On Mondays Cathy at Rambling in the Garden asks us to share a vase of flowers picked from our own gardens. This week I picked my flowers on Saturday as we had been forecast severe wind and rain for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. The winds have gusted at up to 70 km per hour and the rain has been torrential, so it is a good thing I picked the flowers when I did.
Dahlias and Zinnias are still prolific with Chrysanthemums joining in the display.
In a vase on Monday
White Dahlias and Chrysanthemums with asparagus fern and mentuccia providing the foliage element. Crimson Gomphrena adds a tiny splash of colour
As Chrysanthemums are the flower almost everyone takes to the cemetery for All Souls Day it is fitting they are in my vase today. Actually most Italians wouldn’t dream of having Chrysanthemums in their homes or even in their gardens so I must check to see if their are any bargains to be found in the supermarkets this week.
Mentuccia is one of the few forms of mint that will grow in poor soil with little or no irrigation and also one of the few forms of mint used in cooking here.
The orange Dahlias are producing a flush of flowers, I love their shaggy form and their cheerful colour
I again put some flowers into the vase with their blooms pushing against the glass
Orange Dahlia
I also added a few dark and crimson dahlias to the mix, plus Zinnias
With the clocks changing on Sunday and the bad weather it suddenly feels that summer is truly over. But we have had some lovely weather in the last few weeks so I mustn’t complain, the rain is always needed and so far it isn’t cold.
I hope you have a lovely week.
I really like that orange dahlia/ We have had stormy winds and the first frost this morning, tho not enough to touch the dahlias here.
The wind is from the south, full of African sand.
Glad you’ve enjoyed some nice weather recently. Amazing to find we’re nearing the end of October. Your vases are joyous! Chrysanthemums are great for extending color into fall season–hope you find some interesting bargains. (From my childhood, Carnations are what I associate with funerals.)
The weather has been good but it is making up for it now!
Your dahlias are looking gorgeous, Christina. Must look up that mint, after the last summers I definitely have to concentrate more on drought-tolerant plants. Pretty cold this morning but no frost and no wind, it’ll get milder again from tomorrow on. Have a good week x
You too, I’ll try to find the Latin name for the mint and let you know
Summer is over, but from the look of your lovely arrangement, your garden is still performing well. Lovely blooms.
Thank you Noelle, the garden is looking windswept now and I’m not sure how long any blooms will hang on.
The nice form of the white dahlias, along with the cheerful mums, make this vase seem bright despite the end of the garden year. Love the orange dahlias, too. I’ve got my eye on a few in the garden catalog for next year, thanks to your inspiration!
With your short growing season, it would be worth growing them on in pots when they arrive (they don’t need light to begin with; then planting them out when there is no fear of frost. Also helps with possible slug damage.
Good tips, thanks!
A lovely celebration of autumn. Both arrangements are wonderful and the white could almost make us think it was still summer. Happy Halloween!
White is always good for me! The orange was more seasonal.
My goodness that is severe weather…..your rescued flowers are spectacular in the vases. I had not known about the mums in Italian homes, but that explains why I never saw them in any of my relatives home or in my mom’s garden.
It is a superstition that seems to be universal here.
I love the white dahlias and chrysanthemums together. Are the mop head chrysanthemums difficult to grow? I’ve never tried them.
I bought them as pot plants a few years ago, after All Saints Day and took basal cuttings; they’ve been in the ground for at least 2 winters including the beast from the east last winter when temperatures were minus 12 for several days.
What a good idea, they are lovely.
Thank you. I’ll be looking for some others this week!
Gosh, your garden must be looking bedraggled after that wind and rain, Christina! I especially like your white dahlias which are so VERY white! In view of the superstition you presumably have to be careful who you take flowers to 😉
Never Chrysanthemums to anyone here; even those that might accept them in the garden would never have them indoors.
What an interesting superstition. I wonder if any other flowers come with them. I am still loving the dahlias.
