Tag Archives: ‘Pride of Gibraltar’ Hummingbird Cerinthe
In A Vase On Monday – A Posy For Nine
In A Vase On Monday turns nine today! Every Monday for the past nine years Cathy at Rambling In The Garden has shared a vase highlighting blooms and foliage from her garden and she has encouraged other garden bloggers to join her. I’ve joined with her 452 weeks.
Yesterday Cathy hosted contributors from around the world to meet each other on Zoom. I was excited to meet with this dedicated group of gardeners. By now we are like old friends really and it was very special to be able to connect gardens and names with faces and voices.
Last week Cathy posed an anniversary challenge to create a hand-held posy. We shared our posies with each other yesterday during our get-together.
My posy was created during a hurried wandering through the garden. Consisting of zinnias, cerinthe for foliage, angelonia for filler, two white semi-cactus dahlias and fragrant ginger lily added in back at the last moment, the bouquet is a colorful achievement for so late in the year.
Materials
Flowers
Angelonia ’Serena Blue’
Button Chrysanthemum
Dahlia ‘Tsuki Yori No Shisha’ (Semi-cactus)
Leucanthemum x superbum (Shasta Daisy)
Hydrangea macrophylla
Verbena bonariensis (Tall Verbena)
Zinnia ‘Cactus Flowered Mix’
Zinnia ‘Cut & Come Again’
Foliage
‘Pride of Gibraltar’ Hummingbird Cerinthe
Gaura lindheimeri ‘Passionate Blush’ (Butterfly Gaura)
Hedychium coronarium (Ginger lily)
Hippeastrum (Amaryllis)
Container
Glazed ceramic vase
Happy Anniversary to Cathy at Rambling In The Garden and thanks to all Monday vase aficionados, arrangers and readers.
In A Vase On Monday – Pink Flowers In A Black Vase
Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden invites us to share a vase of materials gathered from our gardens.
Paeonia lactiflora ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ was the last of my peonies to open just as unsettled weather came into the forecast. Friday’s predicted rains fizzled, but on Saturday morning we had a storm that finally brought some precipitation. To prepare for this week’s vase I gathered peonies early and set them aside for conditioning in cool water. Although a few flowers gently shed their petals before I could use them, there were plenty more, this having been an abundant year for peonies.
I had a specific shape in mind composed of mostly greenery dominating on one side and pink peonies on the other, but the design drifted from the concept as I began working. It seemed a shame not to use all the peonies so I continued finding places to tuck them.
Joining Sarah are other pinks, P. ‘Madame Emile Debatene’ and P. ‘Pink Parfait’, and a few pieces of perennial sweet pea I recently noticed was suddenly blooming. The arrangement is large as one might predict knowing the peonies span 5-9 inches across.
Cerinthe, nearly finished blooming, created a bit of mystery. My daughter was visiting this weekend and she kept hearing noises in the house. I walked down the hall to investigate and found cerinthe seeds had been released all over the floor.
Materials
Flowers
Lathyrus latifolius (Perennial Sweet Pea)
Paeonia ‘Pink Parfait’
Paeonia ‘Madame Emile Debatene’
Paeonia lactiflora ‘Sarah Bernhardt’
Foliage
‘Pride of Gibraltar’ Hummingbird Cerinthe
Container
Black metal suiban. 4 x 9.5 x 6.5 inches. Japan.
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.
Just Ahead Of Spring
Spring Equinox 2022 in Northern Hemisphere will be at 11:33 AM EDT on
Sunday, March 20.
‘Pride of Gibraltar’ Hummingbird Cerinthe ‘Pride of Gibraltar’ Hummingbird Cerinthe Cercis canadensis (Eastern Redbud) Cercis canadensis (Eastern Redbud) Cercis canadensis (Eastern Redbud) Bee on Helleborus x hybridus (Lenten rose) Helleborus x hybridus (Lenten rose) Hyacinth Orientalis Shades of Blue Iris Reticulata ‘Harmony’ Iris Reticulata ‘Harmony’ Iris Reticulata ‘Harmony’ Narcissus ‘Thalia’ (Thalia Daffodil) Spiraea prunifolia (bridal wreath spiraea) Spiraea prunifolia (bridal wreath spiraea)
Wordless Wednesday – Shades of Blue
A Week Of Flowers – Day One
For a second year Cathy of Words and Herbs is hosting a Week of Flowers, inviting everyone to share some “extra colour and cheer” by posting one flowery photo a day, for a week.
During 2021 I have mostly posted floral designs and butterfly journal entries so will omit those images this week. I started growing Cerinthe two years ago. It reseeded generously the first year, not so much this year, but I have saved some seeds. I love its rich blue-green palette.
For an uplifting color boost this week visit Cathy in Bavaria at Words and Herbs to see florals from around the globe.
In A Vase On Monday – Iris With Birch
Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden invites us to share a vase of materials gathered from our gardens.
Our twenty-year-old river birch was on my mind this week. We have had to call to get an estimate for trimming several branches that are wandering toward our neighbors’ roof. Reaching up from our driveway I was able to snag a few stems with male catkins to include in today’s vase.
But what I had had my eye on for days was to feature a generous number of white Dutch iris. They finally opened mid-week, several dozen, and I selected fourteen stems. Fifteen would have been better.
I collected cerinthe to accentuate the lavender streak in the iris and snipped candytuft to soften the edge of the vase.
Arranging flowers often takes much more materials than I first estimate. Eventually I returned outside for extra amounts of cerinthe and candytuft and ending up with hellebores as well. Now aged to a a rich lime green, when it first emerged the double hellebore was creamy white. This became one of my favorite sections of the design.
I had not seen originally how strongly the color of the river birch catkins would affect the other flowers.
