First off, I was kindly given permission to cut a couple of perfect buds from my sister's rose "Tropicana", which has been blooming enthusiastically in an enormous pot on the back patio. Classic hybrid tea blooms and stems (which I did not make the most of as I cut them quite short) give a certain elegance to their colour.
Behind, you can see some stems of Euphorbia "Firesticks", carrying on the idea. Rather than dipping the Euphorbia stems in boiling water, I opted for the faster technique of singeing the cut ends, which seems to work well at blocking the oozing milky sap typical of Euphorbias. The colour on this plant has deepened considerably with the coming of cooler weather, making it irresistable to try cutting some.
I clustered the flowers, with a good many rosemary clippings and a stem of yellow pomegranate leaves, in a low stoneware dish.
Not a perfect arrangement, but a fun one anyway!
I thought I would slip in a shot of Thursday's Thanksgiving Day vase as well. It was plonked together very rapidly in between fixing cranberry sauce and cantaloupe salad, and making some stuffing. And I couldn't take much time to photograph it, but here it is, along with a second bouquet by my sister (using Tropicana roses!) not to mention some food...
I hope all of you celebrating had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
And now it's Monday, so time for the Monday Vase meme with Cathy at Rambling in the Garden!
Happy Monday!
Weather Diary: Mostly clear; High: 60 F (16 C)/Low: 36 F (2 C)
It was good of your sister to let you have some of her beautiful roses. I considered using Euphorbia tirucalli in my own arrangement this week but abandoned the plan because I didn't want to deal with the sap. Thanks for the tip about singeing the ends - that's quicker than the boilng water method.
ReplyDeleteYes, Sarah has been more relaxed about cutting flowers than I am ;-) I felt the singeing was a good solution with the Euphorbia; in fact, I just used a lighter on the cut ends while standing out in the garden - the only problem was the wind... Hope it will work for you!
DeleteIt is a fun arrangement in a lovely pot.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much :) Glad you liked them!
DeleteVery pretty, Amy. I like the firesticks with the roses and the contrasting dark green rosemary. Your Thanksgiving arrangement with the lavender roses was beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Eliza! I had such a good time combining the firesticks stems with those roses... :) I had used some euphorbia in the Thanksgiving vase also, though it's barely visible in the photo here. It makes a wonderful effect with the formal roses, I think.
DeleteYour talents are boundless! What a stunning arrangement! I love the Euphorbia Firesticks, because it is so unusual but also so effective and looks gorgeous with that rosemary. Love the Thanksgiving arrangement too! Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteAwww, thanks, Kate :) I dithered for months over whether to try cutting the Euphorbia - caustic sap and boiling water and all that! -but it turned out to be easy enough; and you're right, it's quite effective in an arrangement!
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