Dahlias AND chrysanthemums – what a wonderful convergence. I’m glad you enjoyed some nice weather before the wind and rain arrived. After a teaser of a rainstorm a couple of weeks ago, we’ve been very dry again and we’ve got another round of Santa Ana winds due this week. Regrettably, there seems to be no more rain for us in the near term.
I wish I could send you some of our rain Kris. The wind has been frightening the last couple of days.
Love your creamy dahlias, and the cheerful ones too! We had a significant frost here today (east coast of Scotland) and it’s knocked my nasturtiums on the head. So sad for them. They had lots of buds and hope. All gone for this year. Here is my offering for today, and there will be another vase on Wednesday for Halloween – which I picked before Jack Frost came dancing around last night! https://therunningwave.blogspot.com/2018/10/a-tiny-vase-on-monday.html
Amanda
Luckily the weather has calmed down a bit here. We’ve had high winds and then frost. For the last few years we have had mild weather right up until Christmas. Looks like we are in for a cold, long winter. Your chrysanthemums are beautifully elegant. The dahlias are a joy. So colourful. A lovely combination. I hope you are having a good week. xx
Thanks Karen, it is usually nice here until Christmas but this year the weather hasn’t followed any normal pattern at all, so who knows!
Same here. Extremes of weather all year. Beast from the east, twice, then drought and 30C temperatures. I shall be glad to put the garden to bed and start again next year.
Mine sleeps in the summer rather than the winter, I’m struggling to get everything done that I want too.
It’s suddenly gone dark here. It’s not like in summer where you can potter about by moonlight at least until 10pm. When it’s dark, that’s it. Pitch black. Got to head indoors now. We’ve been watching the tawny owl. It arrives at the top of the garden every evening at dusk and causes the resident blackbirds to start their high pitched alarm call. After about 15 minuets of kerfuffle, they all settle down for the night.
Why is it that this year the change of one hour seems more like 2 or even 3 hours?!
It really does feel like that. I start dashing around like a mad thing at 4pm : ) x
Super whites, dahlias and mums. They make a lovely vase full. My dahlias have been bitten by the frost this weekend and now need lifting.
I leave mine in the ground and cover them with a thick mulch.
So glad you rescued these lovely flowers in time. We have been hearing about your awful weather in our news. Hope it has calmed down a bit now!
I’ve never seen a whole week with rain all day and every day plus with strong wind. I do feel that global climate change is making itself seen rather than just weather.
Hi Christina, we have had some wind and heavy rain, too. My garden is drenched and covered with a sea of wet leaves! Your vases are beautiful, as always. I love the white dahlia and mum combination!
The weather this year is extreme whatever it is.
Love the whites and the orange dahlia I wish I could grow…funeral flowers to me are gladiolas. Mums are very common fall annuals here. We call the Mophead mums football mums because they were used for corsages at football games in the fall. – a big pipecleaner initial was placed in the flower for the home team.
It is so interesting how these traditions for flowers come about. I think of white lilies for funerals. We don’t celebrate the day of the dead or All Saints Day; it’s a Catholic thing.
I have seen White Lilies as well. Isn’t there some Japanese symbolism associated with Crysanthemums?
Christina I feel my absence but shortly after arriving in Madrid they had to admit me to the Hospital. I am already at home, in absolute rest, but today I got up and took the computer for the first time. I love your two bouquets of flowers. White Dahlias are pure beauty. The chrysanthemums are beautiful. The orange Dahlias I like very much, they are wonderful as dark and crimson. Mentuccia is precious and very valuable because it is not watered. In Spain it has snowed so much that three ski resorts have been opened: it had never happened in all of history that they were so early. I hope it’s good weather so you can continue enjoying your beautiful and beautiful garden and have flowers to make such magnificent bouquets. Take care. Have a good weekend. Greetings from Margarita.
I missed you comments Margarita although October has been a very busy month for me and I haven’t been able to keep up with blogging. I do hope all is well for you now.
Love all those fluffy white mums!