Category Archives: in a vase on monday

In a Vase on Monday – Cathy’s Challenge

Last week I challenged myself to create a colorful, informal vase with gardenias. As usual, I chatted back and forth with Cathy at http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com, our IAVOM host. We were talking about my dearth of pastels in the garden. The challenge was not a teapot vase – but one filled with pastel colors. To see more vases follow the link to Cathy’s blog.

A closer view:

It took a while to suss out a total pastel palette. I suppose the light here is so strong I tend towards using higher colors in the garden and have a few pastels. Many are serendipitous (Weeds!)

The long pink flower and foliage is chandelier plant (Medinilla cummingi); pink flowers are annual vinca (Vinca rosea), a perennial here and a weed; yellow flowers hanging over the edge are snapdragons, surprising me by coming up from last years winter annuals seed; blue flowers are plumbago (Plumbago auriculata); green flowers are Envy zinnias; purple backed leaves and flowers are Arabian Lilacs (Vitex trifolia); coral spikes are Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea).

The teapot is from an antiquing venture long ago, teacups are from my grandmother, cow creamer was a gift from someone and the tole tray belonged to my mother.

Tea, anyone?

I have been baking again. This is vegan. Vanilla cupcake stuffed with pineapple reduction and pineapple buttercream frosting.

In a Vase on Monday – Country Challenge

I am holding out hope for cooler weather as the dog days of summer officially end on August 11. I doubt that will bring an end to our daily high temperatures of over 90 F, but one can dream. September brings an average high of 89. October is when the real cool down begins. Rain is still copious and all the more tropical summer flowers are relishing the moisture and flowering with reckless abandon.

I challenged myself this week to create a vase with gardenias that wasn’t all white or seemingly formal. This is the easy, breezy, country casual gardenia vase. Tropical version.

The vase started out in a mason jar. Very casual country. The clear glass showed too much of the weird and thick tropical stems of the bromeliad and palm. Who ever thought stems would be distracting? The vase needed clothes. A basket a friend sent with a gardenia plant (I killed it, G. jasminoides) was pressed into service.

The red and yellow flowers are parrotflowers (Heliconia psittacorum ‘Lady Di’); the red and blue tipped flowers are miniata bromeliads (Aechmea miniata); white flowers are tropical gardenias (Tabernaemontana diviricata); white green stems with berries are adonidia palm (Veitchii merrillii) unripe fruit; striped foliage is martin bromeliad (Neoregelia martinii); ferny accents are asparagus fern.

Another view:

Thanks to Cathy at ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting this weekly array of floral abundance. Follow the link to see more vases.

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Gee, Gardenias

The Tropical Gardenias (Tabernaemontana diviricata) have been flowering madly. I have been waiting for an opportunity to cut them for a vase. The shrub is over ten feet tall, so blooms have to be on the low side. Several flowers were within reach on Sunday morning and I cut all of them.

Last week, Susie’s heirloom teapot vase made me remember mine inspiring its use as a vase. This teapot was a wedding gift my parents received in 1950. It was used to brew iced tea as long as I can remember – the interior of the pot is stained tea colored. The white tea towel was unearthed in an old friend’s grandmother’s house. The grandmother was in her 90’s in the 1980’s and the towel belonged to her mother – who knows how old it is. I was gifted the towel as it matched my monogram. They certainly don’t make things like this anymore. The G.

The Tropical Gardenias are joined by two types of Salvia, ‘White Flame’ and Tropical Red; foliage is Asian Sword Ferns and a few sprigs of Golden Dewdrop (Duranta repens).

Happy Monday!! I’ll be sniffing my foyer enjoying the fragrance of Gardenias..

Thanks to Cathy at http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting. Follow the link to see more vases.

In a Vase on Monday – Helfire and Romans.

The title sounds downright biblical. But it is not. I have seen Florida’s weather this time of year called Hell’s Front Porch – that seems pretty accurate currently. So I decided to see if I could do an all hot color arrangement. Using Hel – icona, Fire – bush, and Roman – Red Salvia. I think the Heliconia flowers lend a flame shaped touch to the arrangement.

I just found out there are dog day Cicadas in Florida. More unintentional biblical reference. They seem especially loud this year, lending their song to underline the heat and humidity. It is interesting how sounds can emphasize weather. Despite the heat the garden continues to thrive. This is largely due to consistent downpours from afternoon thunderstorms. The Firebush has grown almost three feet since May. They are foundation plants and I need to trim them back so I can see out the window! Expect more orange in vases in the near future.

