We had been invited to dinner on Thursday evening so early in the morning I picked all the flowers that were blooming to make a bouquet for my friend and fill some vases for the weekend. There were more flowers than I had realised so that I ended up with four vases.
Joining with Cathy at Rambling in the garden is always one of the nicest things about Monday but it isn’t always the best day for me to pick and arrange flowers, so again this week I’m sharing vases put together for a different day; they are, though, all blooms from the garden as the rules of ‘In a vase on Monday’ dictate.
I didn’t sow any Cosmos seeds this year but a few seedlings grew up in suitable places anyway so the colour scheme for my friend’s vase was based around them. Pink is a colour she likes, fortunately so a vase with pink cosmos, Dahlias, Zinnias and Chinese Chrysanthemums combined with the soft blue of Perovskia as a filler was a much appreciated gift.
Pink Cosmos formed the basis of the bouquet for my friend, the zinc buckets waiting to be arranged
I’ve bought a few cheap vases from Ikea to use when I want to take flowers as a gilt as using a hand tied bouquet in cellophane can be more difficult
I included some of the dark Dahlias too so stop the arrangement being too sugary sweet.
This pink Dahlia is similar to the one I complained about a couple of weeks ago that wouldn’t open, whereas this opens to reveal yellow stamens
The petals are very gently striated
There were enough shorter pink flowers for a vase for the kitchen
Kitchen vase
Asters are beginning their season of flowering and are a lovely base to use in a vase as they last well and their small flowers support other larger blooms
Above three of the vases on the flower room island.
Apart from the mauve/blue Asters this vase used all white flowers
I wonder what you have used in your vase this week; will there be spring bulbs from the Southern Hemisphere? What will Cathy have chosen and what props will she find? Do visit Cathy to find the answers to all these questions.
Have a good week.
Creating my own garden of the Hesperides 
Self sown cosmos? Wow that’s lucky. Glorious shades of pink you have there Christina
Cosmos always seeds about, but these were huge before they flowered, good for this vase but not really very productive.
These are lovely, Christina! Love the use of the dark dahlias, and you’ve got great balance there between the longer and shorter flowers (something which I have a hard time achieving!).
Saludos
I find that hard too.
I never really want to pick flowers to put in vases, Christina, because it seems to deplete the garden. Perhaps in a few more seasons when there has been more growth, I won’t feel that way. In the meantime, I can enjoy the IAVOM vases you and others post. That dahlia is splendid.
I have dedicated beds for cut flowers and I treat them like vegetables, they are there to be harvested. I never picked from the garden for the same reason as you.
Perhaps I should do that in my little vegetable gardens this summer as I no longer want to grow tomatoes- too much trouble with fruit fly.
What beautiful vases and colors. Makes me wish it were spring instead of fall. They are absolutely delightful!
It is autumn here too, but usually we have a long warm autumn so flowers carry on until light levels drop or it is cold, maybe in November.
Lovely pinks – your self-sown cosmos are terrific Christina! Love the gentle touch of the blue/purple asters and that rather special pink dahlia. But this is the second week running that I’ve wondered why my Perovskia is already over when yours is doing it’s thing? Strange, because I know your plants get more heat. I so agree with Karen about the balance between short and tall flowers – you do it cleverly!
My Perovskia sometimes takes a break from flowering if it is very hot and dry; this year it has flowered all summer and usually it continues until there is a frost; but light levels might also effect it.
Wow, you are surrounded with lovely flowers. I adore cosmos. Beautiful. Still getting rain from the hurricane. It’s been terrible for the state but we’re ok here. University still closed until tomorrow, trying to give students who evacuated time to return. Thanks for checking on us.
I’m so glad the storm didn’t cause any damage in your area; it was very frightening looking at the images in the paper.
I think we actually had more rain and harder rain last night than the day the storm hit. The little country roads that lead to our neighborhood are beginning to flood. Staying home today!
That’s what I read in the Guardian, I hope the flooding doesn’t get too close to you.
Thought you’d like to see the shopping center nearby where you stayed in Chapel Hill — it was underwater yesterday.
Wow, wow and wow 😮. That was so close to you. You were so lucky if you weren’t flooded at home.
