Every once in a while, best laid plans actually come to fruition.
Such was the case with this vignette, for which I am linking to Anna (Flutter and Hum) and her Wednesday Vignette meme.
Allow me to deconstruct, showing you the Berberis replicata on the far right of the first photo. After having put forth mostly orange blossoms earlier, we are left with torpedo-shaped dusky rose berries (drupes?).
The background plant is Physocarpus oputifolius ‘Summer Wine’. Last year, the fountainlike branches of pale pink blooms engulfed the iris, which did not bloom (as a result? I don’t know). I pruned the ninebark pretty drastically, hoping for the best. Yowza! The branches still arch gracefully and bloom at the same time as the iris.
So here’s the star of the show, fittingly: Iris ‘Beverly Sills’. Most of my Iris are out along the fence line. I treat that like a proving ground to see actual colors, bloom time and vigor. My challenge to myself is to find the right spots for them, where they can shine in a garden setting.
As you can see, the color in this photo is less dynamic, but it shows how the shapes of the Iris leaves play off of the other textures nearby. Once the pinkish flowers have faded, the bright red blooms of the Zauschneria garettii, spilling over the rock edging, will change the nature of this bed…still using the wine red foliage of the Barberry as a backdrop and assisted by an army of drumstick Alliums to the left.
Wonderful! ‘Beverly Sills’, an exclamation in peach, with darker backups of foliage, flower, and fruit like a giant chorus behind the lead singer. By the way, it’s a drupe if it has a single seed, a berry if multiple seeds – cherries are drupes, blueberries are berries. So life is just a bowl of drupes, if you see what I mean.
I like the way you extended the metaphor…and added a dollop of entertaining educational material.
That Diva looks stunning against the Ninebark .
Thanks, Linda. Sorry I missed out on seeing you Sunday. Will you post about your JC visit?
Loving the ninebark prune! And that last pic with the your stately iris…a fine vignette indeed!
Pruning gets more important the longer I garden.
Testing only goes so far. I’ve been known to dig up the wrong thing, or a slight difference in conditions affects bloom time. Just happy that in this case it worked out.
What a satisfying combination Ricki.
Thanks, Susie…it’s so much fun to feel satisified for a change.
Lovely! And it sounds like it has a wonderful evolution of color throughout the season.
Evolution! That’s a nice way of putting it and surely what I am aiming for wherever I can.
Great combination; I like the ideas being shown in this meme, perhaps I should change my “Views I’m enjoying this week” to another day and join in this one on Wednesdays.
It’s hard to sort out all of the intriguing memes to work them into a schedule. I’m seeing more and more bloggers working more than one into a single post.
I started out with what I later heard called an “iris ghetto”. After recovering from feeling insulted, I began to see the wisdom of working them into “vignettes”. You have nailed the description of the results of that approach.