Monday is here again and time to fill a vase with flowers from the garden and link with Cathy at Rambling in the Garden’s meme.
Saturday and Sunday were glorious days with the addition of wonderful sunsets which became the inspiration for today’s vase.
You may recall that I pulled out all the orange Cosmos from the cuttings bed and vowed never to plant this variety again, well the best laid plans…….! Having not dead-headed the flowers, they had set seed and with the long season have grown and are now producing masses of flowers again.
This plus the fact I really didn’t think I could impose another pink Cosmos and Dahlia Magenta Star variation on you yet again made me search the garden for other flowers that would combine with the Cosmos to create my sunset vase.
Fennel seed-heads against the sky
Saturday’s sunset
My sunset vase with Salvia Indigo Spires representing the dark silhouettes of the trees and seed-heads
Cosmos and Rudbeckia
The stems of the Cosmos are even a little longer this time
The Rudbeckia are coming to the end again due to my lack of picking I suspect; a quick walk around the garden let me to Leonostris leonurus, which I am also in the process of taking cuttings from as insurance against a cold winter and to have a couple of plants in the cuttings bed for next year.
Do visit Cathy’s post to see what everyone else has found today. Another quick reminder that Wednesday is GBFD, I do hope you’ll join in.
Creating my own garden of the Hesperides 
The orange Cosmos was a great inspiration. Using it to help create an interpretation of the sunset was a great idea and you pulled it off very well. Lovely.
It felt strange doing such a small arrangement this week, but I’ll have to get used to it; the number of flowers in the garden is decreasing fast. I also did a couple of small hand-tied to take to friends.
Great interpretation! I would love to see your cutting bed…could make a great post.
I have been showing the cuttings bed in several different posts, maybe you missed them. An end of season ‘sum-up’ might be a good idea.
Lovely sunset shades. I love the orange Cosmos, why did you take against it and pull it all up? The tautologically named Leonitus leonurus is gorgeous too. I grew it once but it is not hardy here.
The Leonurus is not reliably hardy here either I have lost several, I’m hoping the cuttings will strike (they look as if they have). It is amazing how tall it has grown this year but then I saw a Sara Raven video and hers were taller than she was! I didn’t like that the Cosmos had such short stems, I have bought seed of two taller varieties of mixed yellows and oranges, i’m hoping they will grow as happily as the short variety.
What a beautiful sunset, I can see how inspiring it would be. Your arrangement looks really fresh, its lovely Christina and the Leonostris leonurus is unusual, I have only recently been introduced to that plant, was that easy to grow?
I bought 3 plants two or three years ago; two died in the first winter but this one hung on. In other years it has been about 60 cm tall, this year with the moisture it has received from the rain it is more than twice that. Check out the Sarah Raven videos, hers must be 2 m tall!
You’ve done a great job interpreting the sunset using flowers. I think it’s a happy accident that the previously rejected flowers reseeded for you. It’s funny – I avoided orange in my former garden but now can’t seem to get enough of it.
Thanks Kris; it wasn’t the colour of the Cosmos that I didn’t like but the fact they were so short.
Your photo with the fennel against the sunset is so lovely Christina! I think you’ve captured the colours and silhouettes very well in your arrangement and I bet you’re glad you didn’t pull out all that orange cosmos now! I loved my orange cosmos this year but did envy you all your lovely pinky mauves and whites, so I think I will go to town on Cosmos in all shades next year! 🙂
But I did pull it all out, these are from the seeds. I have bought the seeds you recommended so will have taller and more varied oranges next year. They are all great ‘do-ers’!
What mind-blowing pictures those first two are, especially the first one – you should be really proud of capturing the moment 🙂 As for your vase – it’s absolutely delightful, Christina! And how strange about the orange cosmos, particularly as mine barely flowered and only on short stems like you say yours did, and yet even without any attention they have been quietly putting on a small show later on in the season. Considering how long flowering cosmos are, I too was wondering whether to try them again next year – particularly if I have seed left. I think mine were ‘Polidor’. By the way, have you looked back at your vases at all? I think you will be surprised at the ones you have forgotten… You must have nearly 49 too!
Thanks Cathy; I’ve bought ‘Polidor’ for next year on the basis they should be taller. They do flower for ages and I like them all in a vase so I will be growing even more next year but being more ruthless in cutting long stems even if that means cutting almost to the ground. I should look back at ‘the vases’ I might move them all to one file. Are you thinking of doing a round-up post of the year in a vase?
My Polidor packet suggested there was a range of orange shades but I didn’t notice any difference from the few flowers I had – there is seed left, so I will sowthem again next year, particularly with more cutting beds to fill! I shall do some sort of round-up on the 52nd post, but I am not sure exactly what yet. All my vase photos are in one folder (retrospectively grouped into months), as are EOMV, GBBD, GBFD photos, as it easier to look back and compare or find specific things.
So far I’ve included all the images of the vases in my monthly garden file; I do separate GBFD, and the slope. I will have to do some reorganisation!
I vowed the same thing about orange cosmos, and I still have it in my garden, too. At least the bees and butterflies love it. Your sunset was gorgeous and the perfect inspiration for your vase. The combination is perfect.
I don’t usually have themes for my flower arrangements, just flowers put together but this was somehow just right.
That orange color is so nice at this time of year, and I think it’s perfect with the salvia. I grew the salvia once and never was able to find it again locally…
That vase is one of my favorites. It looks so solid and well made, hard to find these days.
The vase is a modern copy of an Etruscan vase. When I visit museums I always marvel at the wonderful forms and shapes of Etruscan vases, they often look contemporary and very beautiful.
I thought I remember you saying something to that effect the last time you used it. It’s amazing that even today the ancient craftsmanship and esthetics are copied and admired.
I think it means that as human beings what is beautiful to us hasn’t changed that much, and what is functional is often beautiful too.
Outstanding sunset and vase Christina…my sunrise gave me motivation for autumn blooms but no orange blooms left in my garden to use….would love a few of those orange blooms right about now.
Reading about your weather always makes me feel so lucky! While we are experiencing a short second spring you are heading fast into winter.
Love the orange and yellow combo, especially with the black cones of the Rudbeckia.
I picked some spent flowers too to add just the cones but decided there was already enough.
Orange always makes me smile. I had those orange cosmos last year and they didn’t reseed a bit. Isn’t that always the way? The meanest cat lives the longest and the flower you care for least pops up everywhere. It made for a cheery little posy…perfect for the shape of the vase and to brighten grayer days.
The pink and white cosmos have also self seeded which only proves how bad I’ve been at dead-heading this year. I need to PICK MORE!
I love your sunset-in-a-vase combo Christina, and the photos of the real thing! We’ve not had any good sunsets recently. I wonder if my cosmos will self seed this year – something has, all over my front garden, and I haven’t a clue what it is!
Let’s hope it’s something wonderful Janet and not a weed!
So much color still! We are still picking dahlias here in the Nethelands but most other flowers are finished.
There are lots of flowers in the garden but the cuttings bed is coming to an end now.
Anche questa composizione è molto bella! Trovo che i cosmos arancioni siano fantastici! E sono stata molto felice di averli trovati a Creta e di averne potuto prendere molti semi. Li avevo visti su Gardenia ma mai qui in Italia… quando si dice il caso! Sono generosi e robusti, facili e adattabili a vivere anche in vaso e spesso rinascono da soli!