Specialty Gardening: Yard to Vase - Summer 2009 series, 1 by soilsandup

soilsandup wrote:
Thanks, Joyce. The russian firecracker (Russelia equisetiformis) does have reddish orange small blooms at the tips - they are the two smallish feathery branches at the bottom of the arrangement. My July 9th posting shows some of the young stems of the plant of which I had trimmed all of the older stalks. The branches (up to 3 feet tall) have a nice arching shape to them and looks great draping over a planter. The taller orange flowers in the back are the crocosmia.

I have used this metal pail for many arrangements (as Terri already noticed) and never had any problems. I do have a taller galvanized pail that has rusted in the inside. But, I still use it anyway and the rusty red water doesn't seem to shorten the life of the flowers that I put in them. Here's that vase that I used earlier in the year for the alstromerias. And they lasted a whole week. I like the galvanized metal look. Maybe some flowers are more sensitive to it's effects (if any) than others???