But not flowers of autumn, I hope.
It’s Monday, the beginning of a new month and the day when I link to Cathy’s meme where she asks us to fill a vase with flowers from our own garden. Actually it’s not Monday but there are flowers that need to be picked and I wanted to share them with you, forgive me Cathy.
Earth Walker sunflowers have been begging to be included in the weekly vase for a while; I have been cutting and using them and giving them to friends but they haven’t been seen on Monday for a few weeks.
Sunflowers Earthwalker in the asparagus bed have been producing masses of flowers
Sunflowers Earthwalker in the asparagus bed
Rudbeckia Marmelade, sunflowers and Gerbera
To mix with the cheery faces of the sunflowers I chose Rudbeckia Marmelade, sown on 2nd May, they have been flowering for a couple of weeks now. Several of the Gerbera were also blooming again so I included a red, 2 oranges and 2 yellows. There are also a few heads of the small headed but huge plant of the sunflower that has hundreds of flowers from the Van Gogh mix (I really wish I knew its name).
The sunflower you can see is ONE plant and is as tall as the olives!
It is quite hard to decide how to continue with the cuttings bed; it already produces more than I can use but I have bought more packs of seed to try different plants and I want to continue with almost everything I have grown this year too. I have flowers in the sitting room and kitchen most of the time and a vase usually sits on the glass-top table by the dining table; where else could they go, admittedly the vase doesn’t usually last the whole week but I have been in the habit of waiting until Monday to arrange another – silly really.
Sunflower Earthwalker and Gerberas
I used the same basket and dish as for the pink arrangement last week
I am enjoying having flowers in the house so much that perhaps I can have more in each room and I should try to perfect the hand-tied bouquet technique so that I can give friends gifts of flowers when I see them. Enough! I’m thinking aloud, justifying to myself the fact that I’m going to use another vegetable bed for flowers next year, at least for the biennials that need a home soon.
Thanks go to Cathy for hosting, do visit to see what the growing number of participants have included in their vases today.
Creating my own garden of the Hesperides 
Fabulous! Love the vase of sunflowers and rudbeckias.
They do have very sunny faces, almost smiling at me!
When you first look at them, they all look like sunflowers….then to see that some are rudbeckias and Gerberas is amazing. I really love their autumn colors along with your mammoth sunflower plant. I did recognize the vase from last week as I really love this basket. Indeed smiling, cheery fall faces beautifully arranged Christina.
Rudbeckias are new plants for me to grow; I have to admit that seeing so many in American gardener’s blogs opened my eyes to growing them.
I always think the last flowers of the growing season are the most beautiful and you’ve done lovely work putting these together. They give the feeling of abundance that fall is known for.
I do hope these aren’t really the last flowers of summer!
I am SO impressed with your sunflowers, and your entire cutting bed, Christina!
Thanks Kris I am very pleased with the results, I didn’t expect so many flowers! I, like you, have to irrigate to have this type of flower for cutting so it makes sense that the cutting bed (s) are part of the vegetable garden.
What a fantastic grouping, Christina – and again those sunflowers are stunning! The burnt earth colour is amazing 🙂 I too tend to only produce a vase on Monday, which of course is silly – and hence my 4 vases today, I suppose! I will be rethinking my cutting beds as well – particularly deciding if it’s worth the effort of losing space to a few squash and non-existent courgettes, or whether to have another cutting bed…
I’ve had sunflowers to pick for so long. I’m also considering (well almost decided really) to use another of the vegetable beds for cut flowers. Sometimes there is so much veg it becomes hard work to harvest and use it. I will of course end up with too many flowers but then I can have a new vase every day if I want!
Decisions, decisions…. 🙂
What a cheerful, sunny vase! And definitely autumn colours! Sunflowers are great for that. Can’t believe the height of those! You certainly look like you’ve got the cut flower bug, with great plans afoot. But make sure you don’t go hungry! 😉
As I said to Cathy, above, I grow more than we can eat so I think I’m safe in stealing one more vegetable bed for the flowers.
That plant is huge! and I love how it’s remained upright rather than flopping under the weight of all those seed heads. Do you get any birds feeding on them?
Mine have started to collapse a bit yet are still putting on a beautiful show. Autumn is in the air here, but I suspect yours is still a way off. I’ve always considered those brown sunflowers and rudbeckia to be summery, and less so autumnal, so I think you’re still safe 😉
The arrangement is fantastic. Such an explosion of color and it has such a nice form to it. I like the look of so many daisy shapes together and might try the same look one of these days.
Have a great week!
Thanks Frank, the walnut trees are beginning to lose their leaves so there is no denying the change of season but hopefully autumn will be long and warm rather than hot. Daisy flowers are lovely, aren’t they and they look good mixed together. I am enjoying picking flowers to have inside the house, I knew I would but not how much and how important it now seems.
Love them! I can understand your desire to sacrifice veg space for more of these lovely sunflowers (and other flowers too). I gave up on vegetables last year and grew more basil and herbs, as well as flowers. It was a good decision, suited to this year’s weather. Isn’t it cheering having flowers around the house all the time?! I agree, we shouldn’t only wait till Monday but have a few vases throughout the week! 🙂
I grow more veg than we can eat and I don’t really want to freeze many things, I prefer to have seasonal things so enjoy ‘greens’ during the winter also I did add three quite large beds last year which gives me more flexibility.
What a gorgeous vase! Of course I am a sucker for anything with sunflowers. That ‘Earth Walker’ is fantastic, and I think the big sunflower with the small pale yellow blooms looks like ‘Italian White’.
I was hoping someone might recognise the sunflower, how funny that it is called Italian White and came in a mixed pack from the States!
A grand design Christina. This combination of flowers works perfectly. I don’t often fill another vase until Monday either–this schedule at least reminds me each week to enjoy flowers indoors.
I’m going to try to replace or renew my vases during the week at least while I have a lot of flowers to pick. Many flowers don’t last the week, I probably need to learn how the treat the flowers before they go in the vase. The Ostrich Asters from last week have lasted well and I’ll made a different arrangement with them.
How lovely your sunflowers are! I am green with envy for all of the cutting flowers you have in your garden! But how wonderful for you to have them in your house for you to enjoy. So glad to have found you through Cathy’s In a Vase on Monday! Dana
Hi Christina, lovely post and your arrangement is sunshine in a vase. Earthwalker! A wonderful name for those sunflowers and don’t they look fabulous with the asparagus to keep them company. I’m planning a cutting patch for next year and hoping that perhaps there will be plenty of flowers to give away too 🙂
I’m sure you’ll have flowers to give to friends, I have been very surprised by how many flowers I’ve had to cut, many I needed to cut just to make sure new flowers were produced.
Earth walker looks amazing, and you are clearly thoroughly addicted! I don’t think you need excuses for growing more cut flowers, but giving bunched to friends and putting arrangements in every room both sound good. Perhaps you could turn Wordless Wednesdays into an opportunity to photograph other arrangements, it would give you a mid week fix of picking and spread the vases out viz. peak condition?!
Yes, I’d thought of that too! I don’t know how much longer everything will last. The wind has done some serious damage to the Cosmos.