Another week has flown by and it is time to join Cathy at Rambling in the Garden once again with a vase of materials from our gardens.
Last week my vase featured soft silvers and blues, so this week I decided to bring some bolder colours indoors. The flowers used are mainly from the sunshine bed. The starting point however was some Golden Rod growing just outside our garden fence… a sure sign that summer is slowly coming to an end.
Various sunflowers add some more yellow and gold tones, while the Tithonia, Rudbeckia ‘Prairie Glow’ (gorgeous isn’t it?) and Echinacea ‘Flame Thrower’ provide some orange.
A couple of Zinnias add a hint of red – the seed packets said they would be pink and white, but I am so glad they turned out this colour!
The grasses are Calamagrostis ‘Karl Foerster’ and a wild grass which looks like the original grass Mr Foerster got his inspiration from. In fact it was seeing these grasses growing in the wild that ignited my growing passion for using grasses within my own garden. I added another splash of gold from some Euphorbia and a sprig of fennel, Patrinia scabiosifolia and Hypericum from the herb bed.
(Click on any picture for a slide show)
I hope these colours have made your Monday a bit sunnier. 🙂
Have a good week!
Words and Herbs 
Wow! This is pure summer sunshine! Those colors are just so vibrant! Thank you for sharing this beauty!
Thanks Angie. Glad to share. 🙂
Lovely autumnal arrangement, Cathy. (I can’t believe it is officially only a month away. Nooooo!)
I love Rudbeckia ‘Prairie Glow’ (yes, it is gorgeous!) and Echinacea ‘Flame Thrower,’ which is superb. I like how the grasses and goldenrod give the arrangement a natural look. I love it!
So often I see things growing together in the wild that give me inspiration – the grasses and golden rod being one example. Yes, less than a month to go till the equinox and we will be looking at asters and sedums! My sedums are already showing some colour….
I do like these hot colors. Summer is in full swing.
Gorgeous late summer colors and the ?label zinnias look perfect. My Goldenrod is in bud so I am feeling the seasonal change as well. Must try Tithonia, it is a great butterfly plant here – is it there?
The tithonia actually attracts bees more than butterflies here – our butterflies are drunk on buddleia nectar at the moment! 🙂
Wonderful! we have some amazing metallic green bees. BBzzzz
Typical colours for August but also looking towards autumn! 🙂
Oh wow! That montage looks stunning, Cathy – what great photos! I have grown Prairie Glow from seed this year and it has just started flowering – don’t think it is fully hardy here.
Thanks Cathy! Prairie Glow should be hardy to -23°C according to my nursery. We see Rudbeckias in everyone’s garden here so must be right. But perhaps young plants are a bit sensitive to a damp winter.
The RHS are doing a test on echinaceas as they are now thinking that it is mild winters that see them off and that they need a cold period, and I wonder if perennial rudbeckia might be the same…
That’s interesting Cathy. My Mum often loses plants to damp winters when they should be hardy, but it would be interesting to find out if mild temperatures also harm certain things. We have a ‘test’ garden at an institute in Bavaria that does similar studies, but most of Germany always gets a really cold spell for at least a fortnight.
They are testing them elsewhere too (could be Germany). I will scan the article and email it to you
Ooh, thanks Cathy! xx
Indeed that’s a most warm and glowing late summer vase Cathy. Most considerate of those zinnias not to have read the seed packet. I have come to the conclusion that tithonia is the most vivid shade of orange I’ve ever seen.
You may be right Anna – the tithonia are like beacons shining from that flower bed! 🙂
Beautiful collection Cathy. Really like your Tithonia. I chuckled at the labeling on your zinnias–often here they’re mostly pink no matter what the label says.
I’m wondering what colour zinnias I should order for next year… 😉 It will be a surprise whatever! LOL!
Sunshine and cheer in a vase! I love the Rudbeckia. It doesn’t hold up well here but I recently caved and planted a few plugs of a variety called Denver daisy but I wish I’d held out for a more sunflower-like variety like yours. I really must remember to sow Tithonia next year.
Hi Kris. Good luck with the Rudbeckia. Mine did wilt a little in our heatwaves but are fine now they have a little shade from some tall Heleniums – the Heleniums seem to love heat and drought so maybe that would be an alternative for you to try. 🙂 And I must recommend Tithonia to everyone. I recently saw a yellow one I simply must have for next year! 🙂
This is splendid, Cathy! It is certainly the season for goldenrod now; it is blooming wild by the roadsides here as well. How perfect with the tithonia and sunflowers… and your helpful zinnias! 😉
Thanks Amy. This seasonal vase gave me so much pleasure! 🙂
Like sunlight bursting through clouds – glorious.
Thank you – what a lovely comment Sandra. 🙂
Very striking. They are sunshine colours but a bit autumnal too. Lovely to see your tithonias the slugs ate all mine.
Yes, I dared to plant them out here as the slugs would have devoured them within hours in my last garden (where I grew them in large pots). Still no slugs in sight here even after some heavy rainfall last week. 🙂
What pretty fall colors Cathy! I’m not ready to go there yet, the weather is still much to hot here to think about fall, but hopefully soon. Our golden rod is not nearly ready to bloom yet. I usually gather some from my neighbor’s overgrown yard, but her son’s chopped everything down this summer. Hopefully I’ll be able to find a few stems from the side of her yard to use in a fall bouquet.
Hi Cindy. It is precisely the heat that makes me happily accept that autumn is not far off. I have had enough of it! We have golden rod all around in the countryside, but these stems were nice and accessible as my partner had chopped down lots of nettles nearby for his nettle ‘tea’ (plant food!). 🙂
There’s no way to deny these are fall colors! Gorgeous arrangement, Cathy. I tend to prefer yellows and orange. My mother was very “pink and purple” and I thinkI made a conscious choice to differentiate in the garden when I was quite young. Give me the brightest orange and I’m happy. 🙂 Your arrangement made me smile!
🙂 I think yellows and oranges must have that effect on most people – such cheery and sunny colours. I know some people avoid yellow in their gardens but for me the sunshine bed and especially the tithonias make me smile every time I look outside. I have kept to my colour scheme there and am happy I did. 🙂
I LOVE sunflowers and Goldenrod. None of our Goldenrod has started to bloom in this area.
It is always lovely to see the Golden Rod, but tinged with that ‘summer is coming to an end’ pang… 😉
Cathy I love your bouquet, it’s so cheerful and colorful, just what I need now. I really like Rudbekias and Sunflowers and the goldenrod. It is wonderful. Thank you very much for being by my side when I needed you and I still need you, my friend. Take care Love Margarita xx
Dear Margarita, I am thinking of you and wish you some peace and family time this weekend.
‘Prairie Glow’ black-eyed Susan seems popular this year. Well, it seems popular elsewhere. I don’t know why it is not popular here. I like it because (to me) it looks like something that would grow wild on the Prairies.
Yes, it looks lovely with grasses. 🙂
I think it looks great even without grasses, perhaps because it is uncommon for us.
They certainly have. What cheerful colours! Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome Cynthia! 🙂
Fall colors galore! Hope you are well.
Thanks Eunice. Yes fine, just taking some time off! 😉