As it is Monday again (how time flies and what happened to May?!) I am joining Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for her weekly meme, where we gather materials from our gardens to arrange in a vase.
It is hot again today, and a breeze would be welcome… instead I shall have to settle for this vase of breezy, summery, lemony flowers and foliage!
A slice of lemon and some lemon thyme at the foot of my carafe will remind me to chill some water and add a sprig/spritzer of each for later in the day.
The yellow day lily always catches me unawares when it opens… whatever made me buy a yellow lily? But as the pastels of the Aquilegias fade and the grasses, poppies and foliage take centre stage I am relieved to find they do actually fit into the picture. Hemerocallis citrina supposedly smells of lemon, although I personally cannot detect any citrussy scent.
The foliage on the left is the Goat’s Beard (Aruncus dioicus), which I love best before it flowers. It is so elegant and makes a beautiful structural feature in the garden for a few weeks. A shame it tends to get frazzled and needs cutting back by the end of June.
The variegated Vinca is also looking fresh still, although it has drooped a little in the photo above after being cut in the strong sun. The flowers have almost all gone over, but as ground cover it will remain attractive for some time I hope.
At the centre I just had to use another of my lovely white peonies – Festiva maxima – even though the pink tinge to the petals doesn’t really fit in with the colour scheme! They are going over rapidly in our heatwave. (30°C forecast for today)
But it is surrounded by the lime green of the Aruncus leaves, some Alchemilla, ferns, and a pretty Euphorbia seguieriana.
Well, May has come and gone and we have had another very hot month… despite some heavy thundery showers it is still dry. I wonder what June will bring?
For certain some roses… 😉
Have a good week!
Words and Herbs 
Love your witty addition of the lemon slice – a summer cocktail.
That peony is soooooo sumptuous!
🙂 This peony smells wonderful too. 🙂
I think that was pretty refreshing!
The lemon water was very good too!
Nothing lovelier than Festiva Maxima! We had those in our garden growing up.
I was given that peony years ago and have since divided it several times and it still produces masses of flowers. No wonder it is so popular!
What a great vase for showcasing your current garden….so much to love in it…..here we are just seeing Aquilegias and irises blooming.
I have started pulling up excess Aquilegias as the purple ones were taking over. You are catching us up though Donna! ;)-
Wish you could send just a bit of your warm weather our way. It is 60 degrees Fahrenheit here. Love the idea of water with lemon and lemon thyme. How lovely that peony is.
I would send you this weather if I could! It is thundery and close again today. The lemon water was delicious by the way. 🙂
Lovely bouquet and nice shot of a tranquil corner of your garden. Know what you mean about flowers going over quickly at the moment – although my peonies still not out. Yours is gorgeous!
Everything is about two or three weeks ahead of ‘normal’, whatever that is! LOL! Yes, I love that peony. Love them all!
A nice refreshing bouquet, Cathy! Sorry the heat is quickly pushing your peonies over. The season is short enough as it is. Bringing them in the house to enjoy close at hand helps. I learned from Susie that you can cut them in bud, wrap and hold in the fridge to bring out later. One way to extend the season!
If it isn’t the heat then it is the heavy thundery showers that spoil the peonies, so a normal year in that respect! LOL! Yes, I saw Susie’s post too. My fridge is always a bit crammed though, and I would be a bit worried about bringing ants in with the flowers as we had an army of them marching into the kitchen this spring! I must try it with some of the buds left though as it looks as if June will start off hot and thundery too.
A welcome summer breeze in your vase today. So pretty! Stay cool.
Thanks Peter. Summer has come early!
Your May garden is looking very bountiful.
I think it looks best in May (and then maybe early autumn too) but the lavender and roses survive any heat so there is more bounty on the way for June!
A beautiful bouquet, but what really caught my eye was all that lavender in the background! Hopefully your weather will cool down some! =Here it is still a little undecided if it will settle into summer yet!
The lavender really does look good this year Joanna, and I will harvest a lot for some fresh lvender bags. I am always afraid to cut back my lavender but it always comes back refreshed!
Wow, you are getting a heavy dose of summer early this year. The lemony theme adds zest to your vase. I like your bright yellow lily. Rainy here today.
Yes, it seems we skipped late spring and went right into summer a few weeks ago and now we are getting July weather – hot and steamy with very warm nights!
