Heading into summer, I had a lot of material availabe to use in a vase today. I had already decided to use some of the secondary blooms from the sunflowers, which are beginning to go to seed. So it made sense to select some other flowers from the same color range.
There is lantana...
...and plenty of Berlandiera lyrata, the wonderful chocolate flower. Fortunately for vasemaking, it remains open in indoor light, despite a tendency to close under extremely high midday sun.
There are chrysanthemums from my impulse buy last fall, which decided to go on a blooming spree.
There is a single bloom of Aquilegia chrysantha "Swallowtail"...
...and a small sprig of Tagetes lucida aka Mexican tarragon. I would have used more, but the plant is not large enough yet.
But I suppose the most astonishing addition is foliage and flowers from my tomato vine.
I intend to write a post about the tremendous tomato soon. Suffice to say, it needed trimming back to allow me to walk along my garden paths. I felt a few stems could come indoors for today's vase, to which it adds a nice airy effect from the flowers and a tousled look from the many-angled leaves. Initially it wilted down but then perked up again when settled in the vase.
As you can see, it was quite a mix of flowers!
I used one of my recent handbuilt vases (coiled, not thrown), this one in a dark earthenware clay.
And now I need to start my next batch of sunflower seeds for late season bloom...
Meantime, it's Monday, so I'm linking with the wonderful IaVoM at
Rambling in the Garden!
Weather Diary: Sunny; High: 84 F (29 C)/Low: 58 F (14 C)
It's a beautiful composition, Amy, and I love that you included tomato foliage! When did you plant your sunflowers? I have sunflower seedlings coming up now but I fear I started the seeds later than I should have.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Kris! Unfortunately, I failed to keep notes on when I planted them; I think it was late January or early February. But I recently read that they can still be planted as late as May here, so I just picked up another packet...
DeleteSeeing that first and second shot I thought "tomato?"...sure enough. Great use of many different elements...they all work so well together.
ReplyDeleteHa! I wondered whether anyone would notice ;-) I think the tomato flowers make great filler, and they've lasted well in the vase too. So glad you enjoyed it!
DeleteWhat lovely earthy colours, Amy - I look forward to using those colours from my own garden but it won't be for a couple of months at least! Well done for thnking out of the boc=x and adding the tomato trimming - why not indeed! And I love these plain pots of yours
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how seasonal colors are in the garden, isn't it? I remember being fascinated years ago by one author's (possibly Rosemary Verey, but I can't remember!) depiction of the differences in yellows between spring and autumn.
DeleteThought you might enjoy the tomato flowers - I certainly did, and they are lasting nicely in the vase ;-) So glad you enjoy the vase too; it seemed just the thing with all those flowers!
so summery! That's a beautiful pot--beautifully simple :-)
ReplyDeleteSo pleased you enjoyed it all, Hollis! I like "beautifully simple" ;-)
DeleteI was blown away when I saw your photo of this on Instagram ! It is brilliant! The flowers you have selected are all so lovely together but it's that tomato vine that just brings everything together so well. A really great idea and of course in that lovely pot and with the wonderful light it is a masterpiece!
ReplyDelete- Kate x
Thanks so very much, Kate! I think using something as unusual as tomato flowers encouraged me to be a bit more flamboyant... ;-) I'm so glad you enjoyed it!!
Delete