This is a bouquet I put together last week. The pink herbacious peony has finally reached critical mass, and produces enough flowers that I can cut a few without making the garden suffer. I’m not crazy about pink, but paired with deep wine and burgundy it takes on an altogether punchier personality. Here, I’ve used tall stems of Persicaria ‘Red Dragon’ and three big, shiny Heuchera leaves. The red of the Red Dragon stems shows to advantage in the vase. A few airy sprigs of the wildflower Silene complete the picture.
I thought you might like a closer look at some of the elements.
The iris growing in front of the peony was pristine white. For the fleeting moments that both were in bloom, I had me a magical combo.
This was the border that yielded both of the dark elements.
The peonies lasted less than a week, but everything else was as good as new, so I refreshed it with three stems stolen from my Eremurus patch. This one is ‘Cleopatra’.
I learned of the ‘In A Vase’ meme on Christina’s wonderful blog. The source, and where you can join in the fun of gleaning bouquets from your garden, is Cathy. See you there?
You are very talented with floral arrangements! I can’t decide if I like the first or the second arrangement better. I do that a lot, too–pull out the spent blooms, keep wha’ts still fresh, and add some new elements. I would like to join in this meme, so one of these days I will. 😉 (I think I have that same Peony.)
You have such a great eye for this. That eremerus–wowza!
Cleopatra looks grand and your peonies are still quite amazing.
Beth~The peony came from one of those cut-rate catalogs, so I have no name to share. Every week is a bit much for me, so I join in sporadically but enjoy the arrangements others come up with. I’ll be looking forward to yours.
Heather~Thanks…and the Eremurus gain in beauty every year…so far.
Susie~You are too kind, but thanks.
The peonies almost look lilac rather than pink – or is it just the light? They are very pretty. Interesting that you too have Red Dragon – I have used it once in a vase but it did not last long. Yours links the peony and heuchera perfectly – and the eremerus was a great way to replace the peonies and changes the case completely. Thanks for joining in.
Hi Ricki! I liked that you used a simple clear vase. The less distractions from the gorgeous bouquet, the better!
Both arrangements are gorgeous! Pink with deep purple is amazing!
Cathy~The Red Dragon went limp almost immediately, but by the next day it had recovered and is still looking good. Sometimes sloth works in my favor (stalling on replacing the dragon with something else).
Tatyana~I have a number of opaque vases that I like a lot, but more often opt for clear, especially when the stems provide a design element.
Peter~Thanks…I think pink is a lot gutsier with surprising companions.