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The garden comes back to life

In August I hate the garden. Everything, including supposedly drought tolerant plants like Cistus) looks dead. But then September usually brings some relief with slightly lower temperatures and some rain – this year a lot of rain.

I hope your garden is giving you pleasure at this time of year.

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September vase

Every year at this time the Jerusalem artichokes begin to flower.

They look quite amazing in the garden.

The tallest that are supporting themselves on the dead Leylandii must be well over 2 metres tall. I find it impossible to thin the tubers out enough to get a harvestable crop, but I do enjoy the flowers as it is lovely to have something different at this time of year.

The other September flower is of course what we used to call Asters (that’s what I’m still calling them). Here they are even called Setembrini.

So I filled a large vase with just these two flowers.

Placed on the mantle shelf in the sitting room, I’m enjoying this splash of colour very much.

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In a vase on Monday – hot orange

It’s Monday and I have a vase, so I’m joining Cathy at Rambling in the Garden https://public-api.wordpress.com/bar/?stat=groovemails-events&bin=wpcom_email_click&redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Framblinginthegarden.wordpress.com%2F2019%2F08%2F05%2Fin-a-vase-on-monday-dotty%2F&sr=1&signature=2d97f929b19ddb142313ef2ddf815c6d&user=11751235&_e=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&_z=z with a vase I made for the table on Saturday.

It’s looking a bit the worse for wear now because it is so hot., but the Zinnias and Dahlias are doing quite well.

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In a vase on Monday – Parrots

Cathy at Rambling in the Garden inspires us each Monday to find flowers from our gardens or collected locally to cut and enjoy in our homes.  She has encouraged many of us to look forward to Monday as a day to share our vases with many other enthusiastic participants.

We have had a week of two very different weather conditions.  For most of the week it was deliciously warm (ideal gardening weather), then at the weekend a ‘Beast from the East’ arrived bringing with it gale force winds and temperatures dipping below freezing.  This had its effect on the development of the tulips.  The pioneer stems of two varieties began to open and so were picked with the expectation of adding the rest within a few days; the cold temperatures have delayed the rest so today’s vases are not as abundant as I had envisaged.

A collection of vases and pots in the kitchen yesterday

Tulip Negrita has always been one of my favourite tulips, all the more as it has returned in the garden for many years.  Last year I added some Double Negrita and for this year I saw that a Negrita has been added to the list available and decided to try them.  The first bloom appeared almost a week ago, way ahead of the others in the pot; when I added the others to the vase and changed the water it keeled over as you can see in the image above.  I then cut it shorter to give it more stability in the vase.

Today the Irises are finished so just a slim vase of Tulip Negrita Parrot and the fish bowl remain

Last weeks fish bowl arrangement has been adapted by removing the pot of Iris reticulata and adding a single stem of Tulip Blumex Favourite, another parrot tulip.

Last weeks fish bowl with the addition of Tulip Blumex Favourite

Tulip Blumex Favourite

What will you find to share with us today, I wonder.  For more vases visit Cathy.

Hope this is a good gardening week for you all.