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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Sunday, June 24, 2018

In a Vase on Monday - Just One Flower

Late June is probably not the best time to prune things but it's when time allows so it's when it gets done.  I'm an outlaw after all.  Much as I enjoy having a sizable Calycanthus chinensis shrub, it does like to sprawl and cast quite a bit of shade on other plants.  I've considered removing it but every year, it charms me with lovely blooms.  Anyway, pruning meant flowers to bring inside. 

The title may be misleading, there's more than one individual but only one type of flower.

From spherical buds, the blooms begin to open pink, shifting quickly to pinky white.

Calycanthus chinensis  was crossed with our native Calycanthus floridus (Carolina Allspice, Eastern Sweetshrub)  to create Calycanthus × raulstonii 'Hartlage Wine.' 


An interesting article about Calycanthus by Dan Hinkley can be found here




The stems are a bit floppy but with a little encouragement, they cooperated.


A few leaves from the same shrub fill in the back while some native Bleeding Heart foliage is in the middle and sides. Notice those cute round buds.

 After that, there were still more blooms so they got floated in a cobalt bowl. 

Interestingly, the floated buds opened the next day.  


The cobalt bowl got placed inside a brass-looking thingy that came from Watson's after holiday deeply discounted table.  The original picture showed the bottom but also a nice family of dust bunnies on the floor so that part was cropped out.  (Much easier than sweeping, vacuuming, or dusting, right?

Many thanks to  Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for hosting this addictive meme.  Click over to her blog to see what other bloggers have brought inside to enjoy this week.

16 comments:

  1. Those are stunning! Is it a straight species or a hybrid? I was assuming that Hartlage Wine is a red flower but perhaps I am wrong. I have a red one but never cut the flowers. Give that it has grown back from rabbit nibbles etc. I guess I do not need to worry about removing foliage.

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    1. It's a straight species and has foliage that has a nice scent, especially when dried. Hartlage Wine is indeed a wine red and the flower looks like a really large Calycanthus floridus.

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  2. What beautiful flowers! Sometimes the best time to complete a gardening chore is when you actually have time to do it, regardless of when it's technically "correct".

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  3. Great looking flowers, I can see why removing the shrub would be painful. There is just no other choice but to continue pruning it year after year :-D

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  4. Great display. The floating flowers are lovely in that cobalt dish and the arranged design is really wonderful.

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  5. Oh my what a stunning flower....and two fabulous vases. I agree crop out the dust bunnies!

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  6. What a triumph for you to have these fabulous blooms...a new one on me too, and many thanks for the delightful introduction.

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  7. Wow, fabulous and new to me though I remember Sweetshrub from the woods where I grew up. I am always cropping housekeeping faux pas out of my vase pictures.

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  8. What an interesting flower! The centers made me think of Lotus flowers. I like your approach to "cleaning" too.

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  9. Oh, gorgeous, exqusite. I love it. I tried to grow this and failed and you have to prune yours. I am green with envy.

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  10. A nice cross - the tight buds remind me of water nymph flowers. It looks a bit like a primitive angiosperm. Both the vase and bowl show them off well!

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  11. I'm not at all familiar with that plant but your bloom displays are mighty nice ! Do the flowers hold up ?

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    1. The floated flowers hold up better than the ones with longer stems/branches but even those last well for about four days.

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  12. They look like a bunch of poached eggs. Yummmy.

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  13. Lovely things--reminds me of a shallow-cupped narcissus, only giant, with a little Magnolia and Dogwood mixed in.

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  14. Wow, those blooms are incredible! I can't pick a favorite, and I think they look graceful and magical side-by-side. Very nice!

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.