Monday, August 22, 2016

IAVOM...that's pretty girly

For this week's "In a Vase" creation I started with a pair of small (under 5") vintage yellow cornucopia vases. I wish I could remember where I bought them, I suspect it was probably a thrift shop, they've been with me for at least 20 years...

I started the cutting with the Artemisia stelleriana Silver Brocade...

I thought it would be an interesting foliage texture and, truth be told, it was over-running it's neighbors.

Looking around for petite flowers none seemed to be quite right, that is until my eyes settled on the Scaevola, yep that will work.

Then for a touch of green I snipped a few Pyrrosia hastata fronds.

Finished vase #1...

I am equal parts attracted to, and repelled by, the sight of these spores. I can't help but brace myself for when they start to move, like little insects.

Vase #2

The pair ended up on the dining table, joined by a green-leaf dish I've also had for years and can't remember where I picked it up.

Oh and the title of this post "that's pretty girly" was Andrew's observation upon sitting down to dinner and noticing the latest. He has a way with words don't you think?

Due to our mini heat wave (3 record-breaking days 99/100 F) I also cut a handful of those Zinnia flowers that I keep going on about. I figure if they're going to get blasted they might as well be enjoyed inside.

Love them and their individual personalities.

As always our Monday vase extravaganza is hosted by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden. Thanks Cathy!

Oh but wait! An update on the Tragopogon dubius (Western Salsify/Yellow Goat's Beard — from the Weeds 3 Ways post). A few of you wondered how the seed heads would hold up. Well 12 days later and they're still looking fabulous...

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

30 comments:

  1. Since I am familiar with Artemisia (size etc.) that makes it much easier to grasp the size of the vases and arrangements. Love the pairing with the leaf dish. Do those puffy seed heads blow apart when you walk by or are they staying in place? They look so terrific but it had never occurred to me to bring them indoors.

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    1. Those seeds heads are amazing! The only time any bits broke off was when I accidentally hit them with a Tillandsia I was placing next to them.

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  2. I love these vintage vases, Loree - something I would have been attracted to in a shop as well. Your arrangements complement them perfectly. Must be all the curly flourishes that make them 'girly?' ;)
    Awesome green zinnias and placed right where you're apt to really enjoy them.

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    1. I think you're right about the curly flouishes, as well we maybe the color?

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  3. The green of the leaf dish really makes the combination, echoing the foliage. Here's hoping your heat wave passes soon, but those zinnias are mighty cooling in the meantime.

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    1. Today is back down to cool temperatures (even wearing 3/4 length sleeves!) but towards the end of the week we're back up in the heat.

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  4. Did you ask Andrew what made that vignette "girly" in his eyes? I don't see it (but then maybe I lean toward the girly end of the spectrum to start with). The beautiful leaf dish is a great addition. I love those zinnias and the puff-balls too.

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    1. I didn't, sometimes it's better to just let the comments pass without acknowledging them. I do have to admit that when I got done I felt the whole thing was a little "Eastery"...as in I need a bonnet and white purse. Maybe that's my version of "girly"?

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  5. You've done it again -- minimal and lovely! Those vases work perfectly too, especially vase #1. BTW, you are encouraging us to be hoarders. I have so many "I may use this someday" things in the basement (not vases though as far as I remember)

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    1. Ah but my vases are on display! Not hidden away in the basement. At least some of them are...

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    2. Alan, you say hoarders like it's a bad thing...:)

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  6. Girly or not, I think they're swell! How has it happened that we have had things for twenty or thirty years? Only old people have had stuff that long...

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    1. Get this...as of next year I will have had our dining chairs for 30 years. HA! Bought when I started working at Pier One.

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  7. Those two cornucopia vases turned out very nicely. And that triangular area behind your sink is so tidy. I have a similar area, where I have lots of clutter as well as a couple of terrariums (terraria?) Oh, to be a minimalist.

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    1. Well if I shot a photo of it this monrning you wouldn't think it so tidy. Andrew's dirty coffee mug and a saucer that held soy sauce are currently filling the empty space...

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  8. I adore your vases and the leaf dish is perfection with the Artemesia, Brocade. This is a matchy matchy cool thing! Then there are the spores that echo the mat. Damn, you are good!

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    1. Ha! The spores and mat are a complete (happy) accident!

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  9. What's wrong with girly?

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    1. Oh I don't think it was an insult. He's commented before how much he likes that I'm "girly"...which of course makes me laugh because I don't think I am.

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  10. Oh my god, those vases..you're killin me !

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  11. Very, very nice. And creative! I like the leaf dish with the arrangement!

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  12. P.S. Thanks for the Salsify update. I'll be pulling off the highway to pick a couple next time I see them!

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  13. I like the way you use foliage for texture and color. Perfect with the blue flowers.

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  14. I think they're fabulous - girly or not! I haven't seen Silver Brocade since I lost the one I grew in the Midwest. It got quite large initially but didn't like the hot, humid summers, and I didn't replace it. Thanks for reminding me how beautiful it is! AND the green zinnias are great in that minimalist vase!!

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  15. And now I am wondering what became of a similar pair of vases I had at one time and apparently don't any more. Efforts to avoid becoming a hoarder always backfire, don't they? And here's to the unbearable lightness of girliness.

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  16. Those vases are amazing - what a great find. I love the Artemisia foliage you have used. Great Zinnias too, and definitely a good idea to bring them in out of that heat. Hope it cools down a bit for you soon!

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