With apologies to any ready who doesn’t know this old English song! I don’t really know it either, I’m too young!
Thinking about what to use in my vase this week for Cathy at Rambling in the garden, I thought I should use some of the single Dahlias I grew from seed especially for the cuttings bed. They have been flowering for a few weeks but apart from the white ones I have used any yet. However what really shouted to be picked were Aster ‘Monch’ which I moved to the cuttings bed so that they could have the water they require to flower for a long period, again these have had flowers for a few weeks but somehow didn’t fit with the other flowers I was picking; next to the Asters the airy sunflower continues to produce what is probably hundreds of blooms, they are all smallish now but that adds rather than detracts from their charm.
I used a square glass vase with pebbles to support the flowers
But man (and a vase even more so) can’t live on Daisy shaped flowers alone so I went to the Jacob’s ladder that Pauline (Lead Up the Garden Path) sent me, the pale flowers were just the right shade of blue to include. For something again of a slightly different form I chose a few stems of Salvia ‘Indigo Spires’ – this is a plant that has thrived with more rain this summer, it will probably be a candidate for inclusion in the cuttings bed. This is becoming home to quite a few perennials so I may have to think about another bed for annuals next year, and so ideas grow!
Pale blues and pale yellows with just a hint of stronger colour from Gerbera and Salvia and corn flowers
After I picked the flowers, gave them a long drink and arranged them it began raining again so I had to take the images in the kitchen; the only place that has the correct light levels.
Aster Monch the daisy shape that inspired today’s vase
I wanted to experiment with the form of the arrangement; I wanted to create the effect of a hand tied bouquet but I don’t actually know how to do that so I’ll have to check YouTube when I have more time. If anyone would like to help me I would be very grateful. Anyway the bouquet is hand-tied and I think looks quite loose which is what I was aiming at today.
Do visit Cathy and see what others have picked from their gardens today.
Creating my own garden of the Hesperides 
I really love the effect of the hand tying in the vase and the vase you chose as well. I have so many vases I need to branch out a bit….but what struck me most was the colors as if I was in spring again with the pale yellows and blues. Loose and they look as if you just picked them in your hand…Wonderful!
Thanks Donna that was the effect I was aiming at.
Beautiful Christina. Aster Monch is such a nice color and works well with the other flowers in the arrangement. I really like the soft yellows you used today. Will keep checking back here to see what advice you receive about hand-tying–I’m interested too. The stones give a nice finish to the arrangement as well as giving structural support. Were they easy to work with?
Thanks Susie, I wanted a more natural feel for today’s vase and I’m quite pleased with the result. I looked on You tube AFTER (silly) doing the vase. There are lots of videos to watch, some more helpful than others. Here’s some I liked: Sarah Raven cheats hand tied bouquet:
traditional method for hand tied bouquet
Dutch flower expert:
Monochromatic concentric circle style hand tied bouquet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SfwzcO4Ovo
Oh what fun. I’ll check these out. Thanks Christina!
Well you took the words right out of my mouth as the song goes….I picked some daisy types this morning…I will have a rethink 🙂
Sorry I got in first, I’m not that good of thinking up interesting titles and this just popped into my mind. Look forward to seeing your vase.
A very cool colored bouquet for summer, I really like the colors. Those creamy yellows always make me happy in the garden and they look great with the mix of pale blues.
As Donna said the colours are more spring-like than mid-summer but that’s a nice change I think.
“Give me your answer do …. ” The title of your post bought a smile to my face Christina, as I remember that when I was a young girl (many moons ago now), that my dad used to sing that song nearly every morning when he was shaving. I still know all the words all these years later. A most attractive and fresh looking vase. Which dahlia mix did you sow?
I knew a lot of people would know it! The Dahlia seed was actually Italian, I don’t find flower seed very easily but this was from my local supplier, it is just called Simple Dahlia mix, so not very helpful, there was masses of seed in the pack and there’s still a lot to sow for next year and I think cost €2, so amazing value! But who knows if I’ll ever find it again.
Thanks Christina. I will have to ask my Italian cousins to get on the case 🙂
If you need more details of the brand of seeds or anything just let me know.
