I spent most of Sunday tidying up some shelves to make space for my increasing collection of vases, so now I can see just how many I have got! On the other hand, the number of flowers available this week is noticeably smaller. However, I salvaged some of the last colourful blooms for three small vases, all of which I inherited from a lovely lady who loved her flowers as much as me. 🙂
This is the last of those gorgeous cactus zinnias, along with countless other bits and pieces. The Golden Euonymus produced some lovely berries. And the fern at the back has developed a lovely toffee colour. Persicaria, Pennisetum, Feverfew and the golden Buddleia round off the autumn colours.
The second vase is almost summery…
The last of the Fairy Rose, Cosmos Candy Stripe, Buddleia, a sprig of Miscanthus and look at that Geranium and fresh Aquilegia foliage!
The third vase was actually just an attempt to rescue the last rosebuds, which will certainly not open now as the days grow shorter and dimmer.
Along with some fresh poppy leaves which often appear in autumn, I added some Verbena bonariensis, a few grasses and that silvery green plant I can never remember the name of…
I am joining Cathy at Rambling in the Garden once again, for her wonderful Monday meme. Do visit her to see what she and other contributors have found for their vases this week. 🙂
Words and Herbs 
As much as I love the flowers, I really enjoyed your foliage, this week especially the Columbine. Who could resist the Rosebuds and The Fairy!? Hope you are enjoying Octoberfest.
The foliage is taking the limelight right now and the flowers are in rapid decline… makes it clear that it is nearly November!
Amazing and time to contemplate the evergreen structure in your garden?
Precisely. I should like more evergreens in future too!
I love yews and will never have any!
We have lots of them… they set seed every year! They are so valuable for their dense growth and for the birds, and are protected in the wild here. A bit big for the rockery though… 😉
The persicaria and zinnia and that toffee fern make a great combination – and I have noticed the aquilegia foliage in my garden too. Are all your Candy Stripe cosmos this colour? Mine this year are a bit variable which is a bit of a shame. I especially like the shape of the second vase – is it a vase or is something like a sundae glass?
That fern is really attractive this year but is collapsing rapidly now. The Candy Stripe were all more or less the same, oerhaps. afew were slightly paler. The vase is in fact a vase, but I also inherited a single sundae dish which will no doubt be used for flowers one day too!
Your first vase is lovely and autumnal – I love the colors you chose. The golden buddleia is esp. nice along with the cactus zinnia, a type I will look for next spring. Let’s hope it’ll be here in the blink of an eye. 🙂
Oh yes, let’s hope so Eliza! I have been quite depressed since cutting that last zinnia. 😦
I know the feeling well. 😦
Oh that Zinnia is fabulous! Autumn in a vase! The changing of the seasons is stronger now. The slow let down from summer as we tumble into the next season, lovely.
Autumn has got a real grip here now Deb, and with the clocks changing this coming weekend we are back to dark evenings. That last zinnia is a lovely memory of late summer though!
These are all lovely but the second one stands out to me. Nicely proportioned and balanced. Your Verbena bonariensis is looking great. I just cut mine all back this afternoon as the foliage was covered in powdery mildew.
Thanks Susie. My Verbena b. has managed to seed itself around this year but I will still buy a few new plants in the spring I think as it does look lovely scattered throughout the garden..
As the German idiom says: “Aller guten Dinge sind drei” (how would you translate this?) Three vases, three roses, more than two, than a couple – it´s more a group. The three vases answer another by colour and material in a room.
Hi Uta. The only expression in English is ‘Everything comes in threes’ but is used when things go wrong. If my Mum broke two things within a short time she would then break a match as the third thing, to be on the safe side! All three are still together on the same windowsill and seem quite happy as a threesome!
Yes, it could be July with that second vase! I waited for at least 4 weeks for my late rosebuds to open outside, but they did at long last. I may follow your lead and bring the remainders indoors, though I can’t bear to strip the garden of its last remaining colour and put it to bed just yet! The autumn colours in your first vase are so rich. Love that dahlia.
I cut down the last tiny withering buds on my large rose yesterday as it is now much too cold and damp for them to develop… I have started putting the garden to bed as we have been warned there could be a cold spell on the way! Oh, and that dahlia is actually a cactus zinnia… it has been glorious with such gorgeous colours and will definitely be sown again next year! 🙂
Looking at your lovely vases doesn’t indicate that you have fewer flowers in your garden Cathy; they are all full of interest. I love the addition of the toffee coloured fern.
These were some of the last flowers Christina. Autumn tidying has begun and the only real star left out there is that amazing Persicaria!
Brilliant colours in that first vase. I like the toffee coloured fern leaf and that golden buddleia adds a nice sunny froth. Great combination.
Thank you! The golden buddleia is unaware it is almost November and seems to keep on and on producing new flowers, albeit small ones! 🙂
Beautiful slideshow! A nice extra touch to your lovely vases, especially nice that they have sentimental value too.
Thank you Kate. I just had to make the most of the last cosmos and zinnia. It is looking a bit sparser out there this week though!
Three lovely ones! And you are making me doubly happy that I went ahead and ordered cactus zinnia seeds for next year… 😉 Just the one bloom makes such a bright centre to your first vase. I love the aquilegia foliage as well.
Thanks Amy. So glad you have ordered Cactus Zinnia seed… you’ll love them! The aquilegia foliage has been making me feel wistful and reminds me of spring and warm sunshine… sigh!
Look at you still with beautiful roses! Just wonderful, Cathy. I love the way the fern changes from green to the toffee color. I’ve never seen fern go through a seasonal change and it is really beautiful! I love the vases you’ve chosen for this week and especially that they have some sentimental value. Very fun to have so many you need to make more room to accommodate them! 🙂
Hi Debra. I hadn’t realised just how many vases i had as they were distributed around the house on various shelves or hidden in cupboards and I had forgotten about some of them too! The fern usually gets singed and burnt in summer, then I cut it down and it reshoots. But with the damp weather we had this year it didn’t need cutting back and has turned this lovely colour now. 🙂
I love those Cosmos Candy Stripe. I must look for those here. They’re delightful. Are your temperatures dropping now, Cathy? Today felt like fall here with the angled sun and dancing leaves but it is still so warm (70F).
Hi Alys. There are so many pretty cosmos seeds to try, and I have chosen various shades of pink for next year. 🙂 It was actually very mild yesterday (10°C) but the forecast is for a frosty few days with some snow or sleet. Time for the gardener to have a rest! 😉 Enjoy that autumn light Alys, and have a lovely Sunday!
Oh my goodness…sleet and snow. It sounds like winter is creeping up on you. It’s so strangely warm here for early November. It’s a bit disconcerting. I wore sandals and a skirt today to take my sister to lunch for her birthday. Diners are still eating outside. I’ve forgotten what seasonal norms are anymore. It’s one day at a time.
Have a terrific week.
You too Alys!