In a Vase, on Monday – Fireworks

Chris Mousseau

Operators of a campground on the shores of Lake Ontario not far from here have apparently decided to shoot off fireworks every long weekend this year. Not a bad thing, unless your dog is one of those petrified by the loud bangs, and quite pretty from the back windows. I was reminded of the fireworks as I cut a few garlic chive stems to add to this week’s vase of cut flowers, and wondered if our meme host Cathy at Rambling in the Garden would have either Zinnias or Calendula, as I do, in her vase. (She does…)

And here’s a look at my windowsill jug of gladiolas this week. It’s become a very pastel, Easter-ish vase, hasn’t it, now that the bright red and orange flower stalks have faded and been removed. There’s two or three stalks yet to bloom from the early planting, and the second planting will hopefully send up a few stalks before the end of the month. Have a great week everyone!

22 Comments

  1. Ooh…the magenta & yellow & orange are gorgeous together. Gladiolas are stunning. Do you have a dog…as well as your two kitties? Firecrackers yesterday evening very near here.

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    1. No dog at the moment, but the possibility is always top of mind! I’m loving the glads…every fall I always debate, in my mind, if I should bother pulling them and storing them…and of course I do. 😁

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  2. Those gladiolus are gorgeous! I love the combination of colors. I’d enjoy being able to see fireworks every week. There used to be fireworks over our bay every weekend in summer, but they’ve been missing this year. I suspect a combination of reasons. Your floral version’s a lovely substitute.

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  3. My zinnias have been poor this year, but I will try and get some in a vase soon – glad I could oblige with the calendula! That vase is a great shape for displaying a small handful of blooms, and you are right about the Easter gladioli – or sugared almonds even (are that something you have come across in Canada?)

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    1. I’ve seen sugared almonds, and they’re likely a lot healthier and better for teeth than the candy (soft in the middle, hard shell, 100% sugar) that also comes in these colours.

      After a poor start battling earwigs a handful of Zinnias have become three or four foot multi-stemmed giants – all but one are this pink variety. Must get different seeds next year!

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      1. Well, I assume the shell of the sugared almonds is 100% sugar too – but at least the centre is a nutritious almond! I tried some different zinnia varieties too, which I wasn’t happy with, so I shall go back to my usuals next year…

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  5. Two beautiful vases in the same colors….one bold and one pastel! Love them both. We continue to have fireworks here too many times for no reason but to use what they didn’t on the 4th. Now with our Labor Day holiday they are lighting them again. Not a fireworks holiday but I guess any day is for some.

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  7. Oh, I miss those gladiolus. Now that I can grow straight species, I may never grow the fancy hybrids again. There are a few at work that are somehow perennial. Are they in season there, or are these late? Ours finished quite a while ago.

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    1. These are a bit later than most around here, probably because I planted them later than usual. If the frost holds off this year I may even have another batch, planted later still.

      Funnily enough, a forgotten bulb I planted last year survived; foliage is tall and strong but no sign of a flower stalk yet…

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      1. If it survives as a perennial, it will recharge itself for next year with the foliage it has now. I stopped growing hybrid gladiolus because they are not reliably perennial here. However, some are. About half of an original planting survive for a second year. A bit more than half of them survive for a third year. A bit more than a bit more than half of that survive for a fourth year. After several years, the few that survive start multiplying. They have been doing that at work for a while now. Weirdly, the survivors are not a particular variety, but are as mixed as the originals. Supposedly, some varieties are more reliably perennial though.

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  8. I love your garlic chive flowers and although I have managed to get some seeds to grow they will not flower for me this year, so fingers crossed for next year! The gladioli vase is gorgeous. Wonderful colours!

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    1. Garlic chive bulbs get larger every year and it does take, in my garden as well, a year or two for them to reach flowering size.

      That’s a good thing, as it gives you time to spot and pull unwanted volunteers! The bulb are surprisingly tenacious when settled in…

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