Category Archives: flower arrangements

In a Vase on Monday – Rubens Rebound

I am definitely getting in touch with my inner tropical garden lover this Monday. My rainforest garden is putting out funkier flowers by the day. Of course, the bromeliads are uncooperative about growing where I want them and need rearranging. A winter time chore in full armor is in my future.

The flowers are Aechmea Rubens. I have never heard a common name for this plant. Apparently a botanical garden in Canada picked it up in Brazil and didn’t quite document it, so no one knows exactly where it came from. I am not sure where the one in my garden came from??! The rebound came when I couldn’t remember the name and put the picture in Google Lens and was referred to my own blog!

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A closer view. The flowers are very much like straw flowers. I have had them last until Thanksgiving in the garden. I am not sure about vase life, but I expect it will be a while. The background foliage is a Sabal Palm frond trimmed to fit. The vase and flowers are easily three feet tall. The plant in the garden is at least that tall.

Happy Monday from the tropics.

Thanks to Cathy for hosting. To visit other gardens via vase follow this link to RamblingintheGarden

In a Vase on Monday – Here comes the Frangipani

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The scent of Frangipani at night is a blessing in the tropics. It compensates for the humidity. June brings Bridal Bouquet Frangipani flowers and fragrance into the garden. This is not the typical Frangipani. The growth habit is columnar rather than a rounded tree form and the foliage can be semi evergreen. The foliage is also an unusual shape, called violin.

I use these as upright hedges to screen my neighbors wood fence. Some winters I see more fences than others as semi evergreen is a very good description. Come summer you can’t get much more tropical than this.

A closer view:

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The white flowers are the Bridal Bouquet Frangipani (Plumeria pudica). Yellow and Red flowers are “Lady Di” Heliconias (Heliconia psittacorum). Orange flowers are from the Firebush (Hamelia patens). There is a little charteuse Coleus in the back of the vase. The vase is a large crystal wedding gift from Tiffany’s.

That’s all from my South Florida garden. I’ll be savoring the scents of summer and ignoring the weeds.

Visit Cathy’s blog to see more vases this Monday.

In a Vase on Monday – Tea for Two

The two bottles are from a nice tea assortment I was gifted last year by my nephew’s wife, my niece in law? I saved the bottles and here they are with my vintage Blue Willow teapot enjoying the IAVOM spotlight. The flower colors reflect our weather in South Florida. Hot and hotter. Apparently we haven’t made it to Hell’s Front Porch yet. I see this on social media and have to laugh as it is a fairly apt description of late summer.

The bottle views:

The zinnias are supplying better colors this summer. All pinks and oranges. Another garden mystery to ponder. A few sprigs of Arabian Lilac (Vitex trifolia) and Firecracker Plant (Russelia equisetum) complete the bottle.

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This bottle has Gallardia (Gallardia pulchella), a few sprigs of Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea) and Arabian Lilac.

Happy Monday to all and thanks to Cathy for hosting IAVOM. Follow this link to visit Cathy’s blog and view more vases.

In a Vase on Monday – Tropicow

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I decided a little fun was in order this Monday and selected my cow vase to contain my beguiling tropical flowers. I dodged soaking rain showers while selecting flowers then stopped to dig up and move a Heliconia in the rain. Upon returning to the house drenched and bearing cut flowers; the dog looked at me like I had lost my mind. The Heliconia doesn’t seem to have noticed its new location. Rain is predicted all week, so it is a good time to move tropical plants.

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A closer cow view. The cow is wreathed in white Tropical Gardenias (Tabernaemontana divicata) accented with a pink Zinnia and a pink seedpod from Aechmea “Burgundy” Bromeliad.

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Bringing up the rear of the arrangement is the lovely fragrant “Aztec Gold” Frangipani. The lavendar spikes are from Arabian Lilac (Vitex trifolia). This doesn’t have a fragrance, though it sounds like it should. I like the purple backed leaves.

Happy Sultry Summer from South Florida!

