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I Attempt A Flower Arrangment
Inspired by an expert demonstration of garden flower arranging, I decided to attempt one of my own. Start with a bucket of water for collecting material. Umm...not sure where the bucket is. How about a pot? Okay.
First, gather foliage. Okay. The Abelia 'Kaleidescope' needed cutting back, so that was the first stop. Stick with a color scheme rather than random colors. Check. The Leucadendron reds matched the red stems of the Abelia.
Lovely red on the new foliage of Lagerstroemia 'Dynamite'.
Oh hey. Red stems and tips on the Leucadendron linearfolia.
There you go. Done! Okay, not yet.
A spent flower stem of Aloe 'Fire Ranch', and red-tipped, red-flowered Calothamnus villosus.
No red, but the variegated Ceanothus needs cutting back. Might as well use it. The yellow in the Ceanothus foliage looks right with the yellow in the mature Abelia foliage.
Not going to use either of these, but suddenly I realize there's a lot of beautiful foliage in the garden.
A big leaf would be nice, but not a lot of big leaves in the garden. Large leaves tend to be on plants with high water requirements, and large leaves get shredded by our powerful Santa Ana wind storms. The pumkin leaves are cool, though.
Time to add some flowers. Oh! Is this new Dahlia, 'Catching Fire' gorgeous...
A voice in my head says: "Yellow!" Right-o. Rosa 'Molineux'.
My neighbor walks by with her puppy, Emmie. Isn't Emmie adorable? Natasha, in the house, starts shrieking.
Back to the project. Dark day lily. Oooh!
Wild Alstroemeria 'Rock n Roll'? Uh, maybe?
A stem with apples or a pomegranate on it? Not in this garden. How about...
Umm...no. An Aeonium would be cool, and since the garden has a gazillion of them, a good idea. Okay, material assembled.
Oooh...maybe the gathering isn't quite complete...I'll think about that. It was mentioned that doing your arranging right out in the garden makes it easy to go run for more stuff. Very true.
Okay. I remember from the demo that the foliage goes in first. Strip off all the leaves that will end up underwater. The arrangement will last longer that way.
Huh. How about that: the Calothamnus has a wonderful herbal fragrance when the leaves are stripped--a cross between pine and rosemary. I never knew that. Mmmmm!
There's the start. Abelia, Lagerstroemia, Calothamnus.
Ceanothus, and those Philodendron 'Golden Xanadu' will work, too.
While I'm at the arrangement, the hummers are at the feeder.
Hey, not bad...
Now, flowers. Eric from the demonstration said when the flowers are large, they are best tucked down low, into the foliage. I try the Aeonium, which is foliage, and the day lillies. The one on the left got damaged in the picking. Removed.
Roses and the Alstroemeria. Not bad!
And a duo of the wonderful Dahlias...
Finishing touches. Wispy bits above--the Aloe stems with their pods, and a few bits of Saliva 'Red Dragon. Another Philodendron leaf adds structure to what was a muddled area. Hey, not bad! I surprised myself. Excellent inspiration plus beginner's luck.
I'll sneak those onions in there somehow, if only for a moment.
Better clean up now. Hey, there's the bucket.
Very nice! You have such a plant palette to choose from too. Looking forward to seeing more soon!
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid my beginners luck will run out!
DeleteIt looks like a still life work of art Gail!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I am amazed at how well it turned out.
DeleteAwesome arrangement. This would cost a fortune at the florist.Inspired!! Here I go skipping off to the backyard.
ReplyDeleteIf I can do it, everyone else can do even better.
DeleteWOW. This is seriously beautiful. I'd buy this as a gift in a heartbeat.
ReplyDeleteThank you! There are even Aloe seeds in there. :)
DeleteWonderful arrangement. Love the photos documenting your process. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it. Thank you!
DeleteFine job Hoov ! Your methodical approach led to an excellent result..
ReplyDeleteI was hoping method would make up for cluelessness. I think in this one instance it might have.
DeleteIf I didn't know you better I'd say that whole beginners luck thing was just an act. As it is I'd say you're a natural.
ReplyDeleteYou are very kind. Even a few simple basic tips and a plan of action well demonstrated turned out to help a WHOLE LOT.
DeleteWow, Miss Beginner, head of class immediately! That is a beautiful arrangement!
ReplyDeleteNo one is more surprised than me. Thanks!
DeleteLooks like you had fun doing this and the results are killer. You're going to have trouble claiming incompetence in the future.
ReplyDeleteUh oh!
DeleteGorgeous! You took all your lessons to heart and produced a beautiful bouquet. Oh, how I'd love to have plants from your garden to choose from. I saw that Leucadendron linearfolia in your garden and vowed yet again to find a spot to put one.
ReplyDeleteOh, no! Arrangments: yet another excuse to buy plants.
DeleteI love that Leucadendron. It's so much prettier than I ever expected.
My taste in arrangements is eccentric. While I like the final result fine, my favorite stage is the picture below "Hey, not bad..." What a gorgeous collection of foliage.
ReplyDeleteRight now the peonies are popping here, so it's easy to put together a smashing "arrangement" with minimal effort. Every year get rid of one of the worst color clashes in the garden by harvesting all the blooms off one pouffy magenta-pink double peony that's right next to a maroon 'Crimson Pigmy' barberry. The peony is a self-sown seedling of 'Gay Paree', and is so healthy and productive I can never bring myself to dig it out. Ninety-nine percent of seedling peonies are floppy, washy pink singles; this one has strong stems, consistent full "bomb" double form, and non-fading color -- and the foliage turns nicely red in fall. So there's one day each year of wincing, followed by two minutes of clipping, after which both garden and front hall are improved.
Oh Peonies, you lucky! And a wonderful seedling--that is even luckier. I guess that is a consolation for cold(ish?) winters? That is a good idea about picking the flowers that clash. I have a copper/purple iris next to a yellow-and-red striped rose. When they bloom at the same time it's quite embarrassing.
DeleteNo (ish) about the cold this winter! Started in early and kept it up late. There was a lot of moisture, too. Some of the plants that seemed to start off this spring with more zing than usual: tulips (the few that remain), alliums, and Siberian iris.
DeleteDamn, I am totally impressed. Flowers arranging is hard and you made this look totally effortless. Nicely done!
ReplyDeleteI did it, and I don't even believe it. Thanks!
DeleteThis is truly beautiful! I'd say you were a natural, and as an incompetent, I appreciate the little hints along the way (like big flowers belong down low.) That Alstroemeria 'Rock n Roll', is pretty amazing with its strong foliage variegation and bright red flowers...who knew they could be so overall colorful?
ReplyDeleteThe "put big flowers down low in the foliage" thing was very, very helpful.
DeleteI continue to be surprised by that Alstroemeria--never thought I'd like it that much.
Late to the party, but had to say: that arrangement is glorious. Luck, maybe, but ay caramba, do you have a great eye for color and design. Beautiful!
ReplyDelete