The idea of white, lavender blue was overtaken by golden catkins.
Materials
Flowers
Helleborus x hybridus (Lenten rose)
Iberis sempervirens (Candytuft)
Iris × hollandica (Dutch Iris)
‘Pride of Gibraltar’ Hummingbird Cerinthe
Foliage
Betula nigra (River Birch)
Heuchera villosa ‘Big Top Bronze’ (Coral Bells)
Container
Crystal pedestal dish (floral foam in plastic 6-inch Lomey dish)
In the end I was satisfied with the way this turned out. While I was playing with flowers my husband had been patiently awaiting lunch; I really wanted to get that fifteenth iris (or more) but it was time to stop.
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.
In A Vase On Monday – Cerinthe With Pink
Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden invites us to share a vase of materials gathered from our gardens.
I noticed some of the cerinthe is beginning to set seed. It’s the first time I’ve really seen it bloom so I’m not sure if cutting it will help it keep growing, but it seemed like a good choice to feature in this week’s vase.
Small stems of redbud and spirea were used as color accents.
A Fenton handpainted glass vase echoes the colors displayed in the cerinthe and makes the redbud pop.
Materials
Flowers
Cercis canadensis (Eastern Redbud)
‘Pride of Gibraltar’ Hummingbird Cerinthe
Spiraea prunifolia (bridal wreath spiraea)
Foliage
‘Pride of Gibraltar’ Hummingbird Cerinthe
Container
Hand painted Fenton Glass Vase – USA
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.
Friday Blue And Whites
It has been a busy week of weeding and mulching the garden but there is more to do, always more. Several hours before dawn we awoke to a powerful lightning storm but it carried little rain so far. I ventured outside around eight o’clock to secure the tarp covering my mulch and to catch a few quick pictures.
In the past couple days the spirea has opened even more fully.
Muscari is finally visible above the greenery of this bulbs planted in 2018.
Anemones are awesome flowers. I have planted many over the years but few actually have made it to this stage. These were planted several years ago.
More of the cerinthe flowers have opened. Hope they seed all around.
Candytuft is one of my favorite groundcovers. This is a small patch planted 20 years ago in a front sidewalk border. Try as I might I cannot seem to get it to thrive in other areas of the garden for very long.
Have a safe and happy weekend.
In A Vase On Monday – Spring Tea
Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden invites us to share a vase of materials gathered from our gardens.
I gathered the first Thalia Daffodils this morning thinking they would feature in today’s vase. Stems of spirea, camellias, snowflakes and bits of foliage of different sorts, including fresh rosettes of unfurling columbine–all collected up as well.
But hellebores being conditioned in a drinking glass engaged my attention and inspired me to use them on their own without adornment.
For a container today I had already decided to use my grandmother’s burgundy teapot so I shifted the hellebores into it.
Three sprigs of Cerinthe seemed to add a nice final touch.
Materials
Flowers
Helleborus hybridus
‘Pride of Gibraltar’ Hummingbird Cerinthe
Foliage
Container
Grandma’s Teapot. McCormick Tea, Baltimore Md., Made In USA (some history of this teapot)
Many thanks to Cathy at Rambling In The Garden for hosting and giving us an opportunity to try arranging flowers to share. Visit her to discover what garden surprises she and others are offering this week.
In A Vase On Monday – Spring Tryouts
Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden invites us to share a vase of materials gathered from our gardens.
More spring-like weather moved the garden along this week so there was a bit of choice as to what could go in this week’s vase. I gathered various flowers but settled on a large bunch of summer snowflakes to serve as background for cerinthe.
Only two stems of cerinthe proved ready to cut but I forged ahead, styling the flowers in a very pretty blue wine glass I thought would complement the cerinthe.
Unfortunately the distinctive blue color and etched pattern of the glass disappeared once filled with the green snowflake stems and the vase turned rather bland. The glass was a bit too tall as well, making the proportions seem off.
I shifted to placing coral-hued camellias in little containers, thinking I could group them with the glass of cerinthe and snowflakes. The effect was still not what I had in mind.
Eventually I settled on using just the trio of camellia flowers, two in vodka shot glasses and one floating atop a milk glass punch cup.
I was happy with the camellias but not quite satisfied that the cerinthe didn’t make the cut. So I tried the snowflakes and cerinthe in a Caithness bud vase. The vase color worked this time but the opening was much too small to hold many stems.
Materials
Flowers
Camellia ‘Coral Delight’
Leucojum aestivum (summer snowflake)
‘Pride of Gibraltar’ Hummingbird Cerinthe
Foliage
Camellia
Container
Assorted glassware; Punch cup paneled grape Milk Glass (Westmoreland); and Caithness glass bud vase
Regardless of vase styles or arranging collections of vases, at this time of year each flower seems perfect—all make the cut.
Many thanks to Cathy at Rambling In The Garden for hosting and giving us an opportunity to try arranging flowers to share. Visit her to discover what garden surprises she and others are offering this week.
Approaching Mid-March 2021
More hellebores are in flower. These, planted along the north side of the house in 2016, came from Pine Knot Farms (PKF) in southern Virginia. They have not bulked up much in all these years but I am happy to see them again.
Also in the northern side garden this camellia is looking fine today. Just a few days ago its buds barely revealed color so I was surprised it opened so suddenly. Last year it bloomed 10 days earlier.
The weather has been delightful all week, spirit-lifting really. On several days I managed to spend a few hours weeding and performing general clean-up. It is taking longer than expected but far from being a chore this year I am finding the tasks to be immensely satisfying.
I showed these cerinthe flowers recently but am compelled by their rich colors to share them again. I planted seeds last May in two locations. There is no sign of them in the back garden location, but this spot beside the house and next to the driveway is where they found happiness.