To see more vases follow this link to Cathy’s blog RamblingintheGarden

In a Vase on Monday – Belated Mother’s Day

I usually cut flowers on Sunday for IAVOM. This Sunday was Mother’s Day in the US. This particular Sunday in May always makes me reminisce about gardening with my mother, the Greatest Generation Southern Belle, who everyone called Miss Betty. My interest in gardening was sparked at her knee, planting field pansies (to use in vases for my elementary school teachers!) in the 1960s. Her father was a peach farmer in South Georgia, his mother a devoted gardener as well. The family joke is my brother and I got the farmer gene. Fortunately, the gene has been passed down and there are some more gardeners in the family. I am passing seeds along as they admit their interest and keeping my fingers crossed.

The vase has some unusual components. I am certain Miss Betty would love IAVOM if it had been in existence when she was. The picture is her graduation photo from nursing school in 1948. Here are the details:

The grey ‘flowers’ are Graptosedum. The smaller white flowers, Lotusleaf Begonias (Begonia nelumbifolia). Red bell shaped flowers, Firecracker Plant (Russelia equisetifolium). White flowers, Miss Alice Bougainvillea.Red and yellow and orange flowers, Parrotflowers (Heliconia psittacorum).

Background foliage is Asian Sword Ferns and trimmed Sabal Palm seedlings. The vase is a thrift store find.

Happy Mother’s Day to all, belated and otherwise. Thanks to Cathy for hosting, follow this link to her blog RamblingintheGarden for more vases.

In a Vase on Monday – Spring Bouquet Florida Style

This year I have been enjoying vases of spring bulbs from all my northern blog friends. It had not occurred to me I could have a ‘faux spring bulb’ vase until I was in the garden rooting around for flowers to cut. This is sort of a hand tied bouquet (rubber band version) As I was twirling it around it dawned on me it could pass for daffodils and Dutchman’s breeches. From a distance…I’m not sure what the orange flowers resemble.

What are they really?

Yellow and white flowers are from small trees. The white flowers are White Geiger (Cordia boissieri). The yellow flowers are Yellow Elder (Tecoma stans) Both trees have loopy growth habits and I have not quite figured out how to prune them. It seems if I cut about half off during the winter they look better in summer. Odd, but true. The pink flowers are Coral Vine (Antigonon leptopus) I have been trying for years to get this thing to grow on a fence, but it insists on climbing a nearby lime tree. A thorny lime tree.

Orange flowers are from a Mexican Flame Vine (Pseudogynoxys chenopodiodes) that creeps over from my neighbor’s yard – Giant Swallowtail butterflies come with it, so I really don’t mind. The chartreuse seedheads are from Lotusleaf Begonias (Begonia nelumbiifolia) and the ferns are the invasive Asparagus fern – currently being controlled by flower arrangements. The blue crackled container was a gift. I am not sure if it is a Vase or a candle holder. It has been used for both.

That’s all from South Florida this Monday. I am hoping for water to fall from the sky again. The predicted rain keeps not quite materializing..

Thanks to Cathy at RamblingintheGarden for hosting. Follow the link to see more vases. Possibly with real spring bulbs.

In a Vase on Monday – Heat Wave

We’re not having a heat wave in Florida..yet. I am sure there will be one soon. I was somewhat amused by the heat wave in the UK, the forecasted temperatures there are a nice winter day in South Florida. We are in a bit of a drought with normal spring windy weather, even the bromeliads are a bit crispy.. I have had to drag the hose around, my least favorite garden task. I let the irrigation go when all the turfgrass was asked to leave the garden. Rain is predicted a week from Sunday! UGH.

A closer view: The hot colors have all been plonked into my mother’s old jam jar. She never made jam, but liked to use the jar for flowers. I do the same thing, no jam, just flowers.

