Tag Archives: Echinacea purpurea ‘White Swan’ (Coneflower)

Between Rains

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Western Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) and Sombrero ‘Flamenco Orange’ Coneflower

It’s been a rainy week. If only we could pause and save a balance of water for later. After a few hours of sunshine, dark clouds gathered again late yesterday evening. The meditation circle was flooded, making it look like a very pretty, shallow pond. The water has since receded, mostly.

In-between downpours I explored the garden and pollinators ventured out. Coneflowers are having a moment.

Echinacea purpurea ‘White Swan’ (Coneflower)

Echinacea purpurea ‘White Swan’ (Coneflower)

Echinacea purpurea ‘White Swan’ (Coneflower)

This Variegated Fritillary was too swift for me but I managed a quick snap just for my records.

Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia)

Western Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)

Despite the rain dahlias have been surprisingly resilient. I gathered a dozen or more D. ‘Great Silence’ and ‘Noordwijks Glorie’ for a get-well bouquet for a friend recovering from surgery. This ‘Cafe Au Lait’ looked better left in the garden.

Dahlia ‘Cafe Au Lait’

The first flowers unfurled this week on blackberry lilies.

Iris domestica (blackberry lily)

So far just a few butterflies have ventured into the garden this year. But as soon as there was a sunshine moment yesterday afternoon this fresh male sipped his way around clusters of verbena bonariensis.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail – P. glaucus

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail – P. glaucus

There may be more rain ahead but the sky is blue this morning. Happy Weekend!

In A Vase On Monday – Echinacea And Grass

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In A Vase On Monday – Echinacea and Grass

Cathy at Rambling In The Garden invites us to share an arrangement every Monday using materials collected from our gardens.

In spring I needed some instant color at the front steps and so bought a pre-planted container with a purple grass, petunias, verbena and something else (I cannot find tags for any of the items).  The grass quickly took over the entire pot and is all that remains.  So many gardeners enjoy grasses I feel there really is something missing in my own gardening DNA that I do not find them very exciting. So I decided to trim and use the grass for today’s vase before the container contents are composted. The grass is paired with two echinaceas, Echinacea purpurea ‘White Swan’ and Echinacea ‘Big Sky Sundown.’ White Swan is having a banner year. Big Sky Sundown blooms less eagerly and needs to be relocated where it will receive more sunlight.

Echinacea purpurea ‘White Swan’ with grass and Echinacea ‘Big Sky Sundown’

Echinacea ‘Big Sky Sundown’

For a change in texture I included a stem of Celosia plumosa ‘Castle Mix,’ thinking its color would echo Big Sky Sundown. The celosia is more orange and the stem was too short, yet I kept it just for its fuzziness.

Celosia plumosa ‘Castle Mix’ and Echinacea purpurea ‘White Swan’

As pictured the arrangement feels too sparse and is too tall for the size of the vase. I did not have time for a redo. It would have been nice to cut additional White Swan Echinacea to fill in, but some hours later after having photographed the flowers, I did actually trim and reduce the height of the tallest elements and that improved the proportions somewhat.

The vase was a gift from my sister-in-law last year.

Ceramic ikebana vase with 3 integrated ceramic tubes

Ceramic ikebana vase with 3 integrated ceramic tubes

 

Materials

Flowers
Celosia plumosa ‘Castle Mix’ (Feather Celosia)
Echinacea ‘Big Sky Sundown’ (Hybrid Coneflower)
Echinacea purpurea ‘White Swan’ (Coneflower)
Verbena bonariensis (Tall Verbena)
Foliage
Unknown Grass
Container
Ceramic ikebana vase with 3 integrated ceramic tubes, built-in stem holders. 6 x 6 inches.

Just a note: Some of you may recall earlier in spring, around mid-May, I ended up rescuing a number of peonies after a storm and stored them in the refrigerator.  Finally I needed to free up that space so the last of the peonies were released this weekend. Three had several brown spots on the petals, which were easily removed; generally the condition was good and the fragrance still strong.

Refrigerated Peonies Released

Refrigerated Peonies Released

Thanks to Cathy at Rambling In The Garden for hosting and giving us an opportunity to share flower designs across the world. Visit her to discover what she and others found to place In A Vase On Monday.

In A Vase On Monday—Camellias And Gardenias

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In A Vase On Monday-Cameillias and Gardenias

In A Vase On Monday-Cameillias and Gardenias

Each Monday brings an opportunity to join in Cathy’s weekly challenge called In A Vase On Monday where the goal is to fill a vase using materials collected from the garden.

I had planned a quick arrangement today of newly blooming chrysanthemums, but a traditional design seemed more appropriate to honor the flowers I selected instead. My delicate pink-tinged Camellia sasanqua is blooming. While I was collecting some of these fragile flowers I noticed the neighboring Gardenia jasminoides had offered up 4 or 5 more blooms.  What a fragrant pairing these flowers made.

Camellia sasanqua

Camellia sasanqua

Gardenia jasminoides

Gardenia jasminoides

A few pink and white Echinacea are used to fill out the arrangement. Echinacea purpurea ‘White Swan’ (Coneflower) is still going strong after many, many weeks in flower, but I have not used it much indoors this summer.

Echinacea purpurea 'White Swan' (Coneflower)

Echinacea purpurea ‘White Swan’ (Coneflower)

Gardenia leaves are dark green and shiny, making them a perfect background to accentuate the flowers in this week’s vase. For this traditional round design, I first established a spherical shape using the foliage, before adding the flowering materials. Eventually I removed some of the foliage as the initial quantity made the arrangement seem too heavy.

Foliage of Gardenia jasminoides was used to establish the round shape of the design.

Foliage of Gardenia jasminoides was used to establish the round shape of the design.

The goal of today's vase was to create a traditional round design.

The goal of today’s vase was to create a traditional round design.

A few sprigs of ‘Carolina Sapphire’ (Arizona Cypress) lend an airy texture to the arrangement.

'Carolina Sapphire' (Arizona Cypress)

‘Carolina Sapphire’ (Arizona Cypress)

Today’s container is a piece of crystal that once belonged to my maternal aunt. It seemed like a good choice for this formal floral design.

Crystal Vase

Crystal Vase

The scent of the gardenias and the camellias made assembling this vase such a pleasure today.

Camellia sasanqua

Camellia sasanqua

In A Vase On Monday-Camellias and Gardenias (with Echinacea)

In A Vase On Monday-Camellias and Gardenias (with Echinacea)

 

Materials
Flowers
Camellia sasanqua
Gardenia jasminoides
Echinacea purpurea ‘White Swan’ (Coneflower)
Echinacea purpurea (Purple Coneflower)

Foliage
Gardenia jasminoides
‘Carolina Sapphire’ (Arizona Cypress)

Mechanics
Floral foam
Crystal vase
6-inch plastic Lomey dish

 

Thanks to Cathy at Rambling In The Garden for hosting. Discover what delightful things she and others are placing In A Vase On Monday. Perhaps you will be inspired to share your own vase.