I’m sure your friends enjoyed your beautiful gift from your garden.
I hope so.
What a wealth of beauty for your house. I tend to save jam jars and odd gift vases to give as treats with flowers from my garden. Those dark red Dahlias really do leaven all that sweet pink, and for me, make the bouquet.
That’s a good idea; I hadn’t intended to use the dark dahlias with the pinks but when the bouquet was nearly finished I knew it needed something to stop it being so sugary pink!
Wow! So many gorgeous blooms and arrangements for both your friend and your own home. Gorgeous!
It’s always fun when there are a lot of flowers available to arrange.
Gosh, I love the airy-fairyness of these Christina, and their generosity – perhaps one day I should surprise myself with a huge bunch, although I have not really got vases suitable for a really large display. Your friend must have been delighted! Thanks for sharing ours with us
I don’t have many small vases!! Also with so many I need to cut long stems down to shoots perhaps 3 down from the flower
It’s good to be different – and there isn’t really anywhere to display larger vases in our house, either!
Christina your vases are magnificent and your flowers are wonderful and a treasure of beauty. I do not know what vase to choose. I really like the first one with the pink cosmos, the Chinese Chrysanthemums and Perovskia as a filling. I love the pink Dahlia with the yellow center last week. I like the dark Dahlias with pink flowers. You are an expert placing long and short stems in a vase, it is divine. I like the last silver vase very much: the flowers and how they are arranged. I love the kitchen vase, lovely. Your host will be delighted with the wonderful flower vases you have brought him. Have a wonderful week. Take care. Greetings from Margarita.
Thank you Margarita. How are your Dahlias growing? Are you still at your country house?
Christina thank you for remembering my Dahlias, but they have not grown at all. One seems to have a cocoon for a week but it does not grow. Yes, I’m still in my country house and I think I’ll stay with my parents until the beginning of November, because my brother who lives in Mallorca with his wife take a few days off and come here with his dog. If we did not leave in mid-October. You are very kind to remember me. Sorry for the delay in the answer but I have been with many pains in the hip and leg and did not feel like picking up the laptop. Have a very good week. Take care. Greetings from Margarita.
I hope you have lovely autumn weather.
I like a touch of blue with pink and it’s lovely to see the detail of that dahlia. The petals are so pretty. I like the white dahlia, do you know what it is? Wonderful to have the late summer abundance before it all tails off.
What a bounty you have, Christina! My favorite is the arrangement with the white dahlias and blue asters but they’re all beautiful. I loved the curling petals on the delicate pink dahlia too. And self-sown cosmos! If only that would happen here.
It does feel very special to have so many flowers to pick
I think my favorite is the kitchen vase but they are all divine. That extreme close-up of the dahlia is especially yummy./
i hadn’t noticed just how lovely the petals of that dahlia were myself until I looked very closely.
I bet your friend oohed and ahhhed over her floral gift. I esp. love the silver vase arrangement with the asters and white flowers – so lovely!
I always love white flowers so that was my favourite too.
That’s a glorious abundance of flowers. Your asters look beautiful. I am just beginning to pick mine. I love that white dahlia too.
The white Dahlia has three new flowers already.
I love that pale pink dahlia – lovely close-up of it. So many other pretty shades of pink too! I especially like the vase with the asters and creamy white flowers. I think that is a good idea buying cheap vases so you have always got one handy for gifts. 🙂
Loving that silvery vase, finding the darker Dahlia composition pretty tasty as well.I agree with you about cutting the sweetness of the pink with the different colors, it works.
Gorgeous combination of flowers. When your cosmos self-seed do you lift and pot on ready for next year?
These came up in the spring and I just left them where they were growing up through Chrysanthemums
Looks like you have a real abundance of flowers. How nice to bring a bouquet of your own blooms to a friend.
Having enough flowers to give as a gift is one of the pleasures of a cut flower bed.
Gorgeous Christina. The dark dahlias really lift the pink colours. I never thought of growing white dahlias but they are lovely for arrangements. What a lovely gift.
As you know I love all white flowers. The different forms make them very useful. I saw several others I liked at Wisely on Friday.
🦋 Love the colours!