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In a Vase on Monday ~ Heat Survivors

Joanne

Late last year, when reading an ‘In a Vase on Monday’ post, I noticed that Cathy at Rambling in the Garden said she had collected her flowers on Sunday to take indoors. Given the heat of summer, and knowing how much water I need to add to the vase the day after bringing my flowers indoors, I decided to pick my vase choice this week on Sunday instead of on Monday morning. The first photo, taken this morning, shows a more upright collection of stems than yesterday when the flowers were first picked. It’s amazing how much more sprightly my flowers look after a few hours out of the heat.

While having a wander along the garden near the pool, which is hit by the main heat of the day during the afternoon, I noticed the salvias looking quite happy, even though there was a warm breeze blowing.

This is a purple salvia, Salvia verticillata ‘Purple Rain’, and is growing well. I need to plant more. The buds are not all open yet, so I hope now they are indoors, they open fully. There’s a bit of “trial-and-error” happening here!

In another garden nearby, which is slightly shaded, I saw several, perfectly formed Ixora ‘Prince of Orange’ flowers blooming. My other two shrubs of the same plant, growing in a more exposed area of the garden are long past blooming now, so these were a lovely surprise. I wouldn’t usually put vivid orange and purple flowers together in a vase, but these seem to work.

The Verbenas – Verbena rigida f. lilacina ‘Polaris’ – are coping well in the heat too. I love these flowers, both in the garden and in the vase – it’s getting them into the vase that is a challenge. The leaves and stems are so coarse! I adore their dainty flowers though, which belies the texture of the greenery.

When I had almost reached the house I stopped off to check out my struggling veggie patch. The silverbeet plants have been munched on by insects and frazzled by the heat, so out they came. I also need to go back out into the garden today to pick a few rhubarb stems before I lose any more, but the rosemary is flourishing. I snipped a couple of stems, just to add a touch more greenery to the vase.

Some of my parsley has gone to seed. I was about to cut the seeding umbrel stems when I thought perhaps they would look pretty in my vase. I have never considered adding herb cuttings to a vase of flowers before, but why not? They are interesting foliage, and they smell beautiful. 🙂

Once I had arranged the flowers on my kitchen bench into a new vase – a gift to myself just before Christmas – and I had taken basic photos of my chosen flowers, I began to notice the light outside changing. I clicked away a few more times, and about half an hour later I had taken far more photos than I intended!

Nearly every photo I took was a play on darkness and light.

And when I looked at the upper section of the vase, the leggy stems, flopping this way and that, reminded me of a wildflower meadow.

The green of the parsley umbrels, which I had considered removing from the vase, began to glow in the changed light.

In other shots, the background glowed while the vase contents remained darker.

The deep green Rosemary stems against a reflection of light added a new layer of interest to the photos.

When the room is in focus, evidence of the playful light dancing through the windows can be seen.

Many thanks, once again, to Cathy for hosting the weekly In a Vase on Monday meme. ❤

Published by Joanne

21 thoughts on “In a Vase on Monday ~ Heat Survivors”

  1. What a lovely variety you have. The last shot with the light from the room evident and the background blur from the window is just beautiful. Living where I do now, my outdoor gardening is mostly limited to containers. Even though it is winter here, I noticed the other day my container of parsley was still powering along. I had cut lots of it in the fall, but left the container as it still had young shoots. Usually after a hard freeze, it is done, but our temperatures this winter have been rather inconsistent, perhaps not staying cold enough long to kill off this hardy herb!

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  2. It always amazes me how different plants need different amounts of heat and moisture and light to thrive. It was interesting seeing how that all plays out in your garden and in your vase arrangements. I love how the orange, lavender and green came together, very pretty!

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    1. Thank you, Barbara. 🙂
      I’m always amazed when I hear of plants thriving in freezing climates, which also do well in my climate. There are many such hardy plants around, I am learning. ❤

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  4. Your floral arrangements are always so lovely – mine usually leave a lot to be desired, so I rarely pick flowers to bring inside. Except for the peonies, I love their gentle scent and soft look.

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    1. Thank you, Carol. ❤
      I'm sure with your artistic talent you could arrange flowers beautifully! You should give it another try when spring is here. 🙂

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  6. Playful is the RIGHT word for this, I really like it. And I bet it does smell really nice with the herbs. I love verbena too – and that Ixora is the perfect touch of boldness.

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    1. Thank you, Tracy. 🙂
      I notice the fragrance of the herbs every time I walk past the vase, and the flowers are surviving well indoors this week too, even with our hot weather. 🙂

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  7. I wouldn’t think to put together orange and soft lilac together either, Jo, but they really work. I can only wish my native Verbena was as floriferous as yours. As to the Ixora, I plan to try growing it the next time I see it in a local garden center. I’ve never seen parsley in blooms but it adds a lovely touch to your arrangement as well.

    P.S. I always cut the materials for my vases on Sunday morning. That’s partly due to the fact that my time zone lags those of many of the other IAVOM contributors but that timing also fits my schedule better 😉

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    1. Thank you, Kris. 🙂
      I didn’t know until recently that there are several different colours of Ixora. I thought they were only orange! So keep an eye open for the different varieties.
      Different time zones can be a pest at times … I am always early with mine, and I have to visit Cathy’s blog to add my link in the comments a day or two late when the UK Monday catches up to me!

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