Yesterday I was working furiously on a painting and could not grab time for a vase; my garden time went almost entirely to watering: a daily excursion at present and a fairly rigourous assignment as I still feel the garden is too sparse to warrant laying out the soaker hose. (Which is already waiting in the garage!) This morning I was determined to put a vase together, but it had to be done rapidly as I was off to get an oil change at the auto repair shop. Simplicity was of the essence.
I had been debating clipping back a stem or two of the beautiful crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia "Rhapsody in Pink") planted a few weeks ago. The intention is to train it as a small tree; therefore some of the stems must go. But it was a mistaken cut that took two of the little branches this morning: I only meant to cut one as I have no idea whether it might stress the plant badly to prune it much in this weather! Hopefully not; and the deed being done, I set the two stems in my earthenware jug and photographed them.
By the way, the stems did not last long cut. Does anyone have recommendations for conditioning Lagerstroemia for cutting? I split the stem ends as they are so woody, but I did nothing else. It's such a beautiful thing - flowers and foliage both. I would love to be able to use it for future vases... sometime next spring, perhaps...!
Happy Tuesday!
Crepe Myrtle's are beautiful, lovely choice you have made.:)
ReplyDeleteThis was the first I was able to add to the garden, and it's quickly becoming a favourite! Thanks for dropping by :)
DeleteWith temperatures in the stratosphere like that, Amy, finding flowers can't be easy but I enjoy seeing the Crepe Myrtle flowers up close. I usually treat woody stems just as you did. I've heard that crushing the bottom of the stem can help but I can't say I've ever tried it myself.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Kris - the amount in bloom has really dropped over the past week or two, but this baby Crape Myrtle has kept on going! I'm very glad I went ahead and bought it ;-) I've read about crushing stems for roses so maybe that would be the next thing to try. I wonder, too, whether the temperature shock might have wilted them down in any case - even though it was coming into the relatively cool house...
DeleteYour arrangement design is lovely. I'm sorry the stems didn't last very long. I've used them before in a vase but honestly don't recall how well they survived. They're nice for the short term anyway and you'd already made the cut.
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly how I felt ;-) Maybe next year the plant will be large enough to let me experiment with cutting a little more...! Thanks for dropping by :)
DeleteWhat amazing petals they have! Dipping in boiling water is recommended for some woodier stems so I would give that a go if it was me - about 20 seconds or so. Thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteThanks for the advice, Cathy! I can't believe that little plant is still flowering; I won't be cutting any more stems for a while, but I'll try to remember to try boiling water when I do :)
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