plants are the grey, fuzzy foliage. Chartreuse foliage is from an unnamed coleus, the gift that keeps on giving.

White flowers to cool things down are from the White Geiger tree (Cordia boisseri); varigated foliage is from Piecrust Croton (Codieum varigatum) and a few Lady Di Heliconias (Heliconia psittacorum) are in red and yellow. The vase is a florist orphan.

Sitting in an air conditioned space listening to Vivaldi seems like a really good idea right about now. Maybe for several months.

Visit Cathy at ramblinginthegarden to see what other gardeners are popping into their vases.

Happy Gardening!

In a Vase on Monday – Tropical Nights

Summer nights in South Florida can be wonderfully fragranced in the garden. I collected a vase of fragrant flowers to scent my house. Frangipani and Gardenia are two of the most popular and have been in my garden for years. I am thinking of adding a night blooming Jasmine.

I learned recently about the origin of the name Frangipani, the yellow flower above. It seems there was an Italian nobleman named Frangipani who made gloves. One of the features of his gloves was their scent, bitter almond. The gloves scent reminded many people of the scent of the Plumeria (Frangipani) and that became its common name. The botanical name, Plumeria, is in honor of King Louis XIV’s botanist, Charles Plumier. Plumier was a monk who traveled the Caribbean collecting tropical plants. Plumerias are native to Central America and the Caribbean. I always thought they were from the South Pacific and Frangipani was a Hawaiian word, not so much.

A closer view:

The yellow flower is Frangipani (Plumeria spp), I wish I knew the variety name, this one is very common around here as a pass along plant and develops into a nice small tree – if you know how to prune them, and I haven’t quite figured that out. Pink flowers are Giant Dianthus, I am expecting these to rollover and die any day now from the heat, but until then I will enjoy them. A chartreuse coleus leaf drapes over the edge of the vase along with Tropical Gardenias (Tabenaemontana diviricata).

A miniature pineapple adds a tropical punch; the white spikes are Sweet Almond Bush (Aloysia virgata), adding more fragrance to the vase. Asian Sword Ferns provide greenery.

No more fun facts from my wonderfully scented house. I actually picked the scented plants because I was cleaning the oven and things were getting smoky. The oven is beautifully clean now and all is well. Visit Cathy at ramblinginthegarden to see more vases.

In a Vase on Monday – Interlude

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.

In a Vase on Monday – Dillicious

Dill is a cool season herb in South Florida. I usually have several plants in pots, this year I have really enjoyed the dill and there is no foliage left to eat! Long Island Mammoth Dill is my favorite variety, the current plant is producing seed heads and I have been enjoying them in flower arrangements and will save some seed for next year. I usually don’t like the seed for eating but have recently learned to make sandwich bread, so I am going to give a dill seed loaf a try. Everything else I made from this plant has been Dillicious. Including this herbal sweet scented concoction in my mother’s crystal rose bowl.

My dillicious vase this week includes:

Fireworks in this vase are from dill seed heads and flowers in chartreuse and orange tubular flowers from the Firebush (Hamelia patens)

Another delicious flower appealing to a different sense is the white Tropical Gardenia (Tabernaemontana divaricata). These flowers lend a heavenly scent to the garden at night. They are sometimes called the Pinwheel Gardenia, there is a flatter flowering variety that looks more like a pinwheel.

That’s all from SoFla this week. To traverse distant gardens and visit via vase follow this link to Cathy’s blog.

Happy Gardening.

In a Vase on Monday – Foreign Affairs

All of the plants in the vase this week are, to me, foreign versions of common plants grown further north. The pink and white flowers are Desert Roses, from the deserts of Africa and the Arabian peninsula and a succulent to boot. White and green flowers are from a tropical Begonia that shoots up flowers about three feet tall and then we have the giant Dianthus. Tropical foreigners from my garden.

Desert Roses (Adenium obesum) are a mad thing. This is a red one frying on the pavement and finding its happy place. It doesn’t look much like a typical rose bush.

The Begonia in the arrangement is Lotusleaf. Definitely the biggest Begonia I have ever seen. It is a common roadside plant in Central America and pretty indestructible once established in my garden.

A closer view.

Draping over the edge of the vase, Desert Rose (Adenium obesum); green seed heads and white, frothy flowers are from Lotusleaf Begonia (Begonia nelumbifolia); pink flowers are Giant Dianthus; chartreuse leaves are a coleus of some sort, and the deep green foliage in back is from a Lady Palm (Rhapis excelsa). The vase is a thrift store find.

We are transitioning into warmer weather here with the weather guessers trumpeting dire warnings about a violent hurricane season. After a while I realized they really have no idea.I am still planting a few new things, tempting fate!

Here’s to enjoying spring and seeing a few new vases this Monday. Follow this link to visit Cathy and see the vases in the comments section.