IT RAINED!!!!!
Yes, the first rains of autumn arrived on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and possibly through Sunday night too; in no way did it spoil the weekend, rather I felt more alive than for a while; the garden heaved a gentle sigh and already there are new shoots on plants that had been hibernating.
I know the above is irrelevant in terms of IAVOM but I wanted to share the joy that rain brings when it has been dry and hot for two months.
It was cooler too, so my vases were prepared outside and photographed in the sunshine which while it is bright is not now a glaring and sapping of colour as it was even a week ago.
A simple vase of just Zinnias and a couple of Dahlias for the kitchen
However much I tried I couldn’t make the flowers balanced on each side of the vase and then the stems were so tightly packed in that I couldn’t squeeze any more in
Here Crimson Zinnias are combined with pink Cleome, Mauve and pink Dahlias, Cosmos and Verbena bonariensis
Orange and pink/yellow Zinnias are the supporting caste to fiery orange Dahlias with a contrast from Aster Monch.
This orange Dahlia is shaded with pink.
Orange Dahlia with ruby backs to the petals
This Zinnia has stars of its own and I love the orange/pink colour just like the Dahlia
So it is a big thank you to Cathy at Rambling in the Garden who with this wonderful meme has encouraged me to keep posting through the heat and drought of the summer; do visit to see her quite autumnal vase and vases from around the world; so we can begin to enjoy tulips already!
Have a lovely week and may the weather be with you!
Creating my own garden of the Hesperides 
Glad you got the rain! I am so looking forward to using zinnias in avase after seeing yours – I have 2 at the moment, on different plants and this is the maximum I have had at one time. I deliberately sowed them later, early in May, but will try a few weeks earlier next year – I want to emulate your cast of 1000s! It was your second vase that knocked me for six – absolutely wonderful, Christina, and what a joy to have that abundance! Thanks for sharing
The vases came together differently today; I picked to two basic colour themes but wasn’t sure how I’d put them together; the pink toned vase is lovely but I think the orange is possibly better but the variation in colour was a little lost in the sun.
It’s intriguing how things turn out, not always as we expect – I find my backgrounds are sometimes nothing like the actual colour 😉
I liked being able to photograph outside with natural light but in reality it was still too bright!
What a joy to have so many beautiful flowers.
Thanks Judy, yes the cut flower beds give me huge amounts of pleasure; I wish I’d started growing flowers to cut years ago.
Fabulous! I can imagine that rain accompanied by cooler temps must be most welcome. Asters are a great addition to the late summer/Autumn garden here too, I hope they will enjoy a well deserved renaissance of popularity.
I can only grow Asters in the irrigated cut flower beds but I love seeing them in gardens in autumn; there is such a wonderful range of colours and sizes, there is one for every space.
Your relief is palpable, Christina! It’s a rebirth, like a second spring for you. Your vases are exuberant – I esp. admire your dahlias. So glad you’ve shared them with us!
It is like a second spring here in September/October; we’re having another thunderstorm now with more lovely rain after quite a hot day, the plants love it!
I expect you can practically hear them sighing with relief!
All very pretty. The orangey dahlia looks great with the purple aster. The annual international dahlia show is in Asheville, NC, this coming weekend…hope to get there for a few hours.
That should be interesting, I hope you’ll share all the varieties you particularly like.
The colors are gorgeous, such a precious commodity this time of year.
It is a pleasure to see the plants looking happier after some rain and cooler temperatures Charles; I’m glad you enjoyed the vases.
So glad the rains have come. Gorgeous inspiring flower combinations and I especially love the dahlia and zinnia vase. I find it so satisfying growing and cutting flowers whatever size bunch I manage to find to pick.
It is hard to describe how I feel when we get a reasonable rainfall after two months of drought, I feel like doing a dance of thanks! I do agree about the pleasure of flowers cut from the garden; I don’t think I even like bought flowers any more.
Beautiful arrangements, dahlias and cleome look lovely.
You are very kind to say so.
I am so glad your rains have come, what a relief. We are in desperate need of some too, although I shouldn’ t complain as the weather is so lovely and warm. You still have such an abundance of wonderful blooms. I love the zinnias and the second arrangement with the lovely cleomes is stunning.
Zinnias are perfect here, they cope very well with heat as long as they have water. Their stems are very strong too, which I like when I’m arranging them.
I love them, I have grown masses this year and they have done really well. I think they have enjoyed the heat.
