In A Vase On Monday – June Song
Cathy at Rambling In The Garden invites us to share an arrangement every Monday using materials collected from our gardens.
June days are swirling past, each day in the garden brings new blooms or promise thereof. Gladiola swords stand tall, ready to step into the limelight in the coming weeks; meanwhile Calla lily, monarda, dahlia, echinacea and shasta daisy all are flowering.
Taking advantage of the variety I gathered such a mix of materials it made creating a vase daunting. To simplify seemed the best solution.
So for today a blue Ikebana vase holds Salvia guaranitica ‘Black and Blue’ fronted by pink hydrangea, softened by drapes of passalong Lathyrus latifolius (Perennial Sweet Pea).
In A Vase On Monday – June Song
Salvia guaranitica ‘Black and Blue’ is a reliable bloomer when there has been adequate rain. It has spread nicely in the southeast border.
Salvia guaranitica ‘Black and Blue’
Salvia guaranitica ‘Black and Blue’
Salvia guaranitica ‘Black and Blue’
The sweetpea is a sentimental addition—a passalong from my mother’s cousin and garden mentor. It has been in this garden for 17 years and grew at my former home for many before that. It also has appreciated the wet spring.
Lathyrus latifolius (Perennial Sweet Pea)
Lathyrus latifolius (Perennial Sweet Pea)
Materials
Flowers
Hydrangea macrophylla
Lathyrus latifolius (Perennial Sweet Pea)
Salvia guaranitica ‘Black and Blue’
Foliage
None
Vase
Porcelain Ikebana vase, Georgetown Pottery, Maine. Triangle Ikebana Blue Wave (6.5 W x 6.5 L x 2H inches)
I have filled lots of little vases and glasses with the leftover blooms from this week’s foraging, making the house colorful and cheerful.
Some leftovers: Echinacea ‘Big Sky Sundown’ and Monarda didyma (Scarlet Beebalm)
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.
pbmGarden 
More exuberant than your usual Ikibana arrangements, but I like it a lot, the sweet peas definitely add a softening influence. The second vase is very cheerful with that rich colouring.
Thanks Christina. The draping sweet peas help counter those spikes of salvia. The salvia I love so much but they have a mind of their own and are difficult to arrange.
But I love them every time I see them; if I ever find one to buy I’ll do so without hesitation and it will remind me of you.
Thank you!
I adore the sweet peas in this vase….the color and cascading effect really add something wonderful….lovely mix of colors too! Enjoy this wonderful bloom time in your garden.
Thank you Donna. It’s wonderful to have lots of variety in the garden now.
Beautiful Salvia!
Thank you Reema. Those little dark petals are already dropping but I enjoy that rich color.
A lovely combination – I particularly like your Salvia, as I have just bought a similar one. Your perennial sweet peas are lovely too. I am still waiting for my annual ones to flower.
I bought annual sweet pea seeds this year but never got them planted. So nice to have one that comes back each year, although the perennial one does not have a fragrance.
Salvia ‘Black and Blue’ is an annual for me. But what an incredible color. Definitely sings inside or out of doors!
The salvia drops those pretty petals so easily I’ve already been picking them up off the floor and counter, but the color is worth it for a few days.
Your vase is just beautiful. Black and Blue Salvia is one of my favorites. I was thinking about replacing mine when it rallied. Can plants read your mind? 🙂
Perhaps plants can read your mind, although my own seldom listen.
Not only the title speaks of poetry but also the vase itself, Susie. It’s delightful! Happy summer days to you 🙂
Nice to hear from you Annette. Glad you tuned in to today’s title.
Beautiful as usual. The floral abundance of this season makes my heart sing. Both arrangements are fab but the red one is especially cheery!
Hi Peter, I know what you mean. It’s so nice to have great variety in bloom.
Oh that Salvia is pretty, Susie – all the more so as I bought plugs of it this year, grew them on, then planted them out and they were instantly nobbled by slugs 😦 As Christina says, it is a more exuberant vase than we are used to from you, but it certainly typies a floriferous June. Sweet pea tendrils, whether from the annual or everlasting versions. Thanks for sharing
That’s a shame. The rainy spring has brought more slugs into my garden this year than ever before. They are destructive. The sweet pea tendrils earn at least one photo a year on my blog!
Several photos would be lovely!
I love that Salvia but I have difficulty with so many plants in this genus and your comment about ‘Black & Blue’s’ need for adequate rain gets to the heart of the problem. Your mix of the 2 pinks with the blue Salvia is delightful. I’m more than a little envious of the red Monarda too – bee balm is another plant that doesn’t want to grow in my garden.
Kris, I know what you mean. Even plants that seems to be drought tolerant survive, but don’t look all that great when there isn’t much rain. I wish I’d bought a Monarda cultivar that doesn’t spread so easily. It took several years to get it established but this straight species one has taken over one of my borders. The hummingbirds like it though so that’s a bonus.
What a lovely arrangement. The IAVM meme is so full of inspirational ideas.
Thanks Ronnie. IAVOM is valuable on so many levels. It’s fun to see everyone’s creative cut flowers.
Gorgeous! I love all your up close photos to celebrate the uniqueness and beauty of each of your blooms!
Thank you. I do enjoy seeing the details on these flowers. Glad you liked them.
I envy your skill at simplifying! The results are always so beautiful. And it is lovely to imagine what your garden must look like right now with all these gorgeous flowers!
Thank you Cathy. My garden alas is running away from me again this year.
Susie, the Salvia “Black and Blue’photos are inspiring. My salvias are also happy after the deluge.
Thank you Amelia. I have lots of out-of-focus pictures of that salvia. Sometimes it’s hard to photograph that color.
I have a hard time with reds, deep reds.
A pretty combination, the soft and dark pink with the blue. I do esp. love that ‘Black and Blue’ salvia, but it only blooms for a short time for us up here before frost knocks it down.
Ha! I knew that perennial pea was good for something! They are supposedly roadside weeds here, but I can NOT get the seed to grow where I want them! How can they be weeds if they don’t grow like weeds?
I was given the plant and it’s been easy to grow, but not aggressive.
That is the first time I heard of anyone planting it. It grows wild but only on the roadsides here. I have tried growing seed, but nothing eve comes up. I am pleased to see it along the roads, but will not bother growing it in the garden. There is plenty out and about.