In A Vase On Monday – Coral Trove. (Sunday)
In A Vase On Monday – Coral Trove (Saturday)
Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden invites us to share a vase of materials gathered from our gardens.
With rain predicted for all day Saturday, Friday evening I gathered half-dozen peonies that had opened during the week. (Water-logged peonies look so sad.)
I left them in a couple of plastic quart-size containers on the back porch to condition before bringing them indoors. A wooden box happened to be nearby when I was ready to bring them inside so I used it to carry the two containers of flowers. I loved the way the peonies looked sitting in the wooden chest and and decided to take a few pictures before actually setting about to create an arrangement. First, I thought, might as well tuck in bits of foliage to conceal the plastic containers to make the pictures better, and then done–I just stopped here, saving my preplanned design notions for another week.
In A Vase On Monday – Coral Trove
In A Vase On Monday – Coral Trove -side view
Some of the foliage was freshly chosen and some was plucked from last week’s vase.
In A Vase On Monday – Coral Trove
Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’, Heuchera villosa ‘Big Top Bronze’, Penstemon digitalis ‘Husker Red’ and peony leaves form a soft bedding beneath the tall flowers.
In A Vase On Monday – Coral Trove
The arranged flowers ended up a magnificent 24 inches long by 20 inches deep and 17 inches high.
In A Vase On Monday – Coral Trove -front
In A Vase On Monday – Coral Trove -back
In A Vase On Monday – Coral Trove
When fully open the peonies are 6 inches in diameter.
In A Vase On Monday – Coral Trove
In A Vase On Monday – Coral Trove
In A Vase On Monday – Coral Trove
Peonies are an elegant flower and look at home in refined containers of porcelain, crystal or silver; here, they elevate the unassuming box into a chest of valuable treasure.
Materials
Flowers
Paeonia lactiflora ‘Coral Charm’ (Coral Charm Peony)
Foliage
Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’ (Wormwood)
Heuchera villosa ‘Big Top Bronze’ (Coral Bells)
Paeonia lactiflora
Penstemon digitalis ‘Husker Red’ (Beardtongue)
Container
Wooden Box
P. ‘Coral Charm’ ages with distinguished grace. While they were beautiful on Saturday, by Sunday they had opened further and the color had mellowed. I had this post all ready to go but couldn’t resist overloading it a few more images to show their more mature state as they begin to fade to yellow.
In A Vase On Monday – Coral Trove
In A Vase On Monday – Coral Trove
In A Vase On Monday – Coral Trove
As always thanks to our host Cathy at Rambling In The Garden for providing this opportunity to to share our vases. Visit her to discover what garden surprises she and others are offering this week.
pbmGarden 
A gorgeous variety, I like the way the colours change and you’ve arranged them beautifully in the box. Happy Monday, Susie
Thanks Annette. I enjoy Coral Charm more and more each year. (By the way my baptisia is beginning to flower. Hope yours is doing well.)
Oh that‘s early!
It’s a lovely peony Susie and one that has been on my list to look out for since seeing it on your blog. I love the arrangement in the small treasure chest! 😃
Hope you are able to find it sometime Cathy. I love watching it transform.
Your garden is producing some beautiful flowers. The peonies have a wonderful color. I cannot grow them here, but I only remember pinks and whites from when I lived in a colder climate.
My other peonies are pink and white. Was happy to find coral and I’m so glad I went ahead and bought it.
What a delicious colour, Susie, and I like the way you have spontaneously curated the end result – sometimes things just happens like this. I always envy others’ peony blooms but haven’t had success with my only one for years, and every time I try to remove it it comes back so I am keeping it – and at least it has pretty foliage!!
Interesting your peony is so stubborn in blooming but wants to keep going. I’ve heard they don’t bloom if they’re planted too deep, but other than that I don’t know much about them. Just had beginner’s luck, I guess.
I did try planting it more shallowly but I think they resent disturbance so it may take many years to forgive me – but there was one flower last year, so that’s a start!
That’s the finest kind of treasure chest, Susie. Those coral peonies are flat-out gorgeous and would eclipse almost anything else. Simpler arrangements are most often the best ones, a lesson I seem to have a hard time learning. Are the peonies blooming earlier than usual? It seems so to me but then I may just be in denial of the fact that this is probably going to be yet another peony-less year.
Thanks Kris. Coral Charm is aways the first of my peonies to open. The others have formed lots of buds. Hope yours cooperates this year!
Pretty awesome! Peonies are marginal here. Only a few of my neighbors have grown them, and I can not figure out how. I have not tried them here yet. They either do reasonably well, or very poorly. There is not much in between.
I’m in 7B growing zone. The peonies need a cold winter but we don’t always have one.
Such beautiful blooms, and I have only really seen pinks or reds in peonies, so many thanks for rescuing them from the rain and sharing them in a beautiful arrangement. You must have paid a King’s ransom for this new variety, so there would be not other use for your treasure chest other than to fill it with flowers.
Thanks Noelle. Pink and white do seem to be the standard peony color, although I have seen red. I think I bought Coral Charm as a plant so I probably did pay a lot. A couple years ago I mail-ordered a root cutting but it is slow.
A tasty treasure trove of serendipity! I love the box with the coral color and the aging peony pictures…sometimes aging is good??!
Yes, aging is looking better and better! (or as my yoga teacher says, “growing wiser.”) 😀
I am feeling pretty wise today – got my second covid shot yesterday.
Great feeling.
I think it will be later..
I have never seen that shade before – gorgeous. 🙂
Thanks Judy. I love coral and have been so glad I bought this peony.
Wow, what a stunning display, Susie. That coral color is delectable!
Thanks Eliza. I agree the coral color is nice. The nature of the peonies themselves is just amazing.
They are beautiful peonies, and the foliage looks great with them, too. Thank you for sharing that beauty.
Thanks Beth. It’s starting to be easier to find various bits of greenery and red-tipped new growth to use as foliage. Just chased off a rabbit from my phlox.