Monday, June 29, 2015

Monday Vase: Summer Pastels

Monday vase meme
Today's vase is made up of soft and silver hues; they seem very appropriate for the end of June.
Monday vase meme, Crown Princess Margareta
This is a curious mixture, all the same, combining garden roses and wild foliage.  Here is how it came about.

Most of the roses have slowed or stopped flower production in deference to the heat, which has reached well over 105 F (41 C) daily for I'm not sure how long now.  I'm pleased to see them putting bloom on pause while the bushes still look healthy - after all, these are all newly planted.  But a few insist on blooming anyway, and they cope by producing much smaller flowers.  The bloomer-in-chief is Crown Princess Margareta.  These blooms must be more or less unrecognisable to an eye familiar with her large, apricot-toned flowers; but this is still the Princess - blooms about half size or less with colour tending to pink or nearly white from the intensity of the sun.
Monday Vase meme, English rose
There is a fine little crop of these right now, and I thought it wouldn't hurt to cull them before the rabbits did, so I cut five this morning.

Along with them I used some readily available foliage and stems.  These are the grey, crinkly leaves of  Atriplex, species unknown.  It sprouts in various spots around the yard, and it seems to be a relatively well-behaved small shrub so far.  It is occasionally recommended for landscape use out here, so I assume it is not too hazardous to let grow on.  With the soft silver of its foliage, it seemed like a good addition with the roses and saves me from cutting any of my baby shrubbery.  I have no idea how it will respond to being plonked in a vase; at first I thought perhaps I needed to have sealed the stems, but we shall see!  It is not thorny so it is fairly easy to work with, other than a rubbery tendency to pull itself back out of arrangement!
Atriplex foliage
I did like the two elements together.  I was going to use a different vase, but it was my dark-glazed stoneware jar that I took to the garden to collect flowers.  The size was just right, and I liked the effect so, after a rest to condition everything a little, I went ahead and made up the arrangement in the same jar.
Monday Vase meme
I am looking forward to seeing these roses in all their glory after the heat breaks, but isn't this a fantastic plant to still give these lovely blooms?
Monday Vase meme, rose
From pastels to brilliant colour, it is a good time for vase-making.  Do check out the others at Rambling in the Garden!

Happy Monday!
Monday Vase meme, roses, English roses
Weather Diary: Partly cloudy; High: 107 F ? (42 C)/Low: 88 F (31 C)

12 comments:

  1. I love the shapes you have put together and as always your photographs are wonderfully atmospheric

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  2. It's a beautiful arrangement, Amy. What a courageous rose to bloom in that kind of heat! I love the shape of the stoneware vase too.

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    1. This rose seems unstoppable...! I've been surprised with the vases; using them regularly has made me rethink what a vase "should" be like ;-) this one works quite well for me, but I wouldn't have guessed that...

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  3. Your roses are lovely Amy. And in that heat too! Hope you can stay cool!

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    1. Thanks so much, Cathy! Like the flowers, I get a little wilted sometimes, but not too bad ;-)

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  4. That is a lovely rose, isn't it, and I don't think I knew about the heat making the blooms smaller, or maybe the connection just didn't register. I am curious about the atriplex as there is an annual atriplex in the UK with dark red leaves that is decorative but can be eaten like spinach, I have successfully grown it this year and I am hoping it will set seed a little. Your perennial one, which I have just googled, is very different as the annual one has red leaves. As Wild Daffodil said, the shape of the arrangement is somehow spot on - you have a very good eye, methinks!

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    1. Quite a compliment - thank you, Cathy :) I'm quite impressed with this rose; it has a lot to recommend it. I don't think I've seen the reduction in size elsewhere, but it's been noticeable with the roses here. I haven't changed the feeding schedule so I do think it's the heat though I might be wrong... I hope your atriplex seeds for you; some of ours are apparently edible to livestock but that seems to be as far as it goes! They must not be as tasty as yours ;-) but at least they will grow in alkaline, salty soils! After some hunting around, I'm about 3/4 convinced that this one is A. elegans, variously listed as annual and perennial??!

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  5. Oh that rose is a beauty and I love how you arranged it with the gray green foliage...a perfect way to celebrate your roses....I cannot even begin to tell you how I loathe that heat so roses blooming there in it are brave souls.

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    1. So glad you like the combination, Donna! It was a twist on using the more traditional grey-foliaged stems like lavender - without the scent, of course! Roses are fantastic, growing in so many different climates...

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  6. Such a beautiful and dainty vase! I love the light pastel pink of the rose, mixed with the silver foliage - great combo!

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    1. Thanks so much, Rebecca! It seemed like the perfect combination - even if the plant choices were unusual... ;-)

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