Today's vase was quite a flamboyant concoction. It began several days ago when I salvaged a broken stem of Hippeastrum "Red Pearl".
Last autumn I planted "Red Pearl" directly out into the North Border. It has grown well: a little more slowly than my potted Christmas bulb and much more quickly than the Hippeastrums already in the garden. It is a luscious red, very classic.
The blooms are enormous and dwarf the pot I put them in. I measured them: a cluster of four blooms, each seven or eight inches wide.
For the rest of the vase, I used stems of the ever-reliable Russelia equisetiformis "Big Red"...
...along with the pink-blooming Eremophila maculata "Valentine".
Also there is the lavender, in this case Lavandula dentata...
and another plant of very similar hues, Limonium perezii.
The main foliage accent...
...comes from the still autumnal leaves of Hamelia patens.
As I say, one hardly sees the vase for the size of the flowers, but this is one of my handthrown stoneware pots with a dark, iron-rich glaze.
Wishing all of you a happy week! Do go to Rambling in the Garden to check the other vases from this last Monday of February!
Weather Diary: Rain; High: 59 F (15 C)/Low: 47 F (8 C); Humidity: 47% -100%
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Cathy (Tuesday, 28 February 2017 08:09)
Oh, how wonderful! All the additional flowers really complement the gorgeous Hippeastrum, but especially the Hamamelis leaves, which are a lovely accent around the edges. Beautiful vase too, Amy. :)
Loree (Tuesday, 28 February 2017 11:05)
Oh Amy that is just luscious! The deep deep red sets the stage for some serious drama. I love it!
Ian Lumsden (Tuesday, 28 February 2017 15:29)
Such a rich red colour. The Hippeastrum is so different to the plants we have available at this time. I'm no flower arranger, trust me, but the smaller flowers and autumn leaves set off the main course to perfection.
Kris P (Tuesday, 28 February 2017 18:02)
I love the rich red and purple combination. It's warming up here (at last!) and I'm wondering if my own Hippeastrum, planted in the ground along the street, will be making an appearance any time soon. Your post has me heading off to check whether there are any signs of flower stalks yet.
Amy@smallsunnygarden (Wednesday, 01 March 2017 10:32)
Well, I am back to very slow internet here, so I am going to slip all my replies into a single "comment" to save loading times!
Cathy - I was so pleased to find material that would combine with the hippeastrum flowers! They are so big I wasn't sure what to look for ;-) but everything did seem to fall into place finally. Very glad you like the vase too :)
Loree - It's hard to beat those deep reds for drama :) Thanks so much!
Ian - So glad you like the effect! It was hard to decide what to use with those enormous blooms as I rarely work with anything that large... Growing the Hippeastrums has been a thrilling opportunity with this garden - still waiting to see how they do long-term!
Kris - I keep checking mine from earlier plantings, but so far I only find leaves. As I recall, last year "Naranja" sent up its last bloom stalk in early summer. Glad to hear you're warming up a bit; I was a less than pleased about our latest cooldown, but the plants don't share my opinion! ;-)
Thanks, all!
Cathy (Wednesday, 01 March 2017 11:23)
Such a deep red, making it look really velvety - and the russelia and Eremophila and Hamelia in particular complement it perfectly. Thanks for sharing it
Brian Skeys (Wednesday, 01 March 2017 11:46)
Such deep rich colours Amy.
Amy@smallsunnygarden (Wednesday, 01 March 2017 15:57)
Cathy - The texture and color complement each other perfectly, don't they? Thanks so much :)
Amy@smallsunnygarden (Wednesday, 01 March 2017 16:00)
I do love those, Brian, and they work so well in this garden... ;-)