Tag Archives: Aucuba japonica ‘Variegata’ (Gold Dust Aucuba)

In A Vase On Monday – Gold Dust And Angelonia

Cathy at Rambling In The Garden generously invites us to share an arrangement every Monday using materials collected from our gardens.

From the Zinnia Cut and Come Again collection I picked dozens of colorful blooms yesterday, but only one zinnia found its way toward the back of today’s design, a rare white one.

Zinnia Cut and Come Again (Zinnia elegant pumila)

Having planned to focus on foliage this week I collected a large piece of Gold Dust Aucuba and an arching stem of Sarcococca.

For color there are Angelonia and everlasting sweet pea.

Angelonia angustifolia ‘PAC – Angelos Bicolor’

Lathyrus latifolius (Perennial Sweet Pea)

Materials
Flowers
Angelonia angustifolia ‘PAC – Angelos Bicolor’
Angelonia angustifolia ‘Purple’ (Summer Snapdragon)
Angelonia angustifolia ‘White’ (Summer Snapdragon)
Lathyrus latifolius (Perennial Sweet Pea)
Zinnia Cut and Come Again (Zinnia elegant pumila)
Foliage
Aucuba japonica ‘Variegata’ (Gold Dust Aucuba)
Sarcococca ruscifolia (Fragrant Sweet Box)
Container
Porcelain Ikebana vase, Georgetown Pottery, Maine. Triangle Black Wave (6.5 W x 6.5 L x 2H)

In A Vase On Monday – Gold Dust And Angelonia

Hope your late summer garden is bringing you joy.

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.

In A Vase On Monday – January Pink

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In A Vase On Monday – January Pink

Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden invites us to share an arrangement using materials collected from our gardens.

That winter here has been colder is evident. As month’s end approaches, hellebores, usually a reliable choice for vase material in early January, thus far are content merely to tease with a display of nice fat buds.

So once again I have looked to indoor plants for inspiration. This Monday cyclamen flowers provide a lyrical line and a colorful lift.

In A Vase On Monday – January Pink

Strips cut from edges of aucuba leaves and an aucuba seedpod, along with a crisp cyclamen leaf accent the design.

In A Vase On Monday – January Pink

Materials

Flowers
Cyclamen persicum (Persian cyclamen)
Foliage
Cyclamen persicum (Persian cyclamen)
Aucuba japonica ‘Variegata’ (Gold Dust Aucuba)
Vase
Porcelain Ikebana vase, Georgetown Pottery, Maine. Triangle Ikebana Blue Wave (6.5 W x 6.5 L x 2H inches)

Of the three Ikebana vases by this pottery in my collection, this blue is particularly decorative and beautiful.

In A Vase On Monday – January Pink

In A Vase On Monday – Accent Orange

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In A Vase On Monday – Accent Orange

Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden invites us to share an arrangement using materials collected from our gardens.

Gardenias are in full bloom on the north side of our house. There are two shrubs each reaching over 7 feet tall. One can smell them from the street the scent is so intense.

Gardenia jasminoides (cape jasmine)

Gardenia then seemed a perfect choice for today’s vase.

Gardenia jasminoides (cape jasmine)

After several tries at combining gardenias with asclepias and calla lilies, I decided to regroup. I separated the flowers and created two arrangements, keeping brightly colored orange asclepias in common with both.

Asclepias tuberosa (Butterfly Plant)

In the first vase gardenias and asclepias are inserted into a black floral frog that holds water. The frog in turn is placed into a new small gray footed dish with a graceful, sinuous curve.

Gardenia jasminoides (cape jasmine)

The second vase features my first ever Calla lilies. Foliage of Aucuba japonica ‘Variegata’ is used to highlight the yellow Callas.

In A Vase On Monday – Accent Orange

Of the three calla lilies that have bloomed so far from a package labelled ‘Orange Blend’, two flowers are yellow. The photo on the cover promised they would be more exotic, but I am happy they bloomed.

Zantedeschia ‘Orange Blend’ (Calla lily)

Materials

Flowers
Asclepias tuberosa (Butterfly Plant)
Gardenia jasminoides (cape jasmine)
Zantedeschia ‘Orange Blend’ (Calla lily)

Foliage
Aucuba japonica ‘Variegata’ (Gold Dust Aucuba)

Vases
Porcelain Ikebana vase, Georgetown Pottery, Maine. Triangle Blue Wave (6.5 W x 6.5 L x 2H)
Footed ceramic dish, gray matte finish

The next few weeks will be busy away from the garden, on a special journey—an intense 200-hour yoga teacher training program. I am beyond excited. As my focus shifts I hope to be able to create Monday vases and continue reading your posts though I may not get a chance to comment often. Soon after the yoga training ends, the Garden Bloggers’ Fling will begin.

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.

In A Vase On Monday—Buttons Up

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As the week begins I join Cathy with In A Vase On Monday, an opportunity to share an arrangement using materials collected from the garden.

In A Vase On Monday – Buttons Up

As Thanksgiving approaches button chrysanthemums are a bright spot in the garden.

In A Vase On Monday – Buttons Up

These were passed along over 30 years ago by my garden mentor Virgie, my mother’s first cousin. The little passalongs are appropriate today as I have been sorting through some old family photographs shared by my own first cousin. We are collaborating on our maternal family history. She’s been researching and creating family group records. I am organizing the pictures, writing narratives and posting it all on a family website. So I have spent many hours the past few weeks reminiscing. I discovered pictures of Virgie and of my mother as babies and am piecing together stories of them and other relatives, and meeting some I knew not at all. As i peer into some of the faded images I smile to see hydrangeas, elephant ears, ferns, roses, and vines growing around the porches.