A ‘Lady Di’ Heliconia (Heliconia psittacorum) bud looking flame like and surrounded by Firebush (Hamelia patens var patens)

A few sprigs of ‘Roman Red’ Salvia joins the crew. This is one of the best Salvias to cut, lasting longer than the the Tropical Reds and Mystic Spires. The greenery is from palms. A bit of Lady Palm (Rhapis excelsa) in the foreground and a trimmed Sabal Palm (Palmetto sabal) providing a grey green backdrop.

The vase is a thrift store find. I may need to revisit that store, I have really enjoyed this vase.

That is all from South Florida. Where I am doing as little gardening as possible. Thanks to Cathy at http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting. Follow the link for a vase tour of gardens.

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Simple Summer S’s

I have been enjoying my “S” plants this summer. I noticed how big the Salvia flowers have grown with all the rain as I walking the dog this morning. The resiliency of plants continually amazes me, last summer it was very dry – I had the same flowers, they were just half the size.

The Brown Eyed Girl Sunflowers are still blooming and have been since February. They are in a container in the sunniest part of the garden; seemingly not enjoying quite that much sun. They have grown over the side of the container into a shrub to get out the heat. The container features stems underplanted with groundcover bromeliads, a bit odd at this point, but I hate to disturb anything in July. Even the Lantana is taking a rest from flowering.

The vase reflects my simple scheme. The glass I drank my orange juice from was sitting on the counter when I came in with the flowers. It was rinsed and repurposed. I figured the flowers might enjoy a little OJ. I think this qualifies as a plonk.

Close ups:

The Brown Eyed Girl Sunflowers and seedheads. I saw several vases with seedheads last week, loved them and went looking for a few for my vase.

The Salvias: in red with long flowers, ‘Roman Red’, shorter red flowers are Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea). The ‘Roman Red’ is definitely not as hardy as the native Tropical Red, it has stopped flowering and appears to be shrinking. Oddly, the armadillos are attracted to it and dug both up, that may explain their unhappiness! In blue, “Mystic Spires’ Salvia; in white, Tropical Red Salvia that reseeded white.

I am thankful July is half over, it is the hottest month of the year in my garden. Adding insult to injury are the bugs this year. I am swarmed by no see ums after about 15 minutes outside and have to retreat. There will be loads of prunings and errant weeds in a few months.

Thanks to Cathy for hosting IAVOM. Visit her blog at ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Parrots and Poinsettias

Here’s another set of strange bedfellows from my garden. I would consider this an unlikely combination anywhere but South Florida. The parrots are Parrotflowers (Heliconia psittacorum) and the poinsettias are a native Floridian Euphorbia called Florida Poinsettia (Euphorbia cyathophora). I like the little bits of red on the foliage accenting the colors of the flowers.

I have tried growing the usual Christmas poinsettia in the garden and failed. The Florida version is a wildflower that appears from time to time. Having read up on it a bit I should probably pull them out. It seems they are one of those perverse plants that is hard to grow from seed if you want it – but a prolific reseeder if you don’t. If I don’t act soon the next thing could be a mowed poinsettia lawn for the holidays. Not a festive look.

A closer view:

The Parrotflowers are orange and red and yellow. The orange ones are Heliconia psittacorum “Choconiana”; the reds H. psittacorum “Lady Di”. These are very tropical and did not appreciate the 30 degree temperatures in January and are just recovering. The flowers are smaller than usual for some reason. Yellow spikes are from the Thyrallis (Galphimia gracilis) shrub.

The Florida Poinsettia foliage. Another common name for this is Fire on the Mountain. Where they found the mountains in Florida we will never know.

That is all from sweltering South Florida.

Many thanks to Cathy at http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting this weekly meme. Follow the link to see more vases from gardens around the world.

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Mystic Muscadines

It is somewhat of a mystery where all the @#! muscadines came from behind my house. The grapes are bitter, have huge seeds and the vines can grow 10 or 15 feet during the summer and once you start pulling it is impossible to find the end of them. I had these at my house in Atlanta and it took a few years to find them all but – I won. This time I am not so sure. So, every summer I have grapes in a vase or two. I love the chartreuse color of the unripe grapes. The vases have not reduced the vines, though it would be wonderful if they did! I need a large grapevine basket or wreath making business.

The Mystic here is the blue spike in the back of the arrangement. I love these. Mystic Spires Salvia. Amazingly long lived for South Florida, one has been flowering since March 2021. I realized I needed one more and then pulled myself back from planting anything in July.

Closer views:

The unripe grapes of the Muscadine (Vitis rotundifolia). This is a native grape to a large portion of the southern and eastern US, there are some varieties that are good to eat or used in making wine. The white bracts are Miss Alice Bougainvillea flowers. Orange and sage green flowers are from Soap Aloe (Aloe saponaria).

