Stuff + Nonsense

Thanksgiving flowers and revasing

6 Comments

Our guests were almost here for our first new-tradition of Thanksgiving brunch on Monday. Then I noticed the beautiful arrangement my Number One Dot had gifted me for my Big Birthday. Oops. It really needed retiring.

Once the flowers were pulled from the vase, though, it was clear that some were up for a second round. The blue sea holly (Eryngium) still looked pretty perky, a sprig of claret-coloured Hydrangea had dried with its colour intact, and the cascading love-lies-bleeding (Amaranthus) can get away with looking a little droopy. There on the counter was a container I’d rescued from holding the scrubber by my kitchen sink. So I popped the survivors in.

The vase was actually a birthday gift from two friends way back in our university days. It deserved to attend our Thanksgiving feast. So, with company due in minutes, I rushed out to complement it and flesh out the arrangement with whatever I could rustle up. This is the result.

I’ve decided to call this process “revasing.” Like recycling, with more flower power.

See the sea holly at the top? The wine-coloured hydrangea’s on the lower right. I added loose flowers of ‘Quick Fire’ hydrangea, purple sage and purple basil flowers, some single chrysanthemums Sarah and I call ‘Mrs. Begley’ after the woman we bought them from, plus zinnias and a deep red dahlia from Proven Winners that I’ll write about later. It’s a little late, but Happy Thanksgiving.

Of secondary interest to me is how the flower colours change when seen under artificial light indoors. This is probably good to keep in mind when selecting flowers for arrangements. Do you agree?

This “created on Monday, posted on Thursday'” vase is a late contender for Cathy’s In a Vase on Mondays meme over on Rambling in the Garden. Hop over and be inspired.

 

Helen

Helen Battersby is a gardener, a writer, a garden speaker, and a power-walker, not always in that order!

6 comments

  1. Oh I like the idea of ‘revasing’, Helen – and so worth doing with your remnants. When I started IAVOM I used to take all my photos inside but was rarely satisfied, so try and do it iutside now whenever I can. Thanks for sharing again

    1. Cathy, I’m glad we crossed paths. It’s fun to put these vases together with whatever goodies we happen to have, and you’ve prompted me to keep it up!

  2. Both versions are well done, with a wonderful range of colors. I think I see ‘Amistad’–that’s been in several vases lately, as well as the gorgeous colors of fading Hydrangeas. That is one bloom that looks just as good aging as it does fresh–maybe even better, more subtle, more complex.

    1. HB, it isn’t ‘Amistad,’ although I can see why you’d think so, it’s a new Proven Winners Salvia cultivar called Rockin’™ Deep Purple which I trialed in my part-shade garden this year. It’s a little more deep violet than the dark purple of ‘Amistad.’ Incidentally, Irish plantsman Jimi Blake raved about ‘Amistad’ when I visited his garden this September. You can find my post on his garden here: http://www.torontogardens.com/2017/09/jimi-blakes-hunting-brook-gardens-ireland.html/

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