After my long break I am happy to welcome you all back with my first ‘In A Vase On Monday’ post in July. It seems like a long time since we departed for America and despite the fog of jet lag I am delighted to be back taking part again in this lovely meme hosted by Cathy from Rambling In The Garden.
This week I needed a very quick and simple vase. Having arrived home late on Friday the weekend has disappeared in a mountain of unpacking, laundry and generally trying to get everyday life back on track. Life is rarely quiet though and by the time you read this post I will be on my way to London for an overnight jaunt with a friend to visit Kew Gardens and the famous Petersham Nurseries in Richmond. With such a quick turnaround there was no time to linger over todays arrangement!
One of the quickest ways I know to cut and display a few flowers is to float them in a bowl so having retrieved my footed bowl from the back of the cupboard I set off to the Cutting Garden in search of something suitable to float.
Having been away for three weeks I have to admit that the Cutting Garden is not looking quite as resplendent as I would like for the time of year. All the lovely annuals that I had in flower throughout June are suffering from a lack of deadheading and the dry hot weather, so have either gone over completely or need a severe hair cut to try and encourage them back into flower. I did plant out a few fresh plugs before we left and these should be in flower soon, but for the time being the dahlias are holding the fort. I was delighted to arrive home and find that most of my dahlias are now in bud if not in flower!
Having said that this stunning pale yellow cactus dahlia with crimson edging is full of flowers and I used that as my starting point today. This dahlia has survived the winter outside and is flowering for its second year. I have tried to identify it, but am struggling to find a match – if anyone knows what it is please do leave a comment.
Most of my roses are taking a break from flowering (sadly I missed the best of them whilst we were away). This rose (the David Austin rose Darcy Bussell) is full of flowers however and these flowers are a perfect colour match to the crimson edging of the dahlia.
My dill is just surviving although much of it has collapsed in the heavy rain of the last day or two. I love the feeling of lightness that a few heads of dill can bring to a summer arrangement.
Whilst my hardy annuals are fading the half hardies are getting into their stride and I have cosmos starting to flower all over the garden. In addition to pockets planted in the cutting beds I have also added plenty to my main borders and filled a number of pots with it. The variety that I added to my bowl today is Rubenza the seeds for which I purchased from Sarah Raven.
This is proving to be a fantastic summer for fruit and I could not resist clipping a few sprigs of blackberries to add to the bowl. The combination of flowers, herbs and fruit floating in a bowl was for me a lovely welcome home to a new season of flowers.
There is a sad ending to this bowl of summer bliss however and a word of warning to you all. After photographing these flowers in the kitchen I decided to move the arrangement to the sideboard in the dining room. I was very careful but managed to catch the foot of the bowl as I lifted it onto the sideboard sending flowers and water cascading everywhere. Perhaps it is best to make floating arrangements in situ!!
As I mentioned I am visiting Kew Gardens and Petersham Nurseries this week – both places that I have never been to before so I will have my camera ready to try and capture some of the spirit of these beautiful destinations. Before I share these with you however I will be posting photos from June outings to the beautiful Spencer’s Garden and Royal Ascot ( where the flowers this year were stunning). Also this week I will be here on Friday with my Cutting Garden Review for July.
I wish you all a very happy week and hope that you will pop over to Cathy’s blog to see what she and the others have been picking this week.
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A clever combination of colours and an easy and economical way of producing an arrangement. Thank you and welcome back.
Thank you Mary – I am very happy to be back!
I know just how tired you must feel; we also went away again immediately after returning from our trip to the States and it seems like I have only just got back to normal. Love the idea of the floating blooms, I love the colour of the Dahlia but I can’t help with its name I’m afraid.
Thank you Christina – I am glad you are feeling back to normal now – it gives me hope !
Because it was so hot when we arrived home we spent the first 3 weekends away in the mountains or at the sea. Also the heat means that there is only a small window of opportunity to do anything in the garden or in the house, I’ve been getting up at 5.30 and working through until 9.30 by which time it is too hot to do anything else. I’m sure you’ll soon recover and be on top of things again.
Beautiful!
Thank you!
Beautiful. I love the idea of displaying them in a bowl. I hope they didn’t make too much mess
It is a deep bowl Gina so there was quite a mess!! Nothing broken though so no lasting damage.
Lovely colours and crisp pictures….
