This week's flower selection began with snipping a single trumpet off the newly arrived flowers of Rhodophiala bifida, commonly known as Oxblood Lily. A Hippeastrum relative, it has a reputation for growing well in very rugged conditions of the hot and dry sort. Not surprisingly, it has a tendency to bloom in response to rain, and a couple days worth of showers last week popped the first one out of the ground. This first blooming stem has grown to about a foot tall; like another relative, Amaryllis belladonna, it flowers naked of leaves. Like its cousins, it carries a full head of blooms; and as I only wanted to take one, this left me with a very short-stemmed flower.
All of which meant there was no harm in clipping a bloom of William Shakespeare 2000, which also has a habit of flowering on rather stubby stems.
Then there were the chrysanthemums, equally short but certainly the right color to combine with the Rhodophiala...
...and also some white Catharanthus flowers with center spots nearly the color of the rose. Along with some stems of Salvia farinacea, which is blooming very well now.
All of this determined the use of a very shallow dish with florist's foam, for once. The bowl is one of my early stoneware pieces, handthrown and left unglazed.
Having decided on the blue Salvia, I snipped some stems of lavender also (the never-failing "Goodwin's Creek Gray"). Plus grass stems: Muhlenbergia capillaris "Regal Mist" and Bouteloua gracilis "Blonde Ambition".
I love the feathers of the Bouteloua.
Foliage came from Hamelia patens, which has only just begun turning and has started setting a few of its glossy, dark berries on their scarlet stems.
Additional foliage was cut from lemon thyme (left) and Myoporum parvifolium "Pink" (right).
All together...
Thanks to Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for the wonderful IVoM theme, which inspires many of us to cut flowers from the garden to brighten our homes!
Weather Diary: Sunny; High: 60 F (16 C)/Low: 42 F (6 C); Humidity: 21%-92%
Kris P (Tuesday, 29 November 2016 22:15)
I love the way you echoed the red of the flowers in the foliage you used, Amy. That vase makes great use of the short stems too.
danger garden (Wednesday, 30 November 2016 00:13)
Oh this is just perfect! The vase, the flowers, the foliage...everything is allowed to shine and complement each other without overwhelming.
Amy@smallsunnygarden (Wednesday, 30 November 2016 10:36)
Kris - It was only after I combined things that I realized how much the Hamelia leaves had begun to turn, which is promising as it's supposed to be a good source for autumn color.
I think I had better make some more small dishes for arrangements like this... ;-)
Amy@smallsunnygarden (Wednesday, 30 November 2016 10:39)
That's a big compliment, Loree, especially as I wasn't sure while I was poking stems in... ;-)
Cathy (Wednesday, 30 November 2016 12:38)
Wow, this is lovely! The short flowers contrasted with the tall grasses is so effective. The colours are beautiful together too. This is my favourite vase of the month Amy! :)
Cathy (Wednesday, 30 November 2016 13:41)
Just as Kris said, you have picked out the russets in the foliage perfectly with the rose and oxblood lily and chrysanthemum, and the blues and grasses complement them perfectly. I love the look of your shallow vase too - you have such an eye for shape with the vases you create and I love to see them. Thank you :)
Amy@smallsunnygarden (Thursday, 01 December 2016 10:37)
Cathy@Words and Herbs - Thank you so much :) I think I shall have to try this idea again sometime...
Amy@smallsunnygarden (Thursday, 01 December 2016 10:42)
Cathy@Rambling in the Garden - It is nice to get a little foliage color, however slight, to play with. And perhaps there should be more of these shallow dishes for the flowers...? ;-) Thanks so much, Cathy!
Diana Studer (Thursday, 01 December 2016 16:30)
Goodness but that's beautiful!
Amy@smallsunnygarden (Sunday, 04 December 2016 01:05)
Diana - Thank you - much appreciated! :)
Eliza Waters (Monday, 05 December 2016 07:32)
Such a beautiful arrangement! Well-balanced in form and color, I esp. love the airy grasses!
Amy@smallsunnygarden (Friday, 09 December 2016 16:29)
- i ! :) !
Amy@smallsunnygarden (Saturday, 10 December 2016 08:48)
Eliza - So sorry for the nonsense reply above; that was my phone keyboard acting up! So glad you enjoyed the arrangement; it was a fun one to do :) The grasses have added so much texture both in the garden and the vases!