It’s cold and icy outside, so in order to join Cathy at Rambling in the Garden with a vase this week I am using some dried flowers again.
These Echinops were picked last summer while still in their prime and have stood in this old maple syrup bottle ever since.
In the search for good (well, still not brilliant!) lighting I stood the jar in front of the book rest I have on my desk. I always have a page of one of my garden books open here, for inspiration. This picture is of a Piet Oudolf garden – I love the choice of plants and the focus on late summer flowers and grasses.
This week I have been reading about one of Oudolf’s most recent gardens, created just within Germany at the Vitra Campus, on the border to Switzerland and France. You can read about it here. It would be a 5 or 6 hour car drive for me, but one day I will have to visit.
In the meantime, I can dream!
Have a great week (and sweet gardening dreams). 😉
Words and Herbs 
This is the best!! So glad i saw it!
Thank you Rei!
That is a very clever background.
😉 I shall be turning the page soon for a different view!
What a wonderful double spread photo, and such a great setting for your echinops. I find the echinop heads start to disintegrate when I try to keep them – convenient if you want to collect the seeds though! It would certainly be more than a day trip to visit that garden, but I am sure you could combine it with something else for an overnight stop sometime – that’s the sort of thing we do, with the camper van
Well, with old Anouk it won’t be this year. (She hates the car and is not a sociable dog either!) But one day! I had the same problem with some of the Echinops seedheads I tried to keep – but these were still in full flower when picked and left in a dry vase. It worked, but even these are still rather fragile!
I recognized the Piet style right away. Love his gardens. Did you ever see the biopic film made about him? Very good, recommended. https://fiveseasonsmovie.com/piet-oudolf-movie-trailer/
Thanks for the link Eliza. Yes, I have seen it, but will now watch it again! 😃
The flowers look lovely with that background.
Thanks Cathy. I think anything looks good with a Piet Oudolf garden in the background! 😉
Hey, I grew this as a cut flower crop in 1986, . . . but now that I think of it, have seen it only a few times since then. When I do notice them, I am impressed that there are a few cultivars.
This one is a very blue one called ‘Veitch’s Blue’.
Oh, I remember that name from other people’s gardens. If I remember correctly, there is a cultivar that is green, but with the same form.
Green would be pretty. I have seen the white sort but do prefer blue.
I have seen white also, but it had a distinct form as well as the distinctive silvery white color. The blue and green that I remember exhibited the two distinct colors, but with seemingly identical form.
What a great choice of background, it all works together so well.
Thank you Rosie!
This has a wonderful dreamy quality reflected in the grasses and Echinops.. I am dreaming of having the grasses and Echinops!
Yes, golden grasses and splashes of blue Echinops, orange Helenium, red Monarda…. sigh!
You and (Rambling) Cathy are in sync with the clever use of books as backgrounds this week! I love the Echinops and sincerely hope the 3 I planted in the fall will yield flowers this year. They’re not looking particularly vigorous at the moment but hope springs eternal.
Oh, I hope they do well for you Kris, and you can use some for vases too! 😃
I love using the gardening book page as a backdrop, Cathy. So very clever. The Echniops is very attractive, and I’m hoping you begin to see signs of Spring before too long now!
Apart from the Hellebores (partially beneath snow!) there is no sign of life yet. But I will be sure to report when I see my first crocus. In fact you will probably hear my squeals of delight! LOL!
As Cathy said that would be a great overnight trip to visit the garden. I