With heavy rainshowers and high winds I again wondered what I would find today when I ventured out, armed with secateurs and gloves, to pick some flowers for my Vase on Monday. Cathy hosts this meme at Rambling in the Garden, and you should hop over to visit her and see her lovely vase for this week, as well as some links to other Monday vases too.
The first flower to jump into my line of vision was a pink dahlia (supposedly ‘Chocolate and Candy’ but not at all like the picture on the packaging!). The pink theme was then set in my mind and various pink flowers and foliage followed…
Lovely bursts of sunshine between today’s thundery, blustery showers allowed me to photograph the vase at the window.
Here’s the dahlia close up… the petals a little past their best, but the centre is such a lovely rich chocolate colour (and the leaves are too).
I added a cluster of some of the last zinnias…
Then of course there is sedum and some bright pink asters (Aster novae-angliae ‘Andenken an Alma Pötschke’)
Some Japanese blood grass ‘Red Baron’ and a bit of peony foliage added to the pink theme, along with a couple of Fairy roses, some Centranthus ruber and a large sprig of my pink-stemmed Aruncus dioicus seed heads.
This pink vase certainly “perked” me up on this chilly autumn afternoon.
🙂
Is there anything pink in your garden at the moment?
Words and Herbs 
Your weather is changing fast while we seem to be slipping back into summer. This might be my favourite of all the vases you’ve done and there have been lots of lovely ones. I have lots of pink Cosmos and some Asters.
Glad you like this one Christina. The pinks are warming and I am so glad I picked them before it rained again! Tonight’s forecast is a low night time temperature of 4 degrees. Brrr!
I think I will have to grow pink and white cosmos next year too.
I can see why this vase perked you up…pink is too bright and cheerful in the garden not to smile…here the cold winds are blowing so my marigolds are warming me up today. I love the variety of blooms you chose Cathy especially the deep pink of the asters and zinnias.
It’s very chilly here too Donna, so warm pinks are just the medicine! 😉
Love this very beautiful flower arrangement so much. Have a good week, Cathy!
Thank you Elisabeth. Cosy colours for chilly days. Hope you have a good week too!
What a lot of lovely pinks, Cathy – and what a good idea to include peony foliage! Do you think you will always find something in your garden to make you feel perky? Blogging certainly helps in this process.
I can usually find something to cheer me when I look out, even on a dull day. Just hope we have a mild winter again or December and January vases could be tricky… 😉 I agree – blogging helped tremendously two winters back when we had a really long, hard and very grey winter. Have a good week Cathy!
This is so lovely Cathy, I love pink bouquets and your selection all tone beautifully. I haven’t very much that is pink, except roses and sedums at this time of year, I like your asters.
Thanks Julie – the sedums are lovely at the moment. I was amazed how much I could find for the vase this week after all the rain we’ve had!
A most delightful pink concoction Cathy. Hope that the bad weather is just passing through.
Thanks Anna. It warmed up slightly this afternoon. But the nights are much cooler now.
Such a pretty and cheerful gathering of flowers, I particularly liked the dahlia and asters. I have a few pink blooms in the garden, Japanese anemones, cosmos, sedum and the very last of the sweet peas.
I love sweet peas Sandra! Sadly the mice love them too, and I have a job to grow them here. Enjoy your last ones while they last!
Cathy, you’ve created a pretty pink wonder. Very nice design and great flowers still filling your garden I see. The dahlia is nice and I like that zinnia a lot. I have a lot of pink zinnias but not the same shape.
Thank you Susie. The zinnias have surprised me, getting better as the year progressed. I might reconsider growing them again!
Such a lovely combination of textures and shades of pink! Definitely an autumn pick-me-up! 🙂 I have a couple of sedums with pink flowers still hanging on in the garden, but most of my plants were hit pretty hard by the snow and frost we had earlier in the month and there isn’t much blooming now.
Hope you have a wonderful week and the sunshine returns for you!
Thanky Sheryl! We are still waiting for the warmer weather to return, but at least we haven’t had any snow or frost yet. The sedums are pretty resilient aren’t they! Hope you have a great week too!
Very beautiful Cathy! I love your banner, is that cone flowers? I have pink bourbon roses blooming!
Hi Michael! The banner is Helenium, photographed in the UK a couple of years ago. (Sadly not in my garden!)
Pink is one of my favourite colours. In my mom´s garden are flowering right now pink asters, dahlias, geranium, sedum, roses, and still cosmos, phlox, strawberries. It´s a symphony in pink.
What a great mix! Sounds like a pretty garden. I miss phlox, as the snails ate mine a few years ago!
I don’t think we do have anything pink blooming right now. Mostly blue or purple or yellow.
Blues are always nice Jason. I seem to have a lot of pink all year round.
One like for the bouquet and one for the title, Cathy! I love your pretty in pink theme…just wonder what happened to my own Alma which I planted last year?
Alma was one of the very few plants I watered a few times when it was very dry. I love the strong colour that really stands out against my Japanese acer. 🙂
So pretty. It is lovely to see such lovely pink flowers now we are getting autumnal shades all around us.
I’m saving some orange and yellow for possible future vases! 😉 I do seem to have a lot of pink though.
Such a lovely pink collection Cathy – I really love pink and have quite a few pink dahlias in flower. Also sedum, a few roses and lots of pink zinnias. When my chrysanthemums start to flower there should be a few more pinks to enjoy.
Ooh, pink chrysanths? Hope you’ll post a picture! 🙂
You had better results with an all-pink theme than I did this week! What a pretty, sweet arrangement! Isn’t it funny that bloggers from so many different parts of the world so frequently have such similar flowers in their gardens and bouquets?
I think every gardener I know has sedums! LOL! I enjoy seeing some of the differences and similarities too. 🙂
Love it. I’m not the biggest fan of sedums in arrangements but your mix carries it well. Love the aster. I saw a spindly one for sale this weekend and considered it but now am second guessing me decision to leave it behind!
I would love more asters, but they do suffer if we have a dry summer, so must resist temptation!
Hi Cathy, those pinks are wonderful! I especially love the brightness of the aster. Beautiful arrangement. Pinks: I still have some roses hanging on, and my Japanese Anemone, Sedum, asters, geraniums. I am quite a pink coloured gardener 🙂
I hadn’t really thought about it before, but I have quite a lot of pink too! 🙂 (More blue would be nice…)
🙂 I don’t have a garden. My brother and sister do… vegetables.
I would give ANYTHING for a garden. That’s why I like looking at your photos… 🙂 it’s a vicarious pleasure.
Perhaps you’ll have a garden one day. Glad you enjoy my posts!
Pinky and perky, great name and great posie. i have never grown zinnias, did you grow those from seed? Are they easy enough?
Hi there Dorris. Yes, I grew them from seed – a Thompson and Morgan mix called “Profusion”. They took ages to get going, but actually turned out to be quite nice late summer flowers. I might grow them again, but am not really convinced still!
What a lovely vase Cathy, very cheering.
Thanks Janet!