I covered myself head to toe a short while ago to venture out amidst the mosquitos and snip a dozen Siberian Iris stems to fit into the frog holes at the top of this green glass vase. I’m still scratching a few welts on the top of my hand, the shutter release hand while I was trying to very quickly take a few photos… All worth it though, to join Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for a Monday vase of cut flowers. A few of the smaller flowered, darker blue stems here are actually French Iris – there’s a difference between the two, something about having or lacking fuzzy falls (‘beards’) I believe.
The title of this post is ‘Bluesy’ but I also included a single stem from a small patch of white I. siberica. I discovered the clump a few years ago in an unlikely spot and transplanted it so that it was front and centre for all to see. I really love the golden veiny bits…
I didn’t want to dawdle around the yard looking for a prop so instead here’s the same Ikebana bowl I used last week, with the same buttercup (amazing how long it lasted!), and a handful of additional small Allium karataviense joining the single one in the first vase. Have a great week everyone!
What beautiful fleur-de-lis! They’re so graceful. ⚜
You know the fleur-de-lis!! Very impressive!!! The white one in particular, I think. It’s much smaller than the others, and the arch is more pronounced – more delicate…
French Canadian heritage… 😉
Your Irises are all gorgeous…and looking quite pretty in the vase. Those female Mosquitoes are so blood thirsty 😡
Is it just the females???
Wow those are very blue….my iris are Siberian and purple. I don’t think I have seen any so blue. Love both vases. And mosquitoes. They seem bad this year. Swarming as soon as I exit the house. Ugh!
The range of blues is interesting, isn’t it…from sky blue like a forget-me-not to the dark blue-purply ones… I think the only good thing abut the really hot summer days is how it kills off the mosquitoes…
What exquisite blue. True blue is not easy to come by, as most blue flowers are somewhat purplish. French iris sound interesting.
Yes – it’s like ‘black’ flowers, they’re usually just dark purple, which is also nice.
Allium karataviense are interesting. How wide are the floral trusses?
The flower balls range from gold ball to softball size, depending on various factors I imagine. I have lots because I left the original seed heads standing, and most aroe gold ball to hardball size.
That is quite a range.
Those are beautiful blue Irises–all the hues are fabulous. The suiban vessel at the end is very special, too. I have a couple of those round, low vessels, too. I need to use them more often. Lovely.
Thanks Beth…the blues are especially enchanting on a very warm afternoon…
The two-tone bluesiness is utterly charming, Chris – and thanks for the bonus ikebana vase…over a week for the buttercup? Who knew!
After all the daffodils have faded, it’s really cool to see these clouds of yellow floating over the garden, here and there. They appear where the wish and I generally let them have their way…
Beautiful, Chris and I love the backdrop! They almost don’t look real. Are mosquitoes the state bird this time of year?
HA HA HA!! North of here they (plus blackflies) could indeed be called the official provincial bird, in the spring at least! We don;t have blackflies thankfully – they’e much worse!
There was an area here called mosquito county..the name was changed.
I’ve never seen that particular Iris before – it’s stunning! Sorry to learn that you’re suffering from a scourge of mosquitoes.
We have mosquitoes from late May through mid summer, depending on how wet it is and how hot. After the mosquitoes come the horse flies and deer flies…until September. Heavy sigh…
The effect of the combined blues is to make both seem even more attractive. My sense is that an arrangement of either color alone wouldn’t be nearly as interesting.
Your buttercup made me smile. My favorite musical group from the Philippines, a family band made up of four kids and their parents, is quite accomplished, but sometimes they enjoy just having a little fun.
LOL – I seen this band before! I think you’ve posted about them -they’re great! I agree – love the various shades of blue together.
Good on you to brave the mosquitoes, I too suffer if ever bitten, which is why we don’t often go up to Scotland where they have midges in abundance. The arrangement with the Iris is lovely.
Thanks Noelle! I can take a bite or two – they itch for a few minutes then it goes away – but on spring mornings before the sun chases them deep in the woods… I wouldn’t call it swarming but they definitely seem to search me out!
That colour is so precious Chris, like gold for gardeners! Are the mosquitoes only that bad now? Will it get better later in the summer? Have a great week!
Yes, they’ll disappear with the really hot summer days..July and August…usually 😄
Male mosquitoes lack the mouth parts to bite thru human skin!