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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.

Monday, July 23, 2018

In a Vase on Monday - Desert Still Life

This weekend was a whirlwind of garden touring.  On Saturday, we visited verdant gardens in Olympia, our state's capital about 30 minutes south of us and on Sunday a two and a half hour drive took us to gardens in the central Washington desert town of Yakima.   We got home after dark so early this morning, I threw together an offering  from a few things gathered from the desert. Couldn't miss out on In a Vase on Monday, the addictive meme hosted by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.  Do click over to her blog to see more Monday vases.

The vase is one I had and contains a cactus fruit, one of two given to me (one to give to Loree) by Ron McKitrick, the proprietor of the Hillside Desert Botanical Garden, and a piece of a Mammillaria from a previous plant adventure found when emptying the car last night.


On the west side of the state, we anticipate the arrival of Yakima peaches each year.  Since we were there, and fruit stand/antique malls dot the highway, we picked up a box at the source.  The other cactus fruit made it into the picture along with some of the rocks picked up by the side of the road.  A cholla cutting, also from the Hillside Desert Botanical Gardens (post to follow) completes the hastily-thrown-together still life.

19 comments:

  1. That is zany and quite awesome! What a fun offering to acknowledge your travels from the week at the season that you are in!

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  2. Fun and unique IAVOM. Color, structure, flavor... I love everything about it.

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  3. Love your 'installation' with great vase....

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  4. love this combo: color, scale, texture — everything is perfect. Funny how exotic the peaches look in this context. I grew up in NY state and we had fabulous local peaches. I used to be able to get really good Ontario peaches here in Wisconsin but no longer. Nothing like a fresh peach!

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  5. Peter, you have used your artistic 'eye' to perfection here - this is absolutely delightful

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  6. I sometimes wonder what interesting bits and pieces of plants might be excavated from your Mary Poppins' bag of a car trunk. What a weekend you must have had. Sounds like Yakima was loads of fun! Your desert-themed arrangement today is wonderful. A cholla cutting, how exciting!

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  7. Your miniature desert landscape is wonderful!

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  8. Cool! A fantasy landscape. Though it might be better without the peaches, because they could then be immediately eaten. Yum.

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  9. Good use of the cactus vase. I can't wait to see posts about your tours.

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  10. You traveled far for NPA touring. I'm sure those who opened their gardens appreciated it! We were otherwise engaged. Social conflicts have limited our touring this year.
    I don't know anyone else who would put rocks and prickles and peaches together and make it look artistic. :-)

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  11. Haha, love the cactus vase complete with fruit and offset.
    Sounds like you had quite a busy weekend, you relly know how to do the visits right :)

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  12. That's really special, Peter! You are so creative!

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  13. Peter, this is a delightful homage to your trip. Peaches, yum!

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  14. Love this!!! A most excellent collection of some of my favorite things, and beautifully assembled too.

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  15. Nice vignette of your adventures, Peter. That's a cool vase, too. I love everything peach (fresh, frozen, pie, jam, chutney, cobbler...). What do you make? Enjoy your haul!

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  16. Oh what fun and gloriously eccentric. Glad I'm not the only one who picks up stones everywhere I go.

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