In a Vase on Monday, from Lotusland

I'm going to start my series of Lotusland posts where our visited ended, at the gift shop, and yes, I bought a vase.

Don't we all love garden and museum gift shops? I know I do. Here there were several lovely plants for sale...

And if I lived in a warmer climate I would have probably shopped them more seriously.

In fact on my previous visit (in 2009) I bought one of these Encephalartos. It never did much and finally wasted away. I didn't want to make that $20 mistake again.

I guess The Aeonium Challenge is still on my mind. This would have made a stunning entry, with a better photographic backdrop though.

So many fabulous things which could be yours mine!

I'd have loved to take the tile and fountain home with me...

The Xanthorrhoea bloom spikes though, they were for sale.

No I didn't buy one.

You'll see these containers (or at least similar ones) in a future post — they're in the garden itself. I love the tile pattern on the one on the right. Unfortunately all four sides were different and the others weren't to my liking.

I did buy a huge clump of Tillandsia usneoides (Spanish moss), much bigger than you see here. It was the healthiest I've ever seen and a great reminder of our visit. Spanish moss plays a big role in the Bromeliad garden at Lotusland, one of my favorite parts.

I also bought this small vase. There was an entire collection of small vases, trays and plates the shape of lotus leaves or decorated with them like this. Why didn't I take any photos inside the gift shop? I don't know! I wish I had.

The artist's mark on the bottom.

It's hard to capture the shape of the vase in a photo. It's not round but rather sort of gently misshapen.

Here it is filled with cuttings from the garden.

The muddy pink/salmon of the Macleaya cordata blooms reminds me of the color of the stucco buildings at Lotusland, so they were a natural to include.

Foliage from Alchemilla mollis is a sort of stand-in for lotus leaves...

While the Brachyglottis greyi (aka Senecio greyi) foliage works as a nice color complement.

The vignette is completed by a print we picked up at Schoolhouse Electric (Andrew's employer) and another vase filled with blooms from Schefflera brevipedunculata and foliage from Cotinus ‘Royal Purple'...

Thanks, as always, to our "In a Vase" hostess Cathy at Rambling in the Garden. Click over to see what other gardeners have put in their vases today!

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