Monday, February 8, 2016

In a Vase on Monday – well, that's odd

This is not where I thought I was headed for this week's "in a vase" creation...

But when I noticed several crossing branches that needed pruning on the Edgeworthia chrysantha 'Nanjing Gold' – that became my focus. Why wait to prune when doing it now means heavenly perfume inside the house? Exactly.

So the plans were adjusted and a tall green vase became the center focus. It's quite challenging to find something that looks right with long, bare, brown stems. I needed a couple of strong players.

Meet Phormium 'Apricot Queen'

Beautiful, right? A couple leaves were cut...

Along with a few Sword Fern fronds.

But of course I didn't stop there, it was time to redo the entire mantle-scape...

How about a bouquet of Agaves? (oh how I wish I had carried something like this in my wedding!)...

Last Friday I wrote about a wealth of Agaves that recently arrived at my doorstep. My original plan for this week was to create a large arrangement with them, instead I made a couple of simple bouquets by arranging them in my hand...

Wrapping a couple of wet paper-towels around the roots...

And placing the handful into a vase.

Hopefully I'll get the opportunity to do something more creative with these soon, after all it's only February so none will be going in the ground anytime soon.

I decided to work exclusively with my green vase collection. How I feel about these varies depending on the day/my mood. Right now I'm loving them, sometimes not so much, I think because the green is a little dull. Oh, that clock is an oldie but goodie that I've had for ages but haven't used for a very long time. It works!

If you're experiencing any Edgeworthia confusion – in some photos they appear more open than others – that's because I snuck in a few close-up images after they'd been in the warm house long enough to open up a bit more.

Did you notice the doorknob set? (sorry, it got a little cropped here) Those are the knobs on our interior doors, this extra set is from an old door that was removed (no longer used). I needed something to keep the rustic brass orb upright and liked the way they worked with the color scheme. Oh and yep – that Agave parryi is the one from this post. The poor guy was uprooted and is spending a little time drying out in the house.

The patina on the brass piece is wonderful...

The Corokia Cotoneaster is still looking good from when I cut it for a vase way back on January 18th. Oh and look! The Tillandsia bulbosa (I think) is having a baby!

I realized there's a circle theme going on here (clock face, doorknobs, brass orb, etc) so a wreath was needed. I put it together with moss and things from the old mantle-scape that I tore apart to make this one.

And now for the namesake of this post (as labeled by my husband). I found this old TV antenna at our local rebuilding center and decided to treat it as sculpture. Having grown up pre-cable television (I grew up rural so even when cities had cable we still did not) these were staples in our house, although none as cool as this one (and most had wadded up aluminum foil on the ends)...

The Haworthia plays nicely with it.

And it's the same colors as the clock, on the other end of the mantle.

Was the light-bulb shape purposeful or accidental?

One final Agave pup finishes the tableau.

That's my run-on creation for this week's In a Vase on Monday event. As always Cathy is our hostess gathering up the links...visit her!

All material © 2009-2016 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

38 comments:

  1. Just heavenly. My personal favorites are the rusty orb, the Cotoneaster branches, the wreath and that fabulous pair of sconces on either side of the mantle. When we put in our pond, the cost of the electricity to run it was the same as basic cable. We opted to watch the pond and waterfall instead of TV and thus have never had cable ...

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    1. Me either! I should have elaborated on that. No cable TV for me (ever, what a waste of money), and no more rabbit ears since basic TV is digital now.

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  2. Love, love love the whole mantel arrangement. Thank you for showing us all those lovely details. A triumph!

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  3. Love the main vase -- especially the Edgeworthia -- but all of it is so great! The TV antenna is a wonderful touch that is a perfect complement, as are the doorknobs (vintage barbells)!

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  4. You have serious talent. Lots of fun to see... thanks!

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  5. Goodness, you're talented! Love!

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    1. Takes one to know one. Ha! I don't know why that popped into my head but once it did I had to type it. Just my inner 7-yr old.

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  6. BEHOLD!!!

    Bloody hell you are killing me! :)
    You continue to outdo yourself Loree. This is beyond beyond beyond.
    ..... And even though I am at the bloom project by 730am on Mondays it never fails that a few short hours later I feel like such a slacker! :)

    Ok so you had me at the edgworthia blooms and then that brass orb w the agave and then the freaking UPCYCLED WREATH - I honestly don't even have words for the antenna or the door knobs - my heart and brain are a little busy exploding at the moment!

    I might have to enable the blog page on my website ;) you are clearly having way too much fun - and I'm having serious fomo

    Smashing Loree! Just smashing! Oh and the green vessels look tremendous - perhaps it's the promise of sprig thing.
    I found a bunch of vintage green glass yesterday - apparently is pretty hard to find. I can't wait to use it.