The spires of the Mystic Spires Salvia accented with foliage from Varigated Flax Lilies (Dianella tasmanica)

I have been baking with Thai dessert mangoes harvested from my tree this afternoon. I ended up with four ripe mangoes and decided to make vanilla cupcakes with mango filling topped with mango buttercream. Not to worry, these are actually vegan, not terribly unhealthy in the scheme of life and very good.

That is all from South Florida this week. No, I am not considering cake decorating classes.

Thanks to Cathy at http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting. Follow the link to see more vases…

In a Vase on Monday – Lobster, Asparagus & Rose`

Lobster with a side of asparagus and a glass of rose` sounds like a rocking dinner. A large quantity of melted butter would be necessary for this gastronomic delight and another side dish, roasted potatoes, I think. Hmmm. Well, this vase is not for dinner, though the conceptual components are there and the rock was necessary to hold the plants in place.

I know summer is in full force when the Heliconias start to flower and the solstice was their day. There are flowers still opening and this is really the best Heliconia year to date. I am guessing the vast rain fall helped. These flowers are so dramatic they need little embellishment, kind of like lobster.

The flowers:

The Lobsterclaw Heliconia (Heliconia rostrata). These are planted outside my Living Room windows to give a rainforest vibe to the view. This is sort of a large, leafy plant but very linear and easy to see through so I have enjoyed the view.

The Asparagus Fern accents the Heliconia and is held in place by the rock. The vase is a rose` bottle from a dreadful bottle of rose` I bought from Aldi based on an internet rave review. The last rave review I ever bought wine from, though I have enjoyed the bottle as a vase.

The rock:

The rock. My father was a geology professor who loved crystals and especially tourmaline and quartz. This is black tourmaline and a quartz crystal likely found somewhere in North Georgia where I am from.

It is closing in on dinnertime in South Florida and I am wishing for the above ingredients! No such luck this week

Thanks to Cathy for hosting IAVOM, to see more vases follow this link http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Tropical Depression or not

Among my vases this one is not particularly exotic, though it has some tropical elements. I have been meaning to use this green cream pitcher as a vase for a while. It belonged to my mother, who got it from her mother. My mother was always miffed with me that I could not tell the difference between depression glass and pressed glass. I have an inkling this is pressed glass, though I could be remembering my mother pressing her lips together in frustration as I misidentified another piece of glass!

There is a 90 percent chance of a tropical depression forming in the Atlantic this week. Of course, it is headed my way. I am going to hope for rain and continue to enjoy the flowers, with or without depression glass.

The flowers:

Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea) in pinks; ‘White Flame’ Salvia in white, and ‘Mystic Spires’ Salvia in blue. The purple spikes are Arabian Lilac (Vitex trifolia). I like the Arabian Lilac though it is growing into an odd flat shrub. More pruning fun for me.

Brown Eyed Girl Sunflowers are still going, though they are seeking some shade by growing over the edge of the container.This seems strange, sunflowers avoiding the sun? The small yellow spikes are flowers of Java White Copperleaf (Acalypha wilkesiana ‘Java White’). More garden mysteries to contemplate.

That is all from my garden this Monday. Thank you to Cathy for hosting IAVOM. To see more vases visit Cathy at http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com.

Happy Gardening!!

In a Vase on Monday – Graptosalvia

Rest assured that the spell check did not like that word I made up, Graptosalvia. It still doesn’t, and would not even hazard a guess at what I was trying to type. Grapto for the grey graptosedum and salvia for the flowers.

The wildflowers in my garden have responded wonderfully to my haphazard fertilizing a couple of months ago followed by lavish rain showers over the past couple of weeks. I have never seen them so big or so green. Another home run for time release fertilizer. Osmocote may be the secret for gardening on sugar sand. The succulents, graptosedum and friends, are also enjoying the heat and food. I never do anything special to the succulents and they just keep multiplying..the instructions I read on the internet for succulents boggle my mind.

The contents:

The funky foliage in the vase – two cuttings of grey graptosedum, these things tend to shed leaves as they are moved, so I arranged the lost leaves into a fan at the base of the vase. The spiky green foliage is a frond from a palm seedling stuffed between the flower stems to make them stand up straight. It looks deceptively like a spike dracaena.

The flowers:

In red, white and pink spikes, Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea); yellow flowers are Thyrallis (Galphimia gracilis), this is one of my favorite summer flowering shrubs. It would probably be taller if I did not like to cut the flowers. There are a few white spikes of Sweet Almond Bush (Aloysia virgata) and I managed to cut the Gallardias (Gallardia pulchella) off the bottom of the picture. The vase is a leftover florist vase from ..who knows where, but the perfect size.

Happy Summer Monday to all and thanks to Cathy at http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting IAVOM. Follow the link to see more vases..