What a lovely combination of colours, the blues and yellows are wonderfully muted shades. I love thr Aster Monch.
Aster Monch is a star in the garden and now we’ll see how long it lasts in a vase.
I love that color mix! Do you grow your Gerbera in full sun? I love them but have none in my garden right now – they had such difficulty in last summer’s heat so I took a pass this year and now I miss them. Thanks for sharing the videos on hand-tying – I need to try that and also to make more use of boiling water to condition my flowers and extend their life. (That helped tremendously with the Chinese forget-me-nots.)
The Gerbera are in full sun for a lot of the day, this is my first year growing them, the stems aren’t as long as I’d like but I can’t decide if that is because of the variety or the amount of water they receive. I like them but I’m not sure how well they mix with other flowers because they are so stiff.
A beautiful vase of flowers, Christina! I just love the delicate cool colours you’ve chosen. Good tip using pebbles for support. Your cutting garden is definitely escalating – hope you’ve plenty of room!. As for the song? …..well, I’m not admitting anything! 😉
I don’t have lots of room but I’m beginning to think I grow too many of some kinds of vegetables so maybe I can steal one of the vegetable beds or I may have to be inventive in some way.
Oh I really like how the colours work here, despite what I sometimes say about yellow – yellow and blue often works well, and the overall ‘hand tied’ effect is great.The pale sunflowers and dahlias are particularly lovely. I shall look at your links later when I have checked all the other vase posts, so thanks for including those! The pale sunflowers and dahlias are particularly lovely. Thanks for joining in – and for expanding our horizons!
There were lots of videos available; they all had slightly different methods but Sarah Raven’s was a kind of cheat but a really good idea. I will try to do this again. I need to source some materials which won’t be easy here.
These colours are most definitely summery for me Christina! I immediately thought of the Edinburgh rock we used to buy at the seaside when I was little! But then I am in a summery mood today, 😉 That’s a good idea using pebbles in the vase…. most of my vases seem too wide at the top.
That’s nice you’re in a summery mood; this morning is grey and overcast, you wouldn’t believe an italian sky could look like this in July!
I love the blue and yellow colour scheme Christina. Arranging them in pebbles is a great idea, I ‘ m going to copy that.
They look gorgeous.
You can buy packs of pretty stones but better still it’s a great use of those pebbles one tends to find on the beach and want to bring home but then never know what to do with.
Hi Christina, sadly I’m old enough to know the song, and most of the lyrics too 🙂 I love daisy type flowers and I love your beautiful arrangement – yellow and blue is such a pretty combination – fixing the flowers in pebbles is such a good idea.
I can’t claim the pebbles as my own idea, I’ve had them ages but don’t always find them easy to use. They worked here because the bouquet was tied so just needed stabilizing.
Is that the one that goes “… give me your answer do …” ? I don’t remember where I heard that one, but it is familiar. Really like the colors in this vase.
That’s correct Jason, I didn’t realise you would have heard it over there!
Those hand-tied bouquets always look so easy in the videos, and I’ve never yet found them to be! Good luck, maybe I should try again… In any case, I think your vase is lovely, I like the way the yellow flowers pull out the yellow centers of the aster.
I know, actually I don’t think they even show you very well because they want to keep it a florist’s art! Check out the Sarah Raven video, her cheats method looks do-able.
I like the sound of a cheats method, thank you!
Such lovely flowers from your garden. I’ve always been a hug fan of purples and yellows. You’ve brought them together swimmingly.
the glass ‘pebbles’ are smooth and rounded, making it easy to tuck the stems in. Today I havested an armful of Japanese flowering quince, ahead of the rain which is BUCKETing down. I love watching florists do handtied bunches. Tying the finishing bow with only one hand! Then trimming the stems so it stands flat and firm in the vase.
The Hand Tied bouquet is certainly much harder to do than it looks, I’ll need to practice a lot.
Ma non hai le margherite giganti – Chrisantemum maximum – che da noi tutti avevano da recidere nel passato? Se vuoi te le posso dare!
Magari!