The names of the flowers sound hot. Beach Sunflower (Helianthus debilis); Firebush (Hamelia patens) in orange; Indian Blanket (Gallardia pulchella) is snuggly in red and yellow. The white daisies don’t sound so hot..Spanish Needles (Bidens alba). These produce zillions of sharp seeds – supposedly used for needles by Floridian pioneers. They are maybe 3/4 inch long, so I have never figured out quite how that works.

That’s all from South Florida. I’ll be dragging the hose around… To see more Monday vases visit Cathy at RamblingintheGarden.

In a Vase on Monday – Cheers to Spring

This breezy, blue sky morning I went in search of flowers celebrating spring. For some reason almost all the flowers were white. I wonder if it is for the pollinators as many butterflies have recently appeared and white is a favorite flower color of pollinators – or just pale serendipity. More garden happenings to ponder.

To contrast the whiteness, I selected some colorful foliage, then added a little more, then took some cuttings in hopes of getting a few more coleus and eventually spied some yellow daisies! Ah!

The vase is a oversized wineglass I painted at a fundraiser for a friend’s charity. To match my Portmerion Botanic Garden china. This glass has seen more action as a Vase than a wineglass. The glasses were supposed to be baked somehow before using and I never got around to it. So, it is really a Vase.

The close ups:

The flowers: In yellow, Beach Sunflowers (Helianthus debilis); white daisies, Bidens alba; white spikes, “White Flame” Salvia.

The foliage: In chartreuse, an unknown Coleus (hoping for roots); ferny, Bronze Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare); varigated and pink, Chicken Gizzard plant (Iresine herbstii); burgundy, Purple Prince Alternanthera.

Cheers to Cathy this Monday! Thanks for hosting IAVOM. To view more vases, visit Cathy’s blog by following this link, RamblingintheGarden.

In a Vase on Monday – Signs of Summer

Tropical Gardenias and Frangipani flowers mark the beginning of the inevitable slide into summer in South Florida. Spring is fading away, though the pollen isn’t and the weather is fantastic. Of course, being a persnickety gardener, we can’t be happy with what we have and could use a little rain.

The fragrance from this combination would be worthy of a candle. The Tropical Gardenia (Tabernaemontana diviricata) has a much lighter scent than G. jasminoides. Combine that with the sweet yellow and pink Frangipani (Plumeria spp) and add a touch of the herbal tang of White Flame Salvia. I am really enjoying walking into my house and expect the scent to magnify this evening.

The fern in the vase is a Climbing Asparagus Fern (Asparagus africanus). These are invasive in Florida and I pull them when I find them and inevitably find another sooner or later. I enjoy using these in vases and recycling them that way. The plants have thorns so they usually find me.

That’s all from South Florida. I’ll be in the garden not watching the news and getting things straightened out for summer. To see more vases, follow this link to visit Cathy RamblingintheGarden.

In a Vase on Monday – Seeing Red

Suffice it to say there are many in the US seeing red this week. I’m leaning towards seeing a monochromatic color scheme that has a tropical Christmas spirit. Making America Garden Again?

Seizing on the garden update. This is an heirloom Amaryllis (Hippeastrum). I think it is a Red Lion. My father in law grew these every holiday and went through an incredible in the closet/out of the closet ritual to force the flowers. Once the bulbs stopped putting up with his behavior, he planted them outside and gave me a few. This one usually flowers on his birthday, which I consider a wink from the great beyond. This year it was about 10 days late. Maybe things are slow in the great beyond.

The Red Lion roars again. The bell shaped red flowers are Firecracker Plant (Russelia equisetiformis). Palm foliage is from Dwarf Pygmy Date Palm (Phoenix roebellini). I found the vase by the side of the road while walking the dog.

The frothy white accents flowers are Sweet Begonia (Begonia odorata ‘Alba’) These are a fairly indestructible perennial for South Florida gardens. I am not sure how long this one has been around. Ten years at least and it has provided a few generations of offspring along the way.

I am hoping to see more red flowers! That’s all from my South Florida garden this Monday. Follow this link RamblingintheGarden to visit Cathy and see vases from other gardeners around the world.