I am slightly addicted to Penstemons and I especially love ‘Sour Grapes’. There is something about the flash of sky blue that appears on some of the flowers, their stripey throats and the blushed, soft grape colour that make them exceedingly attractive.
The fact that fat bumblebees frequent the flowers endlessly, also means that I find myself looking at these purple bells more than most. So I used three spikes of this lovely flower as the basis of today’s vase.
The other thing that I am excited about in the garden just now is a grass: Pennisetum thunbergii (grown from seed) which is flowering for the first time and I love its wonderful maroon tufts with the bristly stigma.
So I’ve cut some of them to add dark spikes to the arrangement. Also Pheasant grass is just starting to flower and I’ve put some of their silky arching plumes to add some airy volume.
The rest of collection are very common flowers: nepeta, lychnis, agrostemma, geranium and a white potentilla, plus a couple of herbs: oregano and feverfew.
For foliage I have cut some nigella seed heads:
and a bit of silver-edged dogwood (possibly Cornus alba ‘Elegantissima’).
I think that the vase should last for some time. I am just a bit sad that the bees are missing the penstemon!
I am joining in with Cathy’s ‘In a vase on Monday’. Today’s selection over there shows that other people are much braver in cutting their prize blooms. I may have to start thinking about a cutting border.
🙂
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What a fabulous vase especially the flowers you chose…I love Penstemons too but they do not necessarily like my climate…but I have a few.
Luckily P. ‘Sour Grape’s does do well here, but I can’t get ‘Husker’s Red’ to survive and that is another favourite.
At least we can see your Sour Grapes – mine were virtually hidden by everything else! The grasses are a great addition, something I hope to do more of once mine get established – and aren’t nigella seedheads brilliant! Thanks for sharing today
Well, you had an abundance of blooms and other pretty eye-catchers. I do like the life that grasses bring to arrangements, they earn their place quite definitely.
Lovely flowers. The penstemon is especially nice and the nigella seedheads add great texture.
Thanks. I am just off to try drying some nigella for autumn/winter
What a lovely arrangement with the feverfew grabbing our attention centre-stage. Love the shape overall. 🙂
Thanks Cathy.
Lovely and airy, Allison. That is a favorite penstemon for me as well, such a pleasing color.
Yes, the bluer the better for me and the stripes tone down the white throat, making the whole thing much more subtle than others.
What a luscious bunch of photos! Penstemons are such lovely plants. I’m a little sorry for your bees missing the ones in the vase, too, but you’ll appreciate the arrangement all the more.
Exactly, plus cutting a few will encourage more spikes for later.
All your flowers and foliage come together beautifully – there is so much loveliness here I don’t know where to start! The Pennisetum is fab, as is the penstemon and the bright pink Lychnis adds pops of deeper colour. I planted some penstemons (bought at a plant sale so I don’t know what variety they are) last year and they didn’t do much but this year they’re flowering really well.
Glad to hear that your penstemon have settled down and are doing well this year.It’s easy to take cuttings so you can readily bulk up numbers. I love that lychnis with its zingy pink and I love that it seeds around to surprise me each year.
I can see why the bees love the penstemon, it’s such a beautiful mottled colour. Great bee photo too, they are so hard to capture hovering like this.
I think foxgloves still win for attracting bumblebees, but penstemon are a close second. Luckily for me the bee in the photo was pretty systematic about visiting the bells so I was able to guess which one was next and lie in wait!
Bumble bees love catmint too, but the bells are so tiny the bees feed/collect on the wing, flitting all too quickly from one to the another,
That’s a lovely July arrangement. I love penstemon too – they were the flowers that caught my eye most at Kew Gardens this weekend.
I can believe that. They are at their best now.
What a lovely arrangement. I love Penstemon too but unfortunately I have been unable to keep them growing here in Ireland.
Thank you. What do you think kills them? Is it the cold?
I think so but we have fairly mild winters so I am just not sure.
Maybe the wet then? What a shame!
I have the straight species of P. digitalis and the cultivar ‘Husker Red’. Love the look of ‘Sour Grapes’, and also the name.
Oh, lucky you. I love ‘Husker Red’. I grew it from seed one year, but lost it over winter. 😦