Thank you Noelle!
Welcome back! I missed your posts. It must be so hard to leave your garden at this time of year. Do you have people who take care of it for you or do you just hope for the best? Also, your bowl arrangement was stunning. How long would an arrangement like that usually last in a bowl?
Thank you Elizabeth. I think the arrangement would have lasted about 5 days (the flowers are now floating in individual votives and still look good). I have a regular gardener who comes in a couple of times a week and I beg extra help from family for additional watering – I was pleased that it seems to have survived a very dry spell with very few casualties.
The whole thing looks quite edible. Lovely colours, definitely given a certain lightness by the use of the dill. Beautiful
Thank you!
I never would have thought of floating Dahlia heads in a bowl – or roses either – but I love the effect. I’m sorry to hear the arrangement had a bad spill. I hope you were able to put it back together before you scooted out the door on another adventure. I also hope you enjoyed your trip to the US and that the weather wasn’t too hot.
Thank you Kris – the more delicate dill and cosmos was crushed in the flood so I have floated the dahlias and roses in small votives and they still look very pretty. Our holiday was a great experience and the weather was kind to us (with the exception of Vegas which was far too hot for me).
Love, love, love your colours in this vase. Simply stunning. Hope you enjoyed your trip to Petersham nurseries. I go for the inspiration and as we usually cycle there along the towpath from Bushy Park/Hampton Court it is impossible to buy!
Thank you Homeslip – Petersham Nurseries was certainly an inspiration! We went by bus from Kew so buying was not an option for us either – probably just as well given the prices!
Welcome back and wow you are off again…fabulous reminder that we can float an arrangement…such a creative vase too with the addition of dill flowers and berries….
Thank you Donna – it is easy to think of floating flowers as a winter display but actually this is a great way to display flowers year round – particularly if you have flowers with short stems!
Very nice dahlia. Sorry I can’t help with the name. I like the little accents you’ve chosen to spice up the dahlia and rose.
Thank you Susie!
Great colours, I like the floating flowers vases! Welcome back, Julie!
Thank you Anca – it is good to be home.
Simply gorgeous! Or perhaps, not so simple? I love the depth you’ve created in this one by using such varied material. And the idea of using a footed bowl… I will have to try that sometime 🙂 Welcome home and thanks for the inspiration!
Thank you Amy and this really is a simple arrangement – once I had my bowl and flowers it took under 5 minutes. Just try not to spill it – then it is a great waste of time!
Great vase, love the inclusion of the fruit and the dill heads.
Thank you – I do love to add fruit at this time of year.
Oh it’s good to see you back Julie and what a fabulous floating concoction. At least the bowl survived intact by the sound of it but oh how annoying. I hope that somebody can id your dahlia. Enjoy the trips you have planned for later this week.
Thank you Anna -and yes, I am grateful that the bowl survived the fall!
Your bowl is so deceptive Julie, and it is only when you realise that it contains dahlias and roses that you appreciate its true size so it must be quite heavy when filled with water and blooms! Such an effective result from a quick arrangement. There must be so much you want to do now you are back home but yes, how can you resist the chance to visit Kew and Petersham nurseries – I am back home from my Mum’s and catching up so you too may well be back home from these additional jaunts too! Welcome back anyway!
Thank you Cathy – I am home today and back out catching up with the many jobs outside that I am behind on!
There will always be those… 😉
So very nice to have you back! Too bad about the “spill” but at least you had already taken the pictures for us all!!! I
I had a fleeting thought of coming up your way after my Rome venture…but then reason got the best of me, and I must come straight home. Too bad!!!
What a shame Libby – it would have been so good to see you! We are in Florida towards the end of October if you are anywhere in the vicinity!
Welcome back! I love the colour scheme of your arrangement. Gorgeous dahlias.
Thank you Chloris – it is always so good to get back to the garden!
Welcome home and what a beautiful vase you’ve created! Little update on your fuchsia cutting – sadly it died in the terrible heat we’ve had but I shall try again when it gets a little cooler. I won’t forget 😉
What a shame Annette and thank you for remembering!
Gorgeous cut flowers- an inspirational display. And I am very comforted that your dahlias are in bud but not yet flowering. You may remember I ‘won’ some lovely dahlia tubers from a Sarah raven giveaway on your blog and they are full of buds not yet open but they soon will be !!!.