Peonies are one of my favorites! How lovely you have them in your garden. And roses too! Swoon! 🙂
Yes, peonies are a wonderful flower for their scent as well as appearance. 🙂
Oh that is much hotter than here, Cathy; no wonder things (and you) are wilting! I like the freshness of your vase today which really does look as if it will cool you down. And yes, what an attractive clump of lavender in the background!
Yes, the lavender is looking very good this year – one plant that really thrives on drought and heat! The vase (and the lemon water) are helping to keep me cool. I gave up gardening by 10.30am yesterday as it was too hot and also too dry to weed anyway, and I will just relax in the shade today! 🙂
I love the foliage of the Aruncus, which is yet another plant I’ve tried and failed to grow here. The peony is splendid of course but I’m sorry to hear that warm temperatures are shortening their bloom period. It’s surprising that your temperatures are running higher than ours right now!
I constantly read Aruncus loves moist ground and a bit of shade, but mine is in the full sun on a dry slope! LOL! Yes, this heatwave is a bit unusual for May.
Cathy a magnificent summer vase with the slice of lemon that needs to be at 30º Centigrades. You could send me some sun and heat that I am at 12ºC and it’s raining! I love your white Peony “Festiva maximum” and your yellow day lily. I love all the lime green plants, especially the Euphorbia seguieriana. It is a magnificent bouquet. For you I recommend you to cool water, squeeze the lemon juice and sugar to taste: cool a lot. 🙂 Take care. Greetings from Margarita.
I can only dream of 12° and rain. Wonderful! It has been so hot here for weeks now! I put the lemon thyme and some lemon juice in a jug of water and chilled it. Very refreshing! 🙂
But if you wear April and May with raining non-stop Cathy would want some sun. But not 30º Centigrades, with 22º C it would be great! 🙂 Take care. Greetings from Margarita.
Beautiful, Cathy – so fresh and zingy, and I love the lemon!
🙂 Thanks Ali!
A lovely vase Cathy and the perfect peony adds a special touch.
Thank you Jane!
I like the goat’s beard too – I don’t know why. I have never seen it except in pictures.
Festiva Maxima seems to be the most popular white peony everywhere. We do not grow them here where winters are mild, but some people in cooler spots can grow them, and Festiva Maxima is the most popular. I though that it was because it happens to be tolerant of mild winter weather. Even in Oregon, it is my favorite. I think that the red flecks make the white look whiter, so I prefer it to pure white peonies – if you can believe that. (Otherwise, I want flowers to be pure white.)
I can understand why Festiva maxima is so popular – an abundance of huge flowers with gorgeous scent. I think mine does so well because it gets frozen in winter and baked in late spring. It actually has a slight buttery tinge deep inside the flower which doesn’t show from a distance. I have never seen a pure white peony.
I saw a few pure white ones. I expected to like theme more, but did not. They just did not look quite as nice as Festiva Maxima. Some were a bit too fancy. There were all very pretty, but Festiva Maxima is still my favorite. Besides, I believe that it is the most tolerant to mild winters.
Beautiful and cheerful vase! Your festiva maxima looks gorgeous! Ours have buds and cannot wait until it blooms.
This peony is amazing, isn’t it! It seems to be the most abundant and favourite of so many people. Hope yours flower well for you too! 🙂
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Your weather is so different to ours this year; we’re still getting regular rain although it is getting less and becoming much warmer. Your vase is a lovely expression of May in your garden. The peonies all seem to be lasting much longer this year or is it my imagination?
My various peonies usually stretch across four to six weeks, and we are in week four now and I think this heatwave and the thunderstorms will finish them off by the end of the week.
I always (obviously wrongly) think of them as very fleeting flowers.
I would imagine that composing a new vase every Monday would emphasize how time escapes. I think May escaped all of us, Cathy. I had to make a doctor’s appointment to return in six months and was in shock when I realized that meant the end of November! Oh my! I do find that spending time in the garden is one of the better ways to “momentarily” slow time. I love the photo of the variegated vinca and I think it’s lavender in the background? Very pretty.
Hi Debra! June looks like it will be a busy month too, and I wish I could stop the clock for a week! LOL! Yes, the lavender in the background is looking very good this summer and has enjoyed the dry spell. 🙂
Your vase is looks delightful and the yellow daylily is certainly a citrus yellow, but what a shame that there is no detectable scent.
Your choice of foliage is an inspired choice with the peony
The foliage lasts so well too, whereas the peonies don’t. I am on my way out to pick the last of the buds.