November has begun true to its reputation – wet, chilly and grey! All the more reason to join Cathy at Rambling in the Garden with her weekly meme to brighten up the house with a vase. 🙂
The Persicaria Firetail is still flowering like mad, but apart from that there is not much left now and so the last flowers have been cut before the spoil… hence the title, the last dance – their last chance to shine!
I used a rectangular vase for a change, although I am not a fan of straight lines and angular shapes, but this seemed just the right size to keep the stems upright and create a slightly different effect to my usual vases.
The star at the centre is my Morina longifolia (correction 8th Nov). It has never flowered this late before, so I must have cut it back just in time for it to rejuvenate. It is one of the few prickly plants I really like (those leaves are Really Prickly) and I have never used it in a vase before. I hope the last buds will open too.
The two last buddleia flowers have been included – the dwarf ‘Buzz Velvet’, shown below with Persicaria Red Dragon and Pennisetum…
And the yellow Buddleia weyeriana ‘Sungold’ – I was especially pleased that it finally flowered as I thought it had died last winter. It recovered slowly and this is the only flower it has produced! (Photographed here next to the fascinating Zebra grass).
I also cut the last unspoiled Scabiosa Snowmaiden, one semi-decent Cosmos, the last of the pretty unnamed Asters, Persicaria Red Dragon, some grasses and (of course!) some spiky Persicaria Firetail flowers.
Having chosen this title I just could not get this song out of my head… it’s an old favourite (I loved Donna Summer when I was a teenager!) and here is the video of the Queen of Disco herself singing ‘Last Dance’. (Love the hat!) 😉
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1pE01_0cCus
Hope your week gets off to a good start and you have some sunny moments!
Words and Herbs 
Love your vase – particularly the Persicaria.
Thank you – that Persicaria certainly is a treasure!
The yellow budlia rang my bell…lovely collection of your garden’s autumn glory.
Thanks Noelle – yes, I an so glad my yellow buddleia seems to have recovered. Hope we don’t get quite such a cold spell this winter, but it will be given lots of mulch and covered with evergreen branches too!
How funny, you came up with Donna Summer today. My first thought when I saw the title.The Buddleia and friends are lovely – a local nursery is selling those here (unusual) I have been contemplating trying one. Molinia is new to me, very pretty.
The Molinia has got nicely established in the garden now – I think it appreciated the rain we had in August after the first flush of flowers were over. It is very prickly though!
That Persicaria is stunning. What an explosion of color. I used to put my Donna Summer album on the turntable on Sat. mornings and my roommate and I would whip through our housecleaning to Donna’s beat. Thanks for reminding me of a great memory!
Glad you enjoyed hearing that song Linda! It brought back memories for me too! 😉
A very pretty last dance.
Thank you – I think the music will fade this week though! 🙂
Glorious. The frost got the dahlias last night.
Oh what a shame Cathy. I still have some Geraniums in a sheltered spot near my front door but the frost last week finished off my annuals too.
burr! It’s gotten here too. So very happy to see your vase this morning. All that bright color is just the touch of fabulous I need to start another week!
Thanks Deb. I needed that colour too on such a drab day, and was so glad I found this much!
I love your last dance. The molinia sets it all off beautifully. It’s amazing how much you find when you look around despite the frost.
Absolutely true Chloris I really thought the only flowers I had left were the Persicaria! 😉
Such a pretty fall arrangement! Snow is blanketing everything here and I’m missing the colour already.
And I enjoyed the Donna Summer song – hadn’t heard that one in a long while!
🙂 Fresh snow is beautiful too, but I know your winters can be so very long. Glad I could share some colour with you Sheryl!
I certainly felt that last hurrah! too when I was picking for mine. Isn’t persicaria wonderful? Now mine are all beginning to bulk up (the Dragon has been here much longer than the others and is well established) I am thrilled with all of them although my Firetail hasn’t doesn’t especially well this year. The contents and overal effect of your vase are wonderful and it has that fireworks effect too – perhaps at the end of the dance? 😉
😉 My Firetail is just amazing Cathy – it really took off when our initially dry summer turned to damp in August and it still looks as good now! P. ‘Alba’ looks like she might be as strong as Firetail, as she did very well in her first year. My Red Dragon is in almost complete shade against the north side of the house, so it is a bit straggly, but a cutting has been planted in a different spot and we’ll see how that goes next year. 🙂
I have just moved my P alba but hopefully it will settle in by next year as it is quiet spindly still. I wonder if it is worth watering them in dry summers?
It was really dry here in spring and early summer and Firetail did look sad, but I have always tried to avoid watering except in extreme drought… it is the survival of the fittest here! I am sure it would have been grateful for a good drink, but may have then put on too much fresh growth and might have scorched more than it did….
Ah, I get that
Your arrangement is gorgeous. So much still blooming in your garden, a beautiful last dance. I wish the party could continue a little longer but we’ve had snow falling lately and I fear Jack Frost will be turning the music off all too soon this year.
Thank you Peter – how sad that your winter seems to have set in. We don’t usually get snow until later, but the damp and dark November days will finish off my flowers too!
I loved listening to her music too when I was younger. Fabulous vase, love the colours and different shapes. Here’s hoping we’ll be having plenty more dances 🙂 PS: Can you send some rain, please!
