I wanted to find something spooky this week for a Halloween vase, as I join Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for her weekly meme…
No, not spooky enough. Let’s have another try…
Aah, now that’s better! The seed heads of the Clematis tangutica are just like little spiders…
or a bit ghostly, like the hair of a very very VERY old person…
And with some slightly creepy seed heads of Anemone japonica, the almost black Crocosmia and Echinacea, and the bright orange Physalis alkekengi I hope I managed to capture the ‘spirit’ of the season!
The pumpkin was a present from a friend, and the butternut will be made into butternut ‘steaks’ this week (I will post a recipe soon!). Last week I called my fern ‘toffee’ coloured, but I think ‘butternut’ is probably an even closer description.
Other ingredients to my vase were some orangey pink Epimedium foliage and a Sedum flower. Did you know Sedums were also renamed? (Actually some time ago but I was slow to catch on!) And of course the new name is much longer and more difficult to pronounce… ‘hylotelephium’. And at the front is the reddish pink seed head of the Ricinus communis that I had to cut down this week – the cold and damp had got to it, but it had lasted so well.
I won’t be celebrating Halloween myself, but for all of you who are…
Have a wonderful spooky Halloween!
😀 😀 😀
Words and Herbs 
Graet impressions, Cathy.
Have a happy and most spooky Halloween! 🙂
Thanks Dina! 🙂
You’ve captured the idea of Halloween perfectly Cathy. I don’t celebrate it either but the idea of some spooky flowers is irresistible.
I thought those clematis were just perfect for the spooky effect! 😉
The whole thing was perfect.
Looks beautiful ☺ and spooky too♥
Thank you Summer Daisy, and glad you saw the spooky side too!
A lovely autumnal arrangement.
Thanks Noelle. Seed heads are dominating the look of the garden now.
Perfect Halloween combination. I love Clematis seed heads but never made the spider connection!
Well, I was going to try and make a spider as a prop out of some fluffy black wool, but when I saw those clematis I was inspired! 😉
This is great for a spooky-themed arrangement Cathy. I know I am supposed to be spooked but the items you chose all rather beautiful and interesting. We’ll have a couple hundred little ones trick-or-treating tonight.
I could never imagine having so many people knocking at my door Susie! Hope it was a fun evening!
We ran out of candy soon after 7:30, starting with 320 pieces of candy. My husband gave extras to some of the kids and we ate some ourselves of course ( just to test the quality!) Kids were cute and very polite.
Oh what good choices you have in there Cathy for your Halloween theme – the clematis, physalis and ricinus are perfect with the squash and pumpkin. Thanks for sharing
Thanks Cathy. I do love the Physalis but it is such a thug – I have managed to eradicate some of it in the rockery, but no doubt it will have spread again by next spring!
I have heard varying reports of its thuggishness and so far have decided against adding it to my garden – although I have a nice string of physalis ‘Christmas’ lights 😉
I’m not much on Halloween either, but I adore fall with all the intense color! Your Monday vase is so very autumn, fabulous!
Thanks Deb! I think we need the colour to cheer us up as the light fades, and now with such dark evenings too. (We turned our clocks back last weekend).
Very, very creative. Happy Halloweeeeeen!
Thanks John!
Such a nice selection for your Halloween vase. I’ve thought of you often as I’ve seen so many pretty flower arrangements at our hotels in Germany and Austria. Oh and all the pumpkins and artichoke flowers for sale along the roadside. 🙂
Thank you Karen.. I assume you are home by now. Hope you enjoyed your trip!
Wonderful selections!
Thanks Sheryl!
The use of the clematis and anemone seed heads was inspired, Cathy! Halloween is almost impossible to ignore here in the US and I can’t resist a little decorating in the spirit of the holiday myself but that’s about as far as my celebration goes these days. My current neighborhood brings in very few, and sometimes no, little trick-or-treaters. I do miss seeing the little ones all dressed up but can do without the teenage and young adult versions.
I didn’t know that sedum have been renamed. That unpronounceable new name seems a very bad trick!
Halloween is in the shops, but that’s about as far as it gets. I think some smaller children have costume parties, but it hasn’t really caught on otherwise!
Very spooky, I love the Chinese Lanterns, that was a perfect Halloween complement to the Clematis.
The Chinese lanterns look good in the garden too, but are terribly ambitious and try to take over if I let them! 😉
But Oh so hard to resist!
Perfect vase for Halloween, Cathy. I think it is a fun holiday, and as you know, we really ‘do it up’ over here. Our town has a costume parade and prizes for the little ones – so entertaining to watch.
Halloween needs some proper marketing here to work! Today (Nov 1st) is All Souls Day, where people decorate and visit their family graves (which are beautifully tended here). It sounds a bit dismal, but if the sun shines it is a good opportunity for families to take a walk together.
It sounds like our Memorial Day in the spring. It was started to remember the war dead, but it became spring grave tending, too.
Funny post! 🙂
😉 Hope you had a nice Halloween Uta!
I had nice ghosts at the front door. 🙂
How cute – hope you had plenty of sweets for them! 😉
A creativity exercise! Nice!
And for Cathy’s anniversary theme next week I need to put my thinking cap on now! 🙂
Beautiful autumn selection Cathy. We were prepared for lots of little visitors.
So it is celebrated in your village? I only once had some children knock here – well, one child… a solitary and very small ghost! (He said his Mum was waiting for him round the corner!)
Seen in the right spirit, the Clematis seedheads definitely have a creepiness factor. Belated happy halloween!
A good thing you mentioned the spam alert Jason! There are indeed four comments from you in there!
Hope you had a good halloween too!
What a great arrangement, Cathy. I don’t think I would have seen the potential in the seed heads and some of the combinations you pulled together, but they’re amazing! It’s a very appealing arrangement for fall, and perfect for Halloween. Very clever! The Clematis seed heads really are perfect spiders!
I do like using seed heads in arrangements – they can be very atmospheric! I had looked at the clematis seed heads for several weeks with a vase in mind, but their time just hadn’t come – until Monday! 😉
Spookilicious!
What a great word Ricki! 😉
Oh you’ve really captured the spirit of Halloween Cathy. I’ve learned something too i.e. that sedums have a new name 😦 I think that I will conveniently forget that fact! Looking forward to seeing your recipe for pumpkin steaks.
Thanks Anna. I will be sticking with the name Sedum too! Hope you Sunday is brighter than ours! 🙂
Oh well done. You were miles more successful creating a spooky vase than me. I love the use of the ricinus seeds. Very dramatic. (Mine all dropped off last week. I think the cold must have got to them, although the plants still look OK.)
And after a few days in the vase everything started to shrivel, looking even spookier! 😉 I have still got one sad Ricinus plant in a sheltered spot in the rockery, but its days are numbered!
Look at that foresight! Were your ricinus ‘Carmencita’, ‘cos they were a good strong red?
Not sure as the packet only said Ricinus communis’ but they were a lovely deep red, with red stems too. 🙂
Cathy, those seed heads are fabulous! Perfect for your Halloween arrangement. I’m behind on reading blogs…I hope you had a wonderful Halloween.
This vase was the nearest I got to celebrating Halloween, and it has slowly decayed over the week and looks even spookier now! LOL!
Perfect! It’s the one time of year when dead flowers fit right in.