In A Vase On Monday – Irises In Green Urn
Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden invites us to share a vase of materials gathered from our gardens.
As irises begin their spring performance, it seems only natural to feature a group of Dutch iris that popped up next to the driveway this week, just as they have for the past twenty years. Attempts to extend Dutch iris into the main garden borders have been oddly unsuccessful, but this bunch is resilient. They all opened at the same time so I cut the entire group (more than two dozen) to use in an arrangement.
In A Vase On Monday – Irises In Green Urn
The green container is one my sister chose for me at an estate sale a few years ago. The large, tall and heavy urn easily holds today’s long, sturdy iris stems. With its unique shape the vase itself could be the focal point, but the Dutch irises, all white but for a single blue one, compete with a strong presence.
In A Vase On Monday – Irises In Green Urn
Markings of bright egg-yolk yellow as well as pale hints of lavender give quirky personality to the white flowers.
In A Vase On Monday – Irises In Green Urn
In A Vase On Monday – Irises In Green Urn
In A Vase On Monday – Irises In Green Urn
In A Vase On Monday – Irises In Green Urn
Materials
Flowers
Iris × hollandica (Dutch iris)
Foliage
‘Pride of Gibraltar’ Hummingbird Cerinthe
Container
Large Green Ceramic Urn
In A Vase On Monday – Irises In Green Urn
In A Vase On Monday – Irises In Green Urn (Waterlogue watercolor effect)
Thanks to our host Cathy at Rambling In The Garden for encouraging us to create and share our vases. Visit her to discover what garden surprises she and others are enjoying this week.
pbmGarden 
I like your pops of purple. Plants really want to grow where they want to grow. I will move some to “better” soil and they aren’t happy.
Thanks. Yes, perhaps the irises need better drainage than some of my beds provide, but part of me wants to blame the voles.
I love the white Iris. Upon seeing it, I asked myself why I don’t have any in my own garden given that Dutch Iris have done surprisingly well here. I must remedy that next fall! Best wishes for a good week, Susie.
I love them in any color. This little group of iris feels like an old friend stopping by each year.
OH – what a shock that last photo was….it really did produce a sudden intake of breath, Susie! Such an intriguing result…I must make time to investigate these photo effects 😉 Your massed irises look amazing, and I have to admit that I did order some white ones after seeing yours one year but none of them even came up! The cerinthe is a great accompaniment, especially with the solitary purple bloom, and your sister chose a useful vase for you – but I know your sister(s?) has supplied you with a number of useful vases!
I keep telling myself I’ll actually paint some of my flowers one day, but until I get back into that mode, the watercolor effect is instant gratification. So curious your iris didn’t come up. I feel like I planted some last fall too that didn’t show up. Yes, I’ve been lucky my sisters have given me quite a few vases. Thanks Cathy!
Lovely and bold, Susie. I only wish iris lasted longer… I feel like I have to stare at them all day to absorb their fleeting beauty, so your pedestal in prominent view is the perfect answer to that.
So true about the fleeting nature of irises. I had to cut these a few days early because they’d all opened, already they’re finishing up.
Celadon green is a favorite of mine and what a vase! My brother started sending me Iris pics today, so I know it is Spring…Gorgeous whites and the watercolor effect is cool.
The vase is so large it takes something very long-stemmed. I think it could have used a few branches but next year maybe I’ll remember that!
Gorgeous branches or not.
Oh, very pretty irises! And I love the vase, too. I’m so looking forward to more blooms for vases as the season gets going. I do have a few now, so I should get in the habit of joining this meme.
Thanks Beth. Yes, do join in with your vases. Can’t wait to see your flowers.
To think the Irises have done so well each year, the right plant in the right spot, and I like the touch of cerinthe around the edge of your vase.
If only plants could let us know at first try, “I think I’ll be happy planted here!”
Dutch iris are awesome. I had never grown them because I had thought that they prefer cooler winters. However, there is an colony of them at work that blooms very well annually. I have considered taking a few bulbs to relocate, just to see how they perform in other places. No one knows how they were planted in that particular unrefined spot, and they may even be descendants of survivors from the landscape of the building that was demolished on the site many years ago.
Beautiful irises Suzie. I have never planted Dutch irises and must give them a go. Love the watercolour effect which is most realistic. I thought that you had got your paintbrushes out until I read the caption 😂
Thanks Anna! I wish I could say I’d painted that myself but meanwhile digital effects can be interesting.
You always have such lovely Irises Susie, and you certainly know how to display them too. What a beautiful vase for them. I love the Cerinthe fringe around the edge. The watercolour made me wonder, like Anna above, if you had actually painted it yourself! Very realistic.
Thanks Cathy! I had good luck with cerinthe the first year but can’t seem to keep it happy. Decided to use it while I still had a little bit.
Of course I love the watercolor effect. The vase reminds me of a surprise int he garden with one purple flower among the white.
Donna, digital effects can be intriguing. The purple iris is the only one left after all these years, but the white ones planted at the same time come back year after year.