I found one orange gardenia hip yesterday to include in this week’s vase. The chrysanthemums are displayed in a blue mug I purchased at the Eno River Festival one year. The Aucuba leaves are left over from a previous IAVOM, one from September. When I finally decided to take apart the greenery from that arrangement, I found several of the stems had rooted.

In A Vase On Monday – Buttons Up

Materials
Aucuba japonica ‘Variegata’ (Gold Dust Aucuba)
Button Chrysanthemum
Gardenia hip
Blue-glazed stoneware mug

I had collected snapdragon, camellias, echinacea and clematis to use also but the chrysanthemums wanted all the attention. Having cut the clematis though I decided to share a peek anyway.

In A Vase On Monday – Buttons Up

Thanks to Cathy for hosting and giving us a chance to express our flower arranging passion. Visit her at Rambling In The Garden to discover what she and others are placing In A Vase On Monday.

In A Vase On Monday—Gold Dust

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In A Vase On Monday—Gold Dust

As the week begins I join Cathy with In A Vase On Monday, an opportunity to share an arrangement using materials collected from the garden.

After some rain during the past week the garden perked up a little. The zinnias responded with fresh new flowers, even though powdery mildew is affecting the leaves. I planted Aucuba japonica ‘Variegata’ in Spring 2015 and it is coming along nicely. Its gold splotched leaves are the starting point for today’s arrangement, supported by orange and red zinnias.

The light was very low yesterday so I tried to photograph the arrangement in several places around the house.

In A Vase On Monday—Gold Dust

Materials
Aucuba japonica ‘Variegata’ (Gold Dust Aucuba)
Zinnia ‘Cut and Come Again Mix’
Zinnia ‘Burpeeana Giants Mix’
Zinnia elegans ’Cactus Flower Blend’
Porcelain. Rectangle Ikebana Vase Blue Zen (6.75L x 3.75W x 2H)

In A Vase On Monday—Gold Dust

I am behind lately in reading and commenting on garden blogs and hope to catch up soon. My head is swimming with ideas about gardening Friday and Saturday I attended a horticulture symposium at JC Raulston Arboretum which celebrated the garden’s 40th anniversary. The theme was “Horticultural Bright Lights: The Future of Gardening.” Here is a list of speakers.

Matthew Pottage – “Wisley—The New Chapter for the Flagship Garden of the Royal Horticultural Society”
Rebecca McMackin – “Brooklyn Bridge Park: Growing Biodiversity in the Concrete Jungle”
Hans Hansen – “New Plant Development at Walters Gardens”
Claudia West — “Planting in a Post-wild World”
Claudia West – Designing Plant Communities: The Art and Science of Successful Planting
Aaron Floden, Ph.D. – “Exploration, Discovery, and Bridging Botany and Horticulture”
Jared Barnes, Ph.D. – “Propagating Horticulturists: A Cultural Guide for Cultivating the Future of Horticulture”
Matt and Tim Nichols – “International Maples of Mystery”

As I told a friend this weekend, after hearing these inspiring talks I may not give up on my garden just yet.

Thanks to Cathy for hosting and giving us a chance to express our flower arranging passion. Visit her at Rambling In The Garden to discover what she and others are placing In A Vase On Monday.

In A Vase On Monday—Gold Dust

In A Vase On Monday—In Search Of The Blues

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In A Vase On Monday

Monday brings the chance to practice flower arranging by joining in Cathy’s weekly challenge In A Vase On Monday, where the goal is simply to fill a vase using materials gathered in one’s own garden.

In A Vase On Monday

I last wrote about using Angelonia in the meditation circle and it was still on my mind when I began planning a vase for this week. The rich colors seemed to be a good starting point for an arrangement.

Angelonia ‘Alonia Big Indigo’

As an afterthought I also brought in some gladiolas from a bulb collection planted this spring, misleadingly named Gladiolus ‘Blue Shades Mix.’ Do pink and magenta really qualify as blue shades? No, but these flowers are lovely.

Pink Gladiolus

Magenta Gladiolus

This is the first purple from this “blue collection.” I like it a lot. Somehow Gladiolus became the focal flower for today, with the Angelonia taking on a supporting role.

Purple Gladiolus from Blue Shades Collection

In spring I planted a small Aucuba japonica ‘Variegata’ (Gold Dust Aucuba) for the express purpose of exploiting its foliage for flower design. That shrub is doing well enough to contribute a few dark, shiny leaves today.

Foliage of Aucuba japonica ‘Variegata’ (Gold Dust Aucuba) and Gladiolus Flower

A pair of glass vases that belonged to my maternal grandmother were the appropriate size. I inserted a rolled Aucuba leaf into each vase to hide the flower stems.

Glass vases are lined with Aucuba japonica ‘Variegata’ (Gold Dust Aucuba)

Materials
Aucuba japonica ‘Variegata’ (Gold Dust Aucuba)
Angelonia ‘Serena White,’ ‘Alonia Big Indigo,’ ‘Serenita Raspberry’ and ‘Rose’
Gladiolus ‘Blue Shades Mix’
Matching scalloped glass vases

In A Vase On Monday

Still searching for blue, here is a look from up above.

In A Vase On Monday

Thanks to Cathy at Rambling In The Garden for hosting. Discover what she and others are placing In A Vase On Monday.

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Sense of place, purpose, rejuvenation and joy

Tag Archives: Aucuba japonica ‘Variegata’ (Gold Dust Aucuba)

In A Vase On Monday – Gold Dust And Angelonia

In A Vase On Monday – January Pink

In A Vase On Monday – Accent Orange

In A Vase On Monday—Buttons Up

In A Vase On Monday—Gold Dust

In A Vase On Monday—In Search Of The Blues