In A Vase On Monday – Anniversary Foliage
For seven years Cathy at Rambling In The Garden has encouraged garden bloggers to share a vase of cuttings gathered from our gardens. A friendly community has grown up around these Monday vases nurtured by Cathy’s efforts. To mark the seventh anniversary of In A Vase On Monday she challenged us last week to create today’s vase using foliage alone.
I am more naturally drawn to flowers but there is much to learn and admire about leaf shape, texture, and color. Despite some overnight temperatures in the low 30s Fahrenheit we have yet to have frost this autumn. I took advantage of a mild afternoon and some rare free minutes Thursday to choose foliage for this week’s vase.
Aquilegia canadensis (Eastern red columbine)
Fresh mounds of light green basal leaves are still forming on the columbine plants beneath older stems of reddened ones. The leaves are divided into groups of 3 leaflets; the triple lobes are rounded.
Aquilegia canadensis (Eastern red columbine)
Shape, vein patterning and color shifts enhance columbine’s delicate leaf form.
Aquilegia canadensis (Eastern red columbine)
My initial concept of the foliage vase this week centered around an Ikebana container filled with dramatic greenery of Hedychium coronarium (white ginger lily). The leaves on this plant can be 2 feet long. I selected a couple of stems with leaf lengths between 9-13 inches.
Hedychium coronarium (Ginger lily)
Hedychium coronarium (Ginger lily)
But how could I leave behind the surprise of a raceme with fresh flowers forming—at this stage it seemed like greenery too and its bold form would add interest.
In A Vase On Monday – Anniversary Foliage
Hedychium stalks went in first toward the back, followed by the columbine in front. Liriope and marigold foliage were used to fill in around the base of the stems. With the materials arranged into place I was struck by how simple yet effective a dish of foliage selections can be.
In A Vase On Monday – Anniversary Foliage
[Imagine the white ginger lily flower buds as anniversary celebration candles.]
In A Vase On Monday – Anniversary Foliage
Materials
Flowers
Hedychium coronarium (Ginger lily)
Foliage
Aquilegia canadensis (Eastern red columbine)
Hedychium coronarium (Ginger lily)
Liriope spicata (creeping lilyturf)
Tagetes (Marigold)
Container
Porcelain Ikebana vase, Georgetown Pottery, Maine. Triangle Blue Wave (6.5 W x 6.5 L x 2H)
I had not planned to bend the foliage-only rule so flagrantly but first alerted by the jasmine-like fragrance, unexpectedly I noticed Saturday afternoon the flowers had begun opening and by evening they had come into full bloom.
Hedychium coronarium Inflorescence
Doesn’t this look like a delicious ice cream cone?
In A Vase On Monday – Anniversary Foliage
By Sunday afternoon the flowers had faded, leaving behind a foliage-only display. Happy seven years of In A Vase On Monday, Cathy and to the many participants and readers through the years!
In A Vase On Monday – Anniversary Foliage
Thanks to Cathy at Rambling In The Garden for hosting and giving us an opportunity to share flower-filled vases across the world. Visit her to discover what surprises she and others found to place in a vase this week.
pbmGarden 
So very creative as usual. I love your use of the ginger which is one of my favorite flowers.
Thanks. Unusual for the ginger to have such a long bloom period. Normally would have succumbed to frost but we’ve had none yet.
My butterfly gingers bloom in the spring and fall. I like the fall blooms, as it is not as hot and they last longer.
That is great. This one in most years barely comes into flower before a cold snap kills it back to the ground. It starts coming back in late spring.
Your ginger must have known it was to have flowered and faded before Monday. Susie, as ever you have chosen some wonderful items and appreciating aquilegia leaves turning from green to purple against the form of the ginger leaves is what everyone will do when they admire your beautiful arrangement: perfect for this Anniversary.
Right Noelle, I think the ginger was trying to follow the guidelines! Thank you!
That’s wonderful, Susie! I wish I could grow ginger plants. You did a great job arranging the foliage and the lily was a delightful surprise. I was tempted to cut the banana leaf that has once again wedged its way through the fence from my neighbor’s more well-watered garden but made do with succulents and Leucadendrons for my foliage arrangement.
I would have thought the ginger would love your garden, Kris, although they do best with good rainfall which we’ve had this year.
Oh yes, so much like candles! I love seeing the buds, flowers and then back to just foliage. How fleeting the beauty of those flowers. The foliage will last much longer. 😃
I hadn’t expected the flowers to actually open. Now that I’ve seen the ginger can do well indoors I will definitely try it again.
Yes definitely like candles! I was fascinated to see the close-up shots of the columbine foliage and their different shades – how easily we can ignore the most common of the plants in our gardens. I am glad I wasn’t in any way specific about what I meant by a bloomless vase, as it is proving interesting to see how people interpret it – thanks so much for your foliage interpretation and how you have put it together
Thank you Cathy. Columbine has such a pretty foliage I think. I’m enjoying the foliage challenge entries too.
It opens our eyes to other possibilities, doesn’t it?
This is lovely, Susie, it reminds me of a bird in flight. Marvelous!
Thanks Eliza. I can imagine it too.
You did a beautiful job with this. With or without flowers.
Thank you Cynthia! I like it both ways.
I knew you would come up with something stylish. I love the creamy white ginger lily. By the way, is your C. ‘Yuletide’ in bloom yet?
Thank you! Yes! Yuletide opened a couple weeks ago. How is yours doing?
Love it, I have that Ginger though it sulks in the sand, so seeing all phases is a treat and the textural contrasts are beautiful.
Thanks. Some years I barely see one flower. It’s a banner year for the ginger. This was a passalong from a neighbor who was moving. She had orange also and that’s the one I wanted but she wasn’t sure which was which so I ended up with white.
I have some of the white from an old client..I gave some to my brother, it thrives in his garden and is just puny here.
Oh, marvellous! I’ve never seen an aquilegia go red before, but that is very attractive. The ginger is completely perfect for this post, even to bringing those candles. 🙂
Thanks. I’ve been surprised how well the aquilegia has lasted this week. Lots in the garden is still green.
That is cool that it is almost all foliage; like something from the 80s. It is just as cool in bloom. That happens to be one of the gingers that I would like to bring back from Southern California when I am able to grow it.
Hope you get some of this ginger Tony.
Oh, I will. I just do not want to bring it here before the garden is ready for it. The weather here is very mild, but gets just cool enough in winter that some of the gingers are not happy about it, and some languish and rot. I need a warm and sheltered spot for them. I do not want a greenhouse, but would like a roofed lanai (with a fiberglass roof).