A day late but no less enthusiastic to create a vase with flowers from my garden to share with Cathy at Rambling in the Garden and this meme’s ardent followers.
I was away at the weekend, arriving home yesterday just before the light disappeared. I rushed into the garden as I wanted to pick flowers to take to a friend who had invited us for dinner.
I hoped there would be some of the Zinnias I had noticed were still flowering last week – I was surprised that, in fact, many more were flowering so that I had enough for my friend and for myself, today.
A hand-tied bouquet for a friend
By the time I’d tied the bouquet it was dark so the photographs had to be taken using flash, which I usually try not to use as it often distorts the colours.
The Lavender had been given to me as a rooted cutting by my hostess, so it was nice to be able to include some of the late flowers in the posy
The centre of the posy through which I threaded all the other stems is a dead flower-head of sedum.
Zinnias in shades of pink and crimson with Pennisteum villosum and green Chrysanthemums
This morning with a little more time I was able to find Salvia ‘Indigo Spires’ to add to the orange and lime zinnias along with more Pennisetum villosum, a stem of Amaranthus caudatus ‘Viridus’. I reused two stems of berries from Cotoneaster.
In a vase on Monday
I always have problems finding suitable backgrounds for my vase photographs so today I decided that perhaps the best option was to just make the background completely out of focus!
Salvia ‘Indigo Spires’, Zinnias, Pennisetum villosum
Orange Zinnias
Today felt very wintry outside so I doubt that many blooms will be found next week. Have a great week.
Creating my own garden of the Hesperides 
Pretty arrangements, Christina. The grass adds a nice, wild accent. It’s sweet to see zinnias this late in the season. Mine are just a dream, long gone.
I’m really surprised that the Zinnias have kept flowering for so long. We’re expecting a frost in the next couple of nights so I suppose that this will be the last vase of them for this year.
It amazes me that you still have zinnias in bloom, although I admit that it’s mildew on the foliage (prompted by the return of our morning marine layer) that usually prompts me to pull my plants out. I love your amaranthus too. I finally found a few amaranthus plants here in late summer but they looked horrible, even in the nursery. I hope to try growing them from seed next year.
The foliage was prettying ropey on my Zinnias too, Kris but I always remove all the foliage anyway; what surprised me was the quality of the blooms. I always remove as many of the leaves of the Amaranthus too, as it never looks good once the stem has been cut.
Christina are two magnificent arrangements. The Zinnias are beautiful in red and crimson next to the green Chrysanthemums and the Lavender and the Penisetum villosum of the bouquet for your hosts: I like very much all the flowers and the bouquet is a marvel, divine. The vase for Monday, although made on Tuesday as if it were Monday, is a beauty with the gorgeous flowers you have used. The orange and lime zinnias I like a lot like the Amaranthus caudatus “Viridis” and the Salvia “Indigo Spiers”. The Penisetum villosum is very beautiful. Reusing two berry stems from Cotoneaster has been a great idea. It is a bouquet that I like very much, it is magnificent, divine. A beauty. What a pity that they come freezing and the Zinnias do not bloom more this year. If it’s cold keep the heat. Have a very good week. Take care. Greetings from Margarita.
The quantity of Zinnias was such a surprise, Margarita, but they will probably all die this week as we have been promised sub zero temperatures during Thursday and Friday nights.
Your Zinnias are looking great! I love the bit of Coleus and fluffy grasses for contrast.
The Coleus has been the underplanting for shrubs on the terrace, with sub zero temperatures promised for later in the week I thought I might as well use them in my vase as their colour was just right.
Indeed, I like that variety – I use it in containers sometimes.
Oh, I meant to ask you a question. Has your Lime Basil been lighter in color than other Basil?
Yes, I suppose it is a slightly lighter green and the leaves are smaller and slightly pointed.
Thanks. Same here. Just getting going..didn’t want to put too much fertilizer.
Those ‘out of focus’ shots are beautiful, Christina – such a great effect! I was so intrigued by your use of the spent sedum for the centre of your friend’s posy – could you explain a bit more? Just tucking them amongst the florets? It works well, anyway. The pennisetum is a great addition in both vases and clearly unaffected by the lateness of the season – not tatty or windswept at all. My P villosum only lasted a couple of seasons even though I brought it inside to overwinter, but I have seeds to try growing some more
The Pennisetum is a spreading and seeding weed here; Richard would prefer it if I removed it all! I’ll write a post to explain how I used the Sedum but I got the idea from a Sarah Raven video on YouTube where she used a hydrangea head.
Ah – I have seen her do something similar, with Ammi, I think
Oh I do like the fabulous fuzziness of that pennisetum Christina and I’m green with envy of all that you can still pick. I hope that those predicted frosts don’t materialise and that you can enjoy your blooms a tad longer.
The Pennisetum is at the end of its usefulness for a vase, I should have used it more.
Amazing still having zinnias in bloom. I love both your posies. How effective displaying them with the background out of focus. They remind me of paintings by Edouard Vuillard.
I’m glad my experiment worked; I have to use that camera again. I don’t think the Zinnias will last longer than this week as we’re forecast frost
Flowers are a wonderful gift and your hand-tied bouquet is just lovely. The second vase is gorgeous with all the red and I think your photographs really bring it to life.
I’m pleased to hear comments about the photography as I chose to use our Nikon which I don’t usually have much success with; it means I should persevere, thank you.
The fact that I am seeing this on Wednesday should give you comfort. You are not the only one who is behind.
A warm selection of colours, I like the misty background. Storms rage here, so your arrangement is lovely to see. In the garden the grass stems and seedheads are the best, also some late -battered- roses
I’m glad it cheered your day. Suddenly it is very cold here – it is always a shock, I can’t think why!
Lovely to have so many flowers still Christina! The zinnias are a reminder of summer. 🙂 We are now in the depths of winter here and the garden has very little to offer except for grasses. Frosts have even öput an end to all the persicaria which had lasted so long!
I find it so interesting that during summer our climates are often very similar but winter is totally different.
Yes, a challenge! 😉
How lovely both of those are. My zinnias are long gone. Those pennisetum are adorable
The Zinnias haven’t lasted long in the vase, they were already past their best.
They looked good though and amazing for the time of year
Yes, having Zinnias in December is a first!