In A Vase On Monday – Clematis Trio
Monday brings the chance to share cut flowers from the garden by joining in Cathy’s weekly challenge In A Vase On Monday.
At the garden center last week two glazed ceramic planter saucers caught my attention. For some time I had been looking for a square black dish to use for floral arrangements. This style came in several other tempting colors, but I settled on black and white.
The new containers lend themselves to Ikebana-style designs, as do Clematis which are happily in flower this week.
In A Vase On Monday – Clematis Trio
Today’s design turned out quite differently from my original plan to use a red Clematis ‘Niobe’ on the white dish and white Clematis ‘Henryi’ on the black. The effect was underwhelming in this case, but I am tucking the idea away for the future.
Fortunately I had gathered additional material, Clematis ‘Jackmanii’ and several kinds of iris, most of which soon found their way into the arrangement.
Clematis Trio – C. ‘Jackmanii’, C. ‘Niobe’ and C. ‘Henryi’
Iris leaves were added for height along with Iris germanica ‘Orinoco Flow’ and Iris tectorum. A small amount of red-purple-greenish foliage of Penstemon digitalis ‘Husker Red’ was also incorporated behind C. ‘Jackmanii’.
In A Vase On Monday – Clematis Trio
Materials
Flowers
Clematis ‘Henryi’
Clematis ‘Jackmanii’
Clematis ‘Niobe’
Iris germanica ‘Orinoco Flow’ (Bearded iris)
Iris tectorum (Japanese Roof Iris)
Foliage
Penstemon digitalis ‘Husker Red’ (Beardtongue)
Iris germanica ‘Orinoco Flow’ (Bearded iris)
Clematis ‘Henryi’
Clematis ‘Niobe’ With Iris tectorum (Japanese Roof Iris)
Clematis ‘Jackmanii’
Thanks to Cathy for hosting this weekly flower addiction. Visit her at Rambling In The Garden to discover what she and other gardeners are placing In A Vase On Monday.
pbmGarden 
Oh, Wow! That is so elegant, I love it. It looks simple but I know that anything that looks like this isn’t simple at all. I admire how you have the ability to give a quite Japanese feeling to your arrangements. Perfect.
Thank you. Was excited to find the square plant saucers last week. They made a good starting point. Using the florist’s pin frogs really helps with this type of arrangement too by holding the flowers firmly in place.
Lovely! I made the mistake of planting Niobe & Henryi on the same trellis, thinking they’d look great together. Henryi hides Niobe, and I have to hunt for her blooms.
Thanks. Often see the suggestion to plant clematis in pairs. Will learn from your experience to be careful in choosing. I can see how Niobe might be overwhelmed by Henryi. The colors would be nice though.
Oh the height of elegance and definitely a case of ‘less is more’ – a reminder that we needn’t cram our vases to make them successful so thank you for sharing your talents with us. Oh, and I keep meaning to ask you, what is the rose in your header picture?
Thanks Cathy. I found myself without a lot of flowers appropriate for a vase this week except the clematis. Decided they are so interesting on their own they didn’t need much else. That would make a lovely rose but actually the flower in the header is a close-up of my spiraea blooming early this spring.
Oh spiraea! I couldn’t think of anything else it might be except a rose, so I am glad I asked!
Your clematis are lovely. We know how challenging it is to use them in an arrangement, so our hats are off to you for a marvelous vase this week.
Thank you John. The clematis didn’t work out for the first idea I had but fortunately they knew what they wanted to do better than I.
I think I most enjoy your Ikebana-style arrangements Susie. A stunning simply display of beauty…they take my breath away!
Thanks so much Donna. I love this time of year when the flowers are so fresh. They don’t need much assistance to shine.
The flower forms are so interesting (as well as beautiful) that the spare design gives us ample opportunity to study and appreciate them.
I agree Ricki, the individual flowers in this case needed their space, otherwise what makes them special would just be lost.
Your arrangements are incredible, Susie, seamlessly arranged with no visible support. They look like paintings. The blue purples together have such harmony, and the red purple Niobe with the Henryi picks up its magenta central accents.
Thanks for your kind words Hannah. I like working with floral pins to position the flowers. They’re not always so easy to hide, but these clematis made it easy this time.
Oh this is lovely Susie and reminds me of last summer when I had three clematis in flower and posted a vase of them too! Your arrangement is very Japanese in style, I like it a lot.
Thanks Sarah. This type of arrangement goes together quickly and requires fewer flowers than traditional ones. I have a lot blooming but not much that seemed vase-ready, so glad the clematis were available.
The arrangements are beautifully designed, as usual, Susie! I love the rich color of the ‘Niobe’ and ‘Jackmani” Clematis. I’ve never tried my hand at Ikebana-styled designs but your creations have encouraged me to try it at some point.
Thanks Kris. You have so many lovely flowers and foliage plants to choose from that would work well-do give it a try. I’d like to take Ikebana classes sometime. It’s a beautiful art.
Sweet perfection!
Thanks Loree.
The form of the clematis really seems to lend itself well to this arrangement. Very nice!
The clematis are so pretty right now but short stemmed, so this was a workable solution, using the floral pins to hold them and giving them lots of space.
Absolutely stunning in its graceful simplicity!
Beth, thank you. The flowers right now are so fresh and beautiful I just tried not to get in their way.
Utterly beautiful!
Thanks, these particular flowers are among my favorites.
I love this, it’s beautiful, and the Iris give just the right height. To have clematis in flower in April is just awesome though. Lucky girl 🙂
Thank you Annette. I didn’t realize your clematis wouldn’t be blooming about the same time. This is when clematis typically blooms here (at least my Jackmanii, the others are new to me). The flowers take a break when it gets hot and humid, but reblooms a bit in fall. Niobe is one I hope will actually bloom all summer, as the plant tags always promise.
do you have any herbaceous clematis? I so love them and think they’re much underused
I was unaware of that category specifically Annette. Thanks for letting me know. I would like to add some more.
they’re my favourites, Susie, check out C. aromatica/mandshurica/integrifolia/x jouiniana/tubulosa – they’re absolutely wonderful and much more reliable than the other ones 😉
Thanks Annette. At first glance I don’t see these offered for sale by my usual nursery sources, but will investigate further. Clematis x aromatica is gorgeous especially.
PS: here I’ve got the C. montana in bloom, right up in the tree and up the house wall, stunning sight
These arrangements are so lovely Susie! Really beautiful. I do admire you artistic talent as well as your pretty clematis flowers. My earliest flowering clematis will still need a few weeks yet.
Thanks Cathy, so kind of you. Was just headed to see if you’d posted a vase yet and found your lovely tulips. Several people have mentioned clematis is later where they live. This is typical bloom-time for mine, but would love to have them later in summer. I think it’s too hot by then. Have a great week.
Beautiful as always Susie, you have a real talent for sophisticated arrangements.
Thank you Julie. As I see everyone’s vases each week I notice we each tend toward a certain look or style. Interesting. Had to go with a minimalist design this week due to a limitation in flowers, but I like the way it turned out.
Of all the flowers, Clematis is one of my very favorites. Delicate, beautiful, but provide a stunning display year after year. 🙂
I’m with you Judy. They’re wonderful.
Simple, but exceptional! I love the way you play with colors.
Thanks Pris, those clematis seem to be different colors, but red is common to all of them and they just seemed to fit.
So elegant and eye-catching. Makes me feel all calm to look at it!
Thanks very much Cathy. Finally took this arrangement apart this morning (Friday). It lasted pretty well with a few tweaks and replacements.