In A Vase On Monday – March Delight
Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden invites us to share an arrangement using materials collected from the garden.
What began as a feature of three hyacinths staged with euphorbia, morphed into a completely different design this morning. Titled March Delight, it was a struggle to create. After initial placements of euphorbia and insertion of a white phalaenospsis recycled from last week, everything seemed on track.
Phalaenopsis (Moth Orchid) from last week’s vase
Next I inserted the hyacinths, a lovely pale pink and two lavender ones. They needed just a bit of tweaking to adjust the balance, but refused from there to cooperate. Eventually the hyacinth stems pretty much disintegrated from attempts to position them.
To salvage the arrangement I reverted to an idea I had dismissed earlier of using another orchid from my kitchen window garden. Purchased last year this orchid had recently rebloomed into a creamy delight of pink and speckles with with traces of apricot.
Orchid
Cyclamen, Iberis and a tiny remnant of the pink hyacinth were used to supplement the revised scheme.
Pink Hyacinth, pink and white Cyclamen and white Orchid hovering above Begonia leaf
I tried culling and editing to give the individual flowers more space, a difficult thing to do sometimes. Originally there were two additional stems of euphorbia, but they overwhelmed the delicate orchids and cyclamen. They came out along with some of the Iberis and narcissus leaves.
In A Vase On Monday – March Delight
Materials
Flowers
Cyclamen
Iberis sempervirens (Candytuft)
Hyacinthus orientalis (Hyacinth)
Phalaenopsis (Moth Orchid)
Foliage
Begonia ‘Erythrophylla’ (Beefsteak Begonia)
Euphorbia ‘Shorty’ (Shorty Spurge)
Narcissus leaves
Container and Mechanics
Blue ceramic vase
Small black plastic Solo bowl – vase insert
3-inch florist’s frog (floral pin holder)
Here is a final peek at what is left of the mischievous culprit. I will enjoy the remaining hyacinths outdoors in the garden.
Hyacinthus Orientalis
Thanks to Cathy at Rambling In The Garden for hosting and giving us a chance to express our flower arranging passion. Visit her to discover what she and others found this week in their gardens to place In A Vase On Monday.
pbmGarden 
Oh! Susie, what a shame the hyacinth would work with you. But its perfume might have proved too strong indoors anyway so perhaps it is for the best. The Orchids are so delicate and beautiful. You have more patience than I do; I rarely move away from my first idea, but that may just show why you are so accomplished.
Thanks Christina. It’s funny, I’ve used hyacinths before from this same planting group in an vase. Guess I didn’t fiddle with those as much. Not sure if it’s patience or stubbornness that drives me to work on these arrangements!
wouldn’t work with you!
It’s a beautiful creation, Susie, even if the path to get there took some twists and turns. I love the color of that pink/apricot orchid and the flowers around it complement it well. Although my vase stuffing is a far different exercise, I also ended up tearing apart one vase this week when it just wouldn’t come together, leading to an entirely new arrangement – sometimes flowers insist on telling us how to arrange things.
Thank you Kris. Sometimes it’s hard to give up on an idea and take a different approach, but often it leads to improvements.
You got there in the end and the soft pinks are lovely with just the pop of cyclamen. It should last for while now, at least.
Thanks Alison. Glad I persevered.
The result is wonderful, flowers can just be obstinate sometimes.
Thank you. So true that flowers have a mind of their own. Best if we can adapt and not force the result.
When in the midst of arranging it often crosses my mind = how do those magazines do it? Photoshop?
Daffodils AND this lovely arrangement – lucky woman. 🙂
Judy, thanks! Actually those daffodils were in full bloom mid-February and are faded now, gathering strength for next year’s display. Spring arrived early, early.
Your vases are always such a joy Susie and the use of the beautiful orchid inspired. I particular love your bowl! It is so frustrating when what you have in your mind won’t work, but your efforts have paid off anyway – I love this display!
Thanks so much Julie. The bowl was given to us by a very dear friend of many years, so it’s a pleasure to fill it with flowers. Have a wonderful week.
There must be a perfectionist streak in you that ensures you continue tweaking and rearranging till your vases are just right. I may remove the odd bloom or shorten a stem, but like Christina I don’t think I have ever moved far from my original idea, if there was an ‘idea’ in the first place that is! We certainly are all earning from your weekly contributions which to us are always perfect, and so stylish. I especially like you have managed to include some of the original hyacinth, as if demonstrating that that it has morphed nto something else, which it has of course. The orchid that has rebloomed in a ‘creamy delight of pink and speckles with with traces of apricot’ is most attractive and is the star of your March Delight
Glad you liked the orchid Cathy. Guess I am a bit of a perfectionist (occasionally and not about housekeeping).The hyacinth stems were in shreds after a short time of handling so I had no choice but to retreat and regroup. Read up on using hyacinths in arrangements and one piece of advice was to lift the entire bulb. Another warned against cutting off the bulb as if allows too much water to be absorbed and the stem to collapse. We did have rain this morning before I cut the hyacinths–perhaps they were saturated. I’m sure there’s an explanation somewhere. Next time I’ll place them in a bowl of water, not try to stand them up using a floral frog.
That’s interesting about the hyacinth stems, Susie – I recall that the last time I used hyacinths in a vase the stems disintegrated well before the blooms had finished but of course they collapsed at that point. Do tell us if you find out more
Susie, Your vase is delightful…as always. I had never thought of using orchids. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you John!
Very pretty – that pale pink phalaenopsis is superb!
Thanks Eliza. It is a pretty thing.
It is a ‘delight’.
Thanks Brian. Learned a lot from making it.
Such a lovely arrangement, and the lighting in your photo is perfect, too.
Thanks Beth. Photographing these arrangements is always a challenge so I appreciate your comment.
Beautiful arrangement and such a lovely pink moth orchid.
Thanks. Seemed a bit mad to cut the pink orchid but really helped the design overall.