Welcome to ‘In A Vase On Monday’ when I am linking up with Cathy at Rambling In The Garden to share a vase of flowers picked from my garden every Monday.
This week I wanted to take the opportunity to show you a dinner plate dahlia which has been catching my eye in the Cutting Garden for a few weeks now. Unlike the lovely sounding Cafe Au Lait, the uninspiring name of this one – Mom’s Special – meant that I was slightly reluctant to order it back in February. I kept finding myself drawn to the lovely photo in the catalogue though and decided to give it a go. Unless you like enormous dahlia flowers (and I love them), this is not the dahlia for you! She really is producing bloom after gorgeous bloom the size of a large dinner plate.
After cutting my bounty I wanted to make the most of the lovely evening light by photographing the arrangement outside. Looking for a suitable spot away from direct sunlight I came across a chair that I had put in the woodland yesterday, when I needed a cup of coffee and a break from gardening. I have not photographed the woodland since the heady days of spring and you can see that in the late summer it is little more than weeds – a complete contrast to the Cutting Garden where these flowers were cut from neat beds. It is cool and private though so I often spend a few minutes sitting in the shade there when I am gardening. As winter approaches it is all due a good weed and mulch with leaf mould, ready to look its best during the bulb season.
To support Mom’s Special in this vase I have added the anemone flowering dahlia Blue Bayou, cosmos Purity, amaranthus and the airy flowers of knautia.
After the storm last Friday and drizzle all day Saturday I have been making the most of the damp conditions to start preparing my beds for planting bulbs and biennials. There is plenty of weeding to be done and I have started splitting and moving perennials that I earmarked for renovation earlier in the summer. All my bulbs are ordered and I am waiting for delivery so that I can get on with planting them. Last year I spent much of the cold damp Npvember kneeling on the wet ground planting bulbs and I am determined to be ahead of the game this year!
I hope you have enjoyed this weeks vase. I will be back later this week to show you the beds that I have been working on and to talk about my spring bulb order. For tonight I hope you will pop over to Cathy’s blog and see what she and the others have made today.
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Absolutely stunning flowers, Julie! I love dahlias and the marbled color in that variety is gorgeous. Lovely photographs too…
Have a good week!
Lisa
Thank you Lisa – I am sure you make a very beautiful painting with that lovely dahlia as an inspiration!
Storm? Drizzle? Wet ground? I wish!! Mom’s Special may be huge but she is a lovely colour – but I really like the whole range of pinks and whites and purple you have used, and you have put them in that lovely zinc pot! Great setting too – I love it. Thanks for joining in
Thank you Cathy – but join in? It is a way of life now!!
Isn’t it just!!
The various tones of pink all work really beautifully together, and I can fully understand why you love this Dahlia, it’s amazing. I feel the Amaranthus colour doesn’t really compliment the other flowers but I do think it has a lovely texture and can imagine it being great in a different arrangement.
Thank you Christina – the amaranths is on its final legs so not shown at its best – I think you would have liked it more a few weeks ago when it was a fresh green rather than a more sickly yellow! I just can’t bare to dig this up without using all the lovely tassels.
Really beautiful photos!
Thank you Nina,
You have finished ordering ALL your bulbs??? Amazing… I’ve just started marking up my catalogues and now cannot decide just what to order!! But mine won’t go in the ground until early December.
Thank you Libby – I often do plant bulbs in December (even after Christmas if I am very behind), but I am planning to get ahead this year. I would not like to place bets on this though – I will probably be planting in December again!
Beautiful Julie. Your lovely pepperminty dahlia reminds me of my grandmother–she used to grow dinner plate dahlias too. The white cosmos is so clear and crisp and really makes the burgundy knautia pop.
Thank you Susie – it is surprising how so many old fashioned flowers are so popular again now – they do connect us with our childhoods and bring alive so many memories.
That dahlia is so pretty – almost like a peony flower! Your pictures are very lovely and very atmospheric. The amaranthus tails are a nice touch. And I’ve just added white cosmos to my seed list!
Thank you Cathy – you will not regret the cosmos – it flowers for ages and is a great filler for any blank spaces after the early summer flowers have gone over (as well as making a great cut flower).
Those are so lovely:-) I love the dark pink, maroon almost, white , dinner plate dahlia + amaranthus-perfect! I have been moving raspberry plants and getting my cole crops out for fall salads…and thinking about what do do with my new space- where I took out a large bush. I want to put tulips+bulbs out etc, but the squirrels dig them up all winter….hmmm..after seeing your vase…I want some tulips+ bulbs:-) If I put them in the back the squirrels don’t go there-you have inspired me again-Julie!
Lovely soft pictures of pink flowers…my favorite:-)
I am more a blue-purple-red-orange-yellow girl but I am starting to love the pink-white-maroon combos I find mixed in with others:-)
Thank you Robbie and I am so pleased I have inspired you to find a spot for your tulips. Another option is to put chicken wire over your plantings – I have never tried it but have friends who do this to protect their bulb plantings. The more I grow the more open I am to new colour combinations – unlike with permanent decorating schemes I love the fact that with flowers I can have a dreamy pink and white mood one day and a vibrant zingy orange mood the next!
Oh how pretty! Not only the bouquet but I also love the way you photograph it every time. You have a great eye!
Thank you Annette – I still don’t think I am making the capture I want when I am taking photographs so it is reassuring to know that you are enjoying them as they are!
Oh how lovely Julie. I love that big dahlia. Where do you order your dahlias from? I want to get some different ones for next year.
Thank you Chloris – I always order from Rose Cottage Plants. They have a big choice, good photographs and a very efficient service.
That is a really delightful armful of flowers. The way you have set them on the chair, with the amaranthus is great but a quick look and I thought I saw a ponytail. Or maybe I need to get my eyes checked.! Very pretty soft coloured Dahlia.
Thank you Dorris – looking quickly I can see a plait so your eyes are fine!