I wish I could send you some of our rain Annette! Can you send me some sunshine?! I think the dancing here will be well and truly over by next week. 😦 Time to start planning cookie baking and the like! 😉
I was just going to send you sunshine, Cathy, but all of a sudden it turned grey and damp –what we call English cold– sadly no rain though. Yes, I think I shall do some xmas baking this year to wind down a bit. Will you share any recipes/favs?
I will probably just make my favourite cookies (Vanillekipferl!) which are already on my recipes page. Perhaps reblog them though with some updated photos! 🙂 Stay warm!
Lovely finale – a sweet farewell autumnal bouquet. The molinia and persicaria are nice highlights.
Back in the late 70s, I dated a DJ who worked a disco. He always played ‘Last Dance’ at the end of the night. What wild memories – ha! 😉
Oh Eliza, we have more in common than I thought! LOL! Although my DJ date was early 80s and the disco years were giving way to the British ‘New Wave’ stuff! What memories! 🙂
Oh yes, definitely memories! Hehe! ;D
What a splash of color and form. I love it.
Thanks John! I am enjoying this last splash of colour very much!
That new-to-me Molinia longifolia is wonderful, Cathy! The collection makes for an exuberant “last dance.”
Thanks Kris. The garden is slowly slipping away now. Sigh…. 🙂
Oh, and I am afraid I had problems leaving a comment on your blog Kris… I loved the Leucadendron and am sorry it reminds you of the bloodshed. Seeing everyone’s vases each week helps keep me smiling!
Your arrangement has a beautiful exploding shape. The grasses give an autumnal feel but you’ve got some lovely late summer flowers too. The molinia is very attractive.
November is such a drab month, so I was pleased to find so much colour Alison! 🙂
Lovely, so colourful and still fresh!
Thanks Anca! 🙂
Now that is quite a last dance vase with so much color and late flowers….my November has been pretty much the same.
Hi Donna. Yes, November is not a good month for our gardens, but we have both managed to put vases together! I have only peeked at your post, but will be back for a proper read later! 🙂
So colourful! Lovely and sunny here too today but very chilly tonight.
It was a clear night sky on Saturday and the moon was beautiful, but we are now completely immersed in cloud and the damp seems to be coming from all directions! Have a good week Dorris!
Cathy your vase is a great antidote to drab November. The persicaria is amazing and the Molinia longifolia at center is spectacular, totally new to me. Too bad about the spikes but hope it holds up as cut flower–certainly lovely now.
Thanks Susie. I pruned my shrub roses last week and am covered in scratches despite wearing thick gloves and jacket, so I am rather averse to any additional prickly plants in the garden! I do tolerate the Molinia though as it has such pretty flowers. 🙂
Very nice, the Persicaria especially.
I love that Persicaria Jason! 🙂
I love that Fire Tail is still packing a punch! It’s become a favorite of mine over your growing season! You still had a lovely vase this week, so I’m glad you shared the last dance of what has been a beautiful array of vases for many weeks now. I’m sure you’re wondering what kind of winter you’ll be experiencing!
Debra, Firetail is simply amazing and I have even had a flower or two left at Christmas in mild years! I think the next week or two will be typical for November – grey and damp. It would be nice to have the occasional clear and sunny day mixed in…. I can hope!
Gosh, so many lovely colours and shapes in your vase this week, Cathy. Really eye-catching and beautiful. Many of Donna Summer’s tracks still sound great today!
I was focussed on the Persicaria but found so much more to go with it in the end! 🙂
It’s lovely. Great to see those last flings looking decidedly summery in your arrangement. Also, I think that I must get me some P. ‘Firetail’!
I can recommend the Persicaria Allison! 🙂
There is still so much colour in your garden! Beautiful!
Yes, lovely to see the colour lasting just a little longer, but definitely on the way out now.
Cathy I love your farewell bouquet from Autumn “Last Dance”. It’s a song that I love about Donna Sammer, thanks for putting it. Going back to the flowers. The Red Dragon Persicaria is beautiful like the Firetail. La Molina logifolia I did not know but I love it. Buddleia weyeriana “Sunngold” did not know her either and her yellow mustard color is beautiful, as precious is the purple of the normal Buddleia. It’s a beautiful bouquet Cathy. Greetings from Margarita.
Thank you Margarita. I do love the Persicaria, and Sungold is quite precious too! 🙂
Oh you are leaving the dance floor in real style Cathy with such sumptuous autumnal pickings. So pretty.
Thanks Anna!
Sometimes the challenge of something new (like the square vase) propels you in new directions. That wonderful collection of plant life fairly explodes from the vase.
Oh thanks Ricki! I am looking forward to Cathy’s challenge next week!
A delightful last dance, Cathy. Thanks so much for sharing! The Persicaria, buddleias and Molinia are delicious. All delightfully late summerish for a dismal November!.
The buddleias really do bring back memories of summer… seems a long time before they will be flowering again. Still, lots to come in between I hope!
Love your last dance, sadly the video doesn’t show for me.
Oh, sorry you couldn’t see the video Brian. Maybe this link will work? :
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1pE01_0cCus. 😀
Yes thank you Cathy. I think my internet was on a go slow!