In A Vase On Monday December 11, 2017 (And Other Flowers)


 In A Vase On Monday is hosted by Cathy at Rambling In The Garden and provides inspiration and motivation to create your own bouquets from materials found in your own garden. 
 Our terrible Wind Event of last week motivated me to create a bouquet of roses.  The wind stripped most of the foliage off many roses, and since it is nearly rose pruning time in Southern California,  removing long stems is something that needs to be done anyway.  The roses include 'Snowbird' and 'Iceberg' (whites), the indefatigable 'Belindas Dream' (medium pink), 'Rouge Royale' and 'William Shakespeare 2000) (dark pink), and 'Firefighter' (crimson).  We are very lucky to have December roses.

 I added a few stems of red-tipped Leucadendron 'Reverse Polarity', always gorgeous in a vase.  Removing those stems shaped the young plant at the same time; it was somewhat lopsided.  

Particularly fine OGR style form on this 'Belinda's Dream', and as I took the photo, the perfume of 'Rouge Royale' filled the (very dry) air.  
Recently blogged about, the stem of 'Minerva' Hippeastrum snapped off in the winds;  I put the stem in a vase to enjoy what was left indoors.  
 Wind survivors in the garden...a new 'Pink Ice' Protea flower looks undamaged, though the foliage is a bit burnt.  Perhaps the star of a future bouquet.
Ripening clementines!  It's a thrill to be able to walk out into the garden to pick and eat something like this, before the squirrels get them all:
 The Aloe thraskii flowers are opening to the delight of bees, hummingbirds, and Orange Crowned Warblers.
 The lower sun angle of December makes Yucca 'Bright Star' glow warmly. 
 'Molineux' has deep rich color because of that low sun.
 Somewhat sheltered from the northeast winds by the house, the December flush of 'The Ambridge Rose' looks fairly good.  Fountain in the foreground:
 The fountain provided water for thirsty birds during this week of extreme low humidity.  Happy to help!  

She is able to drink from the film of water that cascades down the surface of the urn.
 Despite the week of terrible winds, the first flower on Grevillea 'Kings Fire' survived and is opening.
 The wind is finally expected to ease today.  The multiple huge wildfires, unfortunately, are still burning;  we continue to think of those who have lost their homes, and the firefighters still working to save others.  

Comments

  1. HB, I love your roses! they look so fresh and abundant, the second spring is always wonderful in warm climates like ours, I can't wait for april! My roses are struggling to survive in the heat. The picture of the hummingbird is stunning they are truly beautiful little creatures. Have a great week!

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    1. Roses have their most beautiful flowers at this time of year, if the weather permits, as it often does. Good luck with summer--it was a tough one here, too.

      Best wishes!

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  2. Dear Hoover Boo, I have to admit that I am getting very jelouse about what your garden is bringing you in december. So beautiful. I do understand now why Ambridgerose is bringing me only a few flowers. It loves to be in the warmth. I have no words enough of the great respect I have for the firefigthers.
    Have a wonderful day.
    Rosehugs Marijke

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    1. Ambridge Rose took several years to produce plentiful flowers here. Flowers were few at first. I would say it likes "mild" more than real warmth.

      Have a beautiful day, Marijke. There is something to be said for winter rest--it gives a gardener time to plan for Spring.

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  3. So beautiful 'The Ambridge Rose' with the fountain and then the bird.......wonderful! And...such a joy to have your own clementines in the garden. Beautiful roses still in December and the Monday vase of flowers is great too. It's always interesting to see what is blooming and growing in other parts of the world, especially when my own garden is covered with a thick layer of snow. It has been snowing today, all day......

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    1. Snow! That has its own beauty, but best observed from indoors where it is warm!

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  4. Looking wonderful! Your vase is a thing of beauty and that shot of the hummingbird is insanely fabulous.

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    1. Thanks. Arrangements take practice. Perhaps I'll learn, eventually. I was standing in the garden camera in hand thinking about what to do next and the hummer appeared. Lucky timing.

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  5. I'm pleased to see your lovely roses in a vase this Monday! After the past week, I think we should all plant 'Firefighter' roses to honor those who do so much for us. That Aloe is spectactular. I'm glad the hummers are making good use of your new-ish fountain too. My own fountain has been attracting lots of thirsty bees but I'm keeping the hummers' feeder full too.

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    1. That rose is an excellent one--a great way to honor firefighters. The bees here can't get to the pond water anymore since the fern filled up the top of the shower, so now they have discovered the fountain base out front. :)

      Your fountain is one of the most bird-popular I've seen, you placed it just right.

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  6. Can you explain the fountain's mechanical set-up? I love how the hummer drinks from it!

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    1. The urn sits on top of a water-filled, covered basin that is mostly below soil level--just a few inches exposed. The cover of the basin has a small hole in its center, and a rectangular hole with a removable cover plate off to one side that allows access to the pump.

      The pump is a submersible one that sits in the basin. A flexible pipe connected to the pump runs up through the hole in the basin cover, up through a corresponding hole in the bottom of the urn. The flexible pipe continues up through the urn, connecting to a short copper pipe that comes through the center of a plate that sits on top of the urn.

      The pump sends water in the basin up through the flexible pipe and then copper pipe. The water emerges into the ceramic plate on top of the urn, fills the plate, and then spills down the sides of the urn in a thin film, running back down into the basin, to be recirculated over and over. The plate is secured to the top of the urn with silicon sealant.

      The electric cord to run the pump goes into a separate vertical pipe down in the basin. The cord runs down the vertical pipe and emerges below the basin and runs out and up through the surrounding soil to a nearby electrical outlet. There's a rubber plug on the top of the basin's vertical pipe to keep the water in the basin. The rubber plug has a small hole for the electric cord to pass through and is waterproofed with plumber's putty.

      I protected the electric cord from shovels by running it through some pvc irrigation pipe where it is in the soil.

      I hope I explained that in an understandable fashion! You can make your own fountain with any urn that has a hole in the bottom and a ceramic plate that will fit snugly in the top of the urn; basins are available for sale by themselves, as are submersible pumps. If I had it to do over, I could have saved a lot of money making one myself.

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  7. Gorgeous flowers in your vase and in your garden! I'm impressed with your photographic skill in capturing the hummingbird.

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    1. Thanks! Just luck, happened to be standing there when the bird flew in for a drink.

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  8. I think you are too humble, but the roses are beautiful enough to almost arrange themselves. The Leucodendron, my dear, is on you...nice touch. Icy week here, so these lush photos really lift my spirits.

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    1. Good thing those roses can arrange themselves!

      Icy? You mean those things from the freezer to put in lemonade? It is 83F here today. :(

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  9. Just back inside from sleet-laden winds, driving the temps down to tonight's predicted teens... and the warming effect of this post is tangible. Particularly the clementines and Aloe thraskii; mmmm.
    I could look at that hummingbird all day; what a great shot.
    Hope the winds die down and some kind of moisture moves in to help put out the fires very soon.

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    1. A little too warm. Lotusland is in serious peril in Montecito now. The fire continues. :(

      "Sleet"? "Teens"? Same planet, different world.

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