Well, first of all I have to admit to being wrong about bees and Jerusalem Artichokes. We had another storm and quite a few of the tall flowers were blown over, including one of the Cannas in my vase. With the Jerusalem Artichokes at a height I can see, and possibly now that they are more developed, they are attracting all sorts of creatures.
Including lots of bees.
So, anyway, I’ve picked a fallen over Canna, ‘Australia’, which has dark purple leaves and a Canna Indica warszewiczii which has dark purple stems and green leaves, and some of the stalwart Fuschia ‘Gartenmeister Bonstedt’ which has been flowering since before Christmas. It has purple stems and the backs of the leaves are purple, although that’s not very evident in the photo. While I was taking the photo in the last of the light the neighbour’s cows came up to have a good look while eating their dinner, and a couple volunteered to be Easter cows. So then I got distracted by them and ran out of light entirely and had to come inside.
Thanks to Cathy at Rambling in the Garden who hosts this meme.
Absent Gardener 
Great image of thee cow admiring your cannas.
Yes, they were very curious and I took a few photos of them as it got darker.
It took me a little while to see the cow, Cath – thought I was going potty! The canna leaves are the perfect foil for the fuchsia – do let us know how long the fuchsia lasts in water. Interesting to hear about the bees on the artichokes – shows how much we learn from obsevation in our gardens
Sorry Cathy, the cow is quite blurry there, lurking in the background. I think the fuchsias are normally OK, although my house is so hot during the day that nothing is lasting at the moment except the Phormium leaves.
Wonderful to see the bees found your Jerusalem artichokes….and what a lovely vase this week!
Thanks Donna, yes they were really busy on them, even the ones wilting on the ground were getting attention.
The bronze Canna leaves provide the perfect backdrop for the orange fuchsias. I love the bee pics too.
Thanks Kris! I mixed in the Phormium leaves from a couple weeks ago to fill out the vase and they work quite well with the cannas too.
With all the bright colors of spring, it is exciting to see your flaming orange flowers with bronzed burgundy canna leaves, Cath. I totally missed the cow and had to search for it.
Thanks Hannah. I have only just planted the Cannas this year. They have loved the extra rain this summer. Sorry you missed the cow 🙂
The darkness outside emphasizes the bright colours in your vase; Do you change the time in NZ as we do in Europe to make the most of the daylight?
A lovely vase Cath, and a reminder to me that we are not all heading into spring when Easter comes around! Would have loved to see a photo of the cows too! 😉