I started out to refresh last week’s arrangement by washing the vase and giving it new water. If I were to start over, looking at it now, I would have put a fern frond in the vase to disguise the stems and compensate for the muddied water. It started out clear, but quickly took on a murky look. I stripped the lower leaves of the Artemisia ‘Valerie Finnis’ and cut an inch or two off each stem. Same for the Digitalis. The herbaceous peonies were just beginning to bloom. I knew I wanted to use them, but needed to do something to mitigate their pinkness. I find deep, bronzy tones best for doing that. Enter Persicaria ‘Red Dragon’.
Now I was ready to add some other elements to fill out what was becoming a pretty traditional bouquet. More foxgloves, for verticality, and a few stems of Heuchera for their frothy grace.
How did so much pink find its way into my garden? Must be Grace (Gardening With Grace), mistress of all things pink, casting her spell.
Cathy (Rambling in the Garden) has definitely cast a spell that compels me to find something to put in a vase every Monday. Since I only post Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I often need to crowd more than one subject into any given post. Right now, I want to give you a heads up for some upcoming events you won’t want to miss if you live nearby:
Apa Ini? is having one last blowout sale before closing up shop forever. Click through for details. The intrepid Martha Banyas will be parting with many collectibles from her own personal collection.
ANLD will sponsor its annual garden tour June 20. I’ll be giving you a sneak peek next week, but mark the date for a fun, idea-filled way to meet designers and artists in the gardens they have created.
A group of garden bloggers is putting on a sale, dubbed Garden Bloggers’ Bazaar. We’ll be trotting out all manner of garden-related items, including plants. Come to 24th and NE Fremont between 9am and 2pm on June 13th to have some fun and score some stuff.
I had to laugh when you mentioned Grace….where my garden is mostly purple now hers is always pink….I do love the pinks you chose and the foliage…perfect. Seems pink was the color this week for many folks in their vases.
Pink did rule the vases this week. One might almost think we had collaborated.
I think my heart actually stops a moment each time I see a peony. I love them and have (thus far) never succeeded in growing them, even when I spent one season dumping ice cubes on the soil around a plant in a futile attempt to convince it that winter does come to SoCal. Even my Itoh peony hasn’t produced anything except foliage. Peonies really aren’t SoCal plants but I do love seeing them. Your pink variety is set off perfectly by the Persicaria.
Sorry for your peony woes, but not too sorry, as you grow so many things we can’t.
love that heart stopping peonie moment! me too!
Peonies will do that to a person.
Luscious peonies – nice combo – I agree about Cathy casting her spell – I’m completely hooked!
I wonder if Cathy knew what she was getting us all into.
I love the shades of pink and burgundy together. A lovely arrangement…I should plant more pink!
I aim to plant more burgundy to black, but pink often comes along for the ride.
Pink Peonies! Mine have yet to bloom. I’m seeing them blooming all around town, but mine always lag because of the shade. What a lovely bouquet! You do good work!
I bet they last longer in the shade as well…and still to anticipate.
I really envy your community of garden bloggers out there in Portland. Love the Persicaria leaves. This is a plant I don’t have in my garden, something I must remedy.
It’s good to have a tribe…and you do, of course, even if you must participate from afar.
This is one of those memes that would be very fun to join. One of these days, I will… I think your peony/persicaria combo is magical! I also was bummed to learn about Apa Ini – a place I had never heard about before. I never even knew it was there, and I was sad to hear about not just its closing, but the owners lament over the end of world crafts. Feels so irreversible… not unlike species extinction. 🙁
Apa Ini? has been kind of an insider thing, but with a loyal following. We workers got together last night for dinner and orientation. It will be a hum-dinger sale, with merchandise you may never see again…certainly not at these prices. Do come if you can.
I will definitely try! (Not that I need more stuff…) 😉
None of us really NEED more stuff, but since when has need had anything to do with it?
Wish I was close enough to join in with your bazaar, it sounds great fun. Don’t be embarrassed by pink, so many flowers are pink it would be strange if you didn’t have some!
We’re a busy bunch, and you would fit right in. I’ll write about it, so youcan at least join us vicariously.
Love those peonies, and the Heuchera flowers really shine in that vase too. Your foliage complements them both so well. Very pretty!
Thanks, Cathy!
Ha ha – no I didn’t! But there was no coercion, no arm twisting, was there?! I am thrilled to see you have Red Dragon too – I have sent it to far flung corners of the UK and to Annette in France, but it hasn’t gone over the Atlantic 😉 Your vase is automatically a winner with the dragon, but it does share the vase with other lovelies too so thanks for sharing. All your garden events sound such fun – sorry I won’t be there to share them 🙂
Red Dragon roots so readily that I plant to have it infiltrating other beds.
Your Heuchera looks nice with the beautiful peony and foxglove. Your remark about pink made me smile. A lot of pink has worked its way into my garden too, many through passalongs though I claim to be in the blue camp.
Sometimes it seems to me that nature’s favorite color is pink.
Persicaria is a new one to me , Rickii. Beautiful in your vase , and it does tone down the pinks. I appreciate your pink scheme here , and your ethic of recycling . Loving the tiny Heuchera flowers echoing your spiky Digitalis. Lovely combo ????
The Heucheras were a spur-of-the-moment brainstorm…glad you like them.