Well, my vase for today as I join Cathy at Rambling in the Garden is not at all what I intended. But maybe it will do!
A giant flower of Scabiosa caucasica ‘Perfection Blue’ was just so appealing, and you can see just how large it is as I added two of the normal sized Scabiosa columbaria ‘Butterfly Blue’.
The red Achillea ‘Pomegranite’ had been beckoning for attention, so I used that at the base with some silvery Senecio leaves. For some height I added the lovely long stem of my pink Gaura lindheimeri ‘Lillipop Pink’ (which managed it through the winter 😃 !)
… with some still pale Polygonum/Bistorta affinis ‘Darjeeling Red’ and this pretty Sanguisorba officinalis ‘Pink Tanna’…
All in all a nice arrangement, but the orange snapdragons I had intended to use might have gone better with my choice of vase. Oh well, there is always next week!
Why not pop over to Cathy‘s website and see what everyone has found for a vase today.
Have a lovely week!
😃🦋😃
Words and Herbs 
I love your large Scabiosa! I didn’t know the blossoms came that large. Mine are so small. And the Gaura are so pretty. I bought 3 plants after reading deer don’t like them. But withing 24 hours, they were eaten down and pulled out of the ground, and I never was able to see them bloom. So, I will enjoy yours. Lovely combination of summer color! The summer flowers are so much more colorful than the spring flowers. When I look out over my gardens, I really need that pop of color to endure this heat. Hope you are getting a break from the heat and some rain too.
Oh, such a shame the deer ate your Gaura Cindy. 🙁 I am so happy I can grow it. It isn‘t terribly hardy so may not last a very cold winter. I have some white ones too I grew from seed this spring. 😃
We have been so lucky so far with only bursts of heat and then cooler showery days in between.
This is a sweet combination. Happy IAVOM.
Thank you Lisa. xx
I love gaura, it’s one of my favourite summer flowers and your pretty floaty lady is so pretty, hovering above the other flowers in your vase! It’s great fun! Amanda https://therunningwave.blogspot.com/2020/07/in-vase-on-monday-stripes-and.html
Thanks Amanda! All the tall floaty flowers are lovely in a summer breeze, but this pink Gaura really is quite an eye-catcher.
I’m sure your snapdragons are lovely but I think you chose well today. I’ve admired scabiosa for years and can’t get it to grow here. Scabiosa caucasica ‘Perfection Blue’ is amazing and makes me want to try again.
Hi Susie. I grew the Scabiosa from seed and it has taken them a year to get established and one has even spread already. 😃 Definitely worth trying again. 😉
I will look for some. Thanks.
The three taller components reminded me of those fancy metal garden stakes with a flower or bird on the end that bob about in the wind! I was pleased to see them as not only are my persicaria all coming into flower but I actually have a sanguisorba AND a gaura in flower for the first time ever!! Do I need to lift the gaura to overwinter it, do you think? Pink Tanna is especially pretty and I was intrigued at the relative size of your scabious. Look forward to seeing your antirrhinum another time! Thanks for sharing
I have been lucky with Gaura so far and as long as they are in well drained soil with a bit of mulch on them they seem to survive our winters. The one in the old garden only lasted a few years but I was more than happy with that. I have planted several in the new bed, so we will see how they fare this winter… The big Scabious really is gorgeous. I grew it from seed and it is doing well in its second year. 😃
That’s interesting to know – I grew mine from seed and it was easy to to grow, flowering within 12 months, so I shall prepared to do so again
The blue and red flowers mesh well, especially under the tempering influence of the gray foliage. I’m hoping that the two Scabiosa I planted a month ago will produce blooms the size of your larger specimen – a bunny ate one of the plants to the ground so I may have to wait awhile and then summer’s heat is always a problem. I love the Polygonum, yet another plant that won’t grow in my climate.
I hope the Scabiosa manage to flower for you Kris. Anither one I grow is the pale cream one ‘Ochroleuca’. It is a very tough sort that loves hot dry spots, so that one might do well in your climate. 😃
I love the large Scabiosa (wish there was a more palatable name for it 😉 ). I have a tough time growing them… for some reason, they rarely return the following spring. A bit of a Goldilocks plant, it seems. 🙂
Pincushion flowers! Or widow‘s caps. But I prefer the first. 😃 I think they like warm dry spots as the wild ones always seem to be in full sun and on well-drained soil here. I persevered with trying to grow Californian poppies for years and finally succeeded, so give the scabious another go Eliza! 😉
Thanks for the encouragement, Cathy. I’ll have to find the perfect spot for it here. It is such a pretty flower.
My vases rarely turn out as I intended..that is part of the fun for me. And the ephemeral nature of the beast. The Scabiosa is lovely. We call it Pincushion Flower! Really love the grey foliage.
Yes, pincushions or I have also heard them called widow‘s cap. The strange thing was I had really planned my vase this week and then I got distracted by that lovely blue scabious! 😜
I think I like pincushions better..I rarely end up with a vase I plan..something is always distracting me.
Your arrangement this week looks oh so modern, professional, and chic! It’s funny how just one thing can lead us on to another, and another, until the end result is nothing like we had envisioned!
Oh thank you Kimberley! Yes, the blue scabiosa and then the achillea just put me off track! 😉
Your vase of flowers look as if they are reaching for the sky Cathy and I don’t blame them with a fabulous blue sky like that! Scabiosa caucasica ‘Perfection Blue’ looks as if it is on steroids compared to the little ‘un. I will look out for it 😄
There have been lovely patches of blue sky the last few days as a bit of cooler fresher air has come our way. 😃 I grew the big blue scabiosa from seed, trying the white one too which didn‘t survive. It is in its second year now and doing well. 😃
As blue as the sky..your scabious is superb, as is your little arrangement. It reminds me of a fascinator with long feathery plumes.
Oh, what a nice comparison. Thanks Noelle. 😃
The large scabiosa is fabulous and against that blue sky wow! Your summer picking looks picture perfect.
😃 Thanks Dorris!
‘Pomegranate’ yarrow certainly is red! It is so pretty against the remarkably blue sky.
When we look towards the woods on the north side of our house we very often have that beautiful blue sky. 😃
Love the Scabiosas! They never last in the garden here.
They do like plenty of sun and dry ground… perfect for our garden although I rarely see them in other gardens here.