During the week I have been watching another sunflower prepare itself for flowering; I hoped it would open for today so that I could use more flowers from the cuttings garden for the ‘in a vase on Monday’ post.
Last evening I saw that two of the large flowers were open which meant they could be the centre of my arrangement. I don’t think many flowers actually look very good with the large sunflowers (the secondary ones growing up the stems will be more useful). The cat’s tail flowers of Teucrium hyrcanicum seemed the only option, despite the fact that I used them in my vase last week. The sunflowers are again from the Van Gogh mixture therefore I don’t know its name, the flower is very double almost more like a Dahlia or a Chrysanthemum.
I used the tall elegant vase again this week
The head of the sunflower is full of petals
This morning when I was picking the sunflowers I noticed that the first pink flower had appeared on the Cosmos so I just had to pick that for another vase. But I wasn’t sure if I had much else that was suitable so wandered around the garden waiting to be inspired – I opted for darker colours to complement the pale pink Cosmos including Knautia which is growing and flowering extremely well in the cutting bed plus Verbena bonariensis, more Teucrium hyrcanicum, a couple of stems of pink Penstemon and dark claret Achillea. The colours together all looked a little dead, not helped by the brown basket I had decided to arrange them in; with hindsight a more delicate vase may have worked better but I didn’t want to fuss about any longer so opted to add a bright fuchsia pink Gerbera.
In the end the Cosmos is’t even that visible
A simple vase vase would definately have been better!
Strongly coloured Gerbera
Thanks to Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for hosting this challenge, which encourages us to fill a vase with flowers every Monday from our own gardens. Take a look at some of the other inspiring vases this week, linked in on her site.
Creating my own garden of the Hesperides 
Gorgeous flowers Christina…I have sunflowers growing in the garden and cannot wait to see them bloom in about 6-8 weeks.
The sunflowers did surprise me with how quickly they grew and flowered.
Sunflowers are definitely an advertisement for a less-is-more approach, Christina, as your first vase is absolutely perfect. The teucrium looks a bit like veronicastrum, doesn’t it – what is the foliage like? What are the light pink flowers in your second vase? Your knautia is a really useful addition to your vases – I could do with some of that! I am hoping to include cosmos soon, but my 2 flowers are tiny with very little stem, so I shall have to wait! Thanks for your contribution again – lovely to see both of them.
The very light pink are unopen Penstemon.
So lovely but my sunflowers are seedlings still! Amelia
I sowed mine very early because I had no idea how long they would take to grow, I was lucky there was no cold weather after they were planted out on the 19th March.
I love sunflowers – I hope those I planted from seed are as pretty as yours when they grow up. The Teucrium is a perfect accent plant, Christina – I liked it so much I searched on-line for a mail-order source as I’ve never seen it in local nurseries. I found it but it’s currently sold out so I’m on the waiting list.
I hope you are able to obtain some of the Teucrium Kris, it is pretty drought tolerant so ideal for your garden, once you have it it will self seed around but not in a bad way.
A beautiful arrangement. I love your sunflower, it reminds me of a hedgehog. The Teucrium is a perfect accompaniment.
Thanks Chloris, I’m pleased with the sunflowers, they’re something I’ve never grown before.
Both of your arrangements are admirable Christina. The beautiful sunflowers with the Teucrium hyrcanicum work well in that tall vase. And I have always loved cosmos–yours made a perfect starting point for your second vase. Great color on the Gerbera.
Thanks Susie, the image didn’t do justice to the colour of the Gerbera, it is vibrant.
How lovely to have a sunflower open already! Your second vase is also very summery. I like the shades of the Teucrium, Achillea and Verbena together. And the pale pink penstemon is very pretty too!
Summer has certainly arrived with a rush! It has been very hot since Friday.
Lovely to see your sunflowers, and in such an elegant arrangement.
Thanks Sarah.
Two lovely arrangements, Christina! Your cutting garden is definitely doing you proud!
Not everything is from the cuttings garden but I am getting a feel for which flowers are worth planting and which may be a waste of space. The Knautia is growing so well in the cuttings garden where it receives regular irrigation, it stays small and stops flowering during mid-summer in the garden.
The sunflowers and teucrim are a really exquisite combination – beautifully arranged.
Glad you liked it Jason.
The sunflower arrangement is stunning, very architectural. It is amazing to think you have sunflowers already. It is just getting warm here, although it was actually hot today.
It is very, very hot here now! In the greenhouse it has reached 43.5°C, well over 100°F even with the floor being sprayed with cold water through the day.