Decadent Arrangements

Have you ever ‘weeded’ out a plant – sure that it was a nuisance only to realize later that it was something you intended? I have. About 5 years ago I inadvertently massacred about eight Baptisia australis that I planted the previous spring. They hadn’t bloomed (given their first year status) so a year  later, I had entirely forgotten them and presumed them to be some new unrecognized pest – (and for crying out loud, they were everywhere!) – so I pulled them.  The whole time, I kept thinking ‘whatever these weeds are, they sure do have some healthy roots and nice foliage’. (Duh.) So, I have no baptisia in my garden, but I am thinking that the painful memory is now distant enough that I should try again. Lesson learned. There are some really beautiful hybrids whose colors would be so beautiful in arrangements with my early summer peonies (they bloom around the same time).  I love my vases full of nothing but big blowsy peony blooms, but I think I could up my garden arrangement game with a few easy additions. I am pretty sure that some mixing and matching would look equally as nice as these, but here is what I think I’ll try first: Soft and Sweet:  It is still soft and pretty, but the baptisia adds texture and height and the coleus turns the sweet to sexy (Isn’t that what fishnet stockings are all about?) • Decadence® ‘Vanilla Cream’ False Indigo Baptisia •

• Any pale pink or white peony Ombre and Drama:  The baptisia in this mix is like the smoky dark eyeshadow and the extra swipe of mascara. • Decadence® ‘Dutch Chocolate’ False Indigo Baptisia • Mariposa

Solenostemon scutellarioides (Coleus) • Any dark red or magenta peony