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    1. Ah your comment make me laugh...a slacker on Mondays when you show up to volunteer at 7:30 am??? No, not in any way. Yes...this is fun!!! Congrats on your green glass score.

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  7. Wow, you could enter it in those small garden displays at NWFGS. Love the antenna, that is one of the better designs.

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    1. Oh I loved this comment Shirley, thank you!

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  8. Always fascinating visiting you Loree to see what you have on the mantle....love the agave and how you planted them in your vase....and what a surprise to see the 'rabbit ears'. But the highlight was the Edgeworthia I have seen on other blogs but never in a vase. it is just beautiful and works perfectly with all the other vases and plantings on your mantle!

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    1. I, normally, would never dream of cutting Edgeworthia to bring indoors. Thank goodness my plant is so bent on growing that it provided the opportunity.

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  9. You may have enjoyed an agave bouquet at your wedding, but just imagine the poor women gathering to catch it! O_O

    I love that you used sword fern. I think it's a beautiful plant that doesn't get enough attention or respect. It makes a great textural background for the Edgeworthia. The mantlescape looks great. I like the bronze, brown, and muted green palette supporting the plants.

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    1. Excellent point! Didn't occur to me because that whole "throwing the bouquet" thing was one of the many traditions of which we did not partake. I am going to lovingly create a bouquet of flowers and then toss it away, nope.

      That sword fern is one of just a handful of plants original to the garden. I love being able to use it this way.

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  10. Wow - that Edgeworthia works brilliantly in a vase, and seeing it close up is a real experience. I loved reading about your journey creating the collection of green vases - and how you never stop at one! Your co-ordinated mantlepeices are always a work of art - thanks for sharing them

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    1. I wish you could smell that Edgeworthia, that would make the circle complete.

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  11. What everyone else said! I love the way you reinvent the mantle-scape so frequently. Your creative well is a deep one! (Different from you've gone off the deep end.) Always amazed at the beauty you create!

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    1. Thanks Outlaw, I'm lucky Andrew doesn't mind my frequent re-inventing.

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  12. How come ferns look so stiff when florists use it, while in your hands it becomes fabuloso? It's a rhetorical question to which I already know the answer. No! No! Don't cut us off when the great outdoors begins to beckon.

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  13. after you replied with this last week "Thanks Willow! One year my Edgeworthia did this too, thankfully by the time the buds started opening the leaves had fallen." i went into a edgeworthia rabbit hole for hours and emerged with this as my latest must have plant. Your mantle is exquisite.

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    1. Excellent! It took me awhile to come around to its charms, oddly enough it was the leaves that got me. Now of course I couldn't imagine being without those blooms.

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  14. Such a great design. No surprise. My surprise occurred when you said that orb was brass. I thought it was raku pottery. The old television antenna? Inspired! Marcel Duchamp would be proud!

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    1. Yep, brass that has had a tough life...and thanks for the MD mention, love it!

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  15. I really, Really, REALLY think you need to create a picture book of your mantlescapes. Heck, you don't need to restrict it to mantlescapes - you could include your vases, your wreaths and even your container plants. "Decorating with Spiky Things" or "What to Do with Your Frost Sensitive Plants in Winter" or "Beyond Flowers" or "Extreme Floral & Foliage Design" or?!!!

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    1. You did send me thinking with this comment, thanks Kris. Could be a lot of fun!

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  16. You are such a great floral designer. Have you had training or are you just a natural? You could open a floral shop!
    John (Aberdeen)

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    1. Ha! Thanks John. No training...I appreciate the compliment, very much. But I lack one important talent to make a successful designer...I believe it's one thing to have an idea of something I would like to see and then create it. Quite another to be able to listen to what your client wants and create it to make them happy. I could design for myself all day long, and if someone wanted to buy it then fabulous! However I'd be very poor if I had to make a living bringing other peoples desires to life. Does that make sense?

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  17. Lovely! that Agave parryi pup is very pretty, and its such a nice way to get it to dry out... and all those other plants and bits and pieces are nice as well.

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    1. Thanks Renee! That poor A. parryi is still suffering, it lost another arm yesterday.

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  18. Such lovely things to look at on your mantelshelf...love the wreaths with lichens paticularly..what a way to show off lovely specimens of plants and flowers from your garden.

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    1. Thanks Stasher! It is wonderful to be able to enjoy the garden inside the house, when the weather outside is frightful.

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  19. Your mantel is so pretty! Makes me ashamed of mine, which--isn't.

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  20. I LOVE the green pottery. And the yellow looks just like Lantana....I thought maybe you had a secret greenhouse.

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