iavom

Mahonia 'Arthur Menzies'

Mahonia ‘Arthur Menzies’

In celebration of our mild November, Arthur finally put on a show.

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I snuck around the back, where no one goes, and found a truss to cut. While it looks great on the plant, the way the stems of leaves stick out at right angles to the stem is impossible to work with in a vase.

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Enter my slate slab vase, shown here from the side so you can see the part that contains water. It has a pin frog integrated into it. When using this vase, it is imperative to keep an eye on the water level, topping it off almost daily. After using, I usually fill it with bleach for at least an hour because it is difficult to remove all plant detritus.

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After cutting all of the leaves away from the flower stem, I trimmed them down and slipped them in at an angle to cover the opening.

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The flower stem is stocky, making it perfect for pushing onto the pins of the frog. Woody stems like to be cut into vertically, as shown, in order to take up more water.

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My spot for displaying is an ancient wood trunk that came across the plains in a covered wagon. My point being that this would be a one-sided bouquet. I wanted to create a dark background, the better to show off the yellow flower trusses so I trimmed a few more leaf stems and arranged them behind.

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The fetching stone bird is an early birthday gift from a friend (lucky me)…

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as is the fanciful feeder, making a stop as part of this vignette before fulfilling its destiny.

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Now be sure to visit Rambling in the Garden for more vases this Monday.

29 thoughts on “iavom

  1. It’s beautiful and the vase sets it off to perfection. I just planted my first Mahonia (‘Charity’) and look forward to having some of those beautiful flowers of my own to admire next year. Best wishes on your birthday!

    • ‘Charity’ and ‘Arthur Menzies’, as far as I can tell, are impossible to tell apart. If anything, I think the blooms on ‘Charity’ are even more dramatic.

  2. I think your vase is really lovely Ricki. Unusual and stylish and made of a natural material too. Love the way you have added the leaves. Your Mahonia has such pretty flowers. Ours will wait until spring now but I look forward to that honey scent they emit.

    • Mahonia, “Oregon Grape”, is our state flower and the governor’s mansion is called Mahonia Hall. Pretty sure it refers to the native one, but there are many many varieties that are showier.

  3. Hi Ricki. I think your vase is really lovely. Unusual and stylish and made of a natural material too. Love the way you have added the leaves. Your Mahonia has such pretty flowers. Ours will wait until spring now but I look forward to that honey scent they emit.

  4. Wow, you have done a good job of taming those branches to make an effective frame for the flowers. I remember Oregon Grape which grows wild around Vancouver. It has lovely purple berries I think, but I don’t remember the flower.

  5. Thanks for showing us the nitty gritty of how you did this rickii – it looks so effective…and for me I prefer to see mahonia like this rather than the shrub itself! Have a good birthday, whenever it is – mine is coming up too and I wonder if we might share a day…?

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