Yes they thrive on it. Plus good light levels.
Christina que explosión de color después de las esperadas lluvias. Todas las Zinnias son maravillosas. Los jarrones son todos preciosos y con el color muy bien combinado. El Aster me encanta. Gracias por animarme el día con tus jarrones. Saludos de Margarita.
Thank you Margarita, today’s vases are all quite different from each other even though they have the same base flower.
Hooray for rain. Certainly the light is much better for photography than the blistering climate you have had to deal with recently. How many fabulous flowers you have, the weather certainly hasnt stopped your production.
The flowers are all cut from the cut flower beds that are irrigated by porous hose without that there would be no flowers at all.
Congratulations on the rain! To say I’m envious would be an understatement. The morning skies are gray here and there’s a chance of rain tomorrow but I’m not counting on it. Real rain here is probably a couple of months away yet.
Your garden continues to explode with flowers. All your vases are wonderful but the third is my favorite – it’s a luscious color mix.
I think the orange vase is my favourite too Kris. The rain has made me feel so much better and mornings and evenings now feel fresh even though the middle of the day is still hot.
Isn’t rain wonderful! I know exactly what you mean about ”the garden heaved a gentle sigh”…..it doesn’t matter how much you ”hand water” a garden, nothing compares with rain water..
I love zinnas, they just keep on going regardless of heat and drought. The garden looks lovely.
The garden is slowly coming back to life, just a couple of days with good gentle rain for part of the time is enough for the drought tolerant plants to respond.
Yes, so true!
I love that first vase. Also the combination of Verbena, Cleome, and Dahlia is wonderful. Glad to hear you got some rain.
The rain makes all the difference Jason, to me and the garden.
Wonderful you had rain! Even my zinnias are giving up due to dry weather. Yours look very happy and that Orange Dahlia is magnificent. Nice arrangements Christina. Glad you’re still getting lots of blooms.
The Zinnias are doing so well because I cut them very hard back when we went away in August; they are still producing long stems and some plants are taller than me!
Maybe I’ll try cutting a few of mine back. May be too late but nothing to lose.
I think there is time for them to grow; cut back to where you can see a side shoot, but the lowest rather than one near the top if you want long stems – I don’t know why that works but it seems to!
Thanks for the tip. I’ll try it and hope to keep them going until the first frost.
Rain after a dry spell is such a welcome thing. By March, we’ll be tired of it! I can’t decide which of your vases I like best as all three are stunning!
We don’t usually have that much rain even in winter so I never tire of it, but rather am always pleased when thinking of all the good it is doing.
I’ve been so grateful to see rain this weekend too and it does have an instant impact on the garden. I love your purple vase, they are my favourite colours and again I love to see cleome in the arrangement. The vase works perfectly, reflecting muted versions of all the tones.
The season has really changed; cooler mornings and evenings make the heat of the day more bearable.
They are all beautiful Christina! And I can feel your happiness at the rain shining through these arrangements too. I don’t think I could pick a favourite – I love pink cleome, but I have also discovered the charm of zinnias this year too. The peachy pink vase is particularly eye-catching with that lovely dahlia. 🙂
The Dahlia is actually even better in life than in the image as the sun has hidden the pink tinge to the orange petals, sounds odd but looks lovely.
Well, I’m so happy for you and the garden, Christina, and aren’t your vases a perfect way to celebrate the precious rain. We’re supposed to get some tonight, just hope it won’t be as violent as they fear. I know the feeling of energy coming back to you when the air freshens and rain clears the tropical atmosphere. These past weeks reminded me a lot of times spent on islands in the Indian Ocean. We get the Tramontan wind here too, then on top of that the vent d’Autan which is blowing these days. Are you far from Rome? Trying to figure out where exactly you’re gardening. Enjoy the re-awakening of your garden, bliss!
We’re about half way between Rome and Siena or if you’ve ever visited Villa Lante we’re about 8 miles from there. There are hills (The Cimini) to our east and often rain falls on the hills or is dumped on Viterbo but we don’t get a drop! Where exactly are you?
Just had a look on the map, always thought Viterbo is your surname ;). You have lakes not far from you which is nice. Haven’t visited Villa Lante yet. We’re in Najac, Aveyron, about 1.5 hours North of Toulouse at the South-Western end of the Massif Central. Feels more like Gobi though these days.
The lakes are huge and both are from volcanoes; Bolsena is formed from the craters of about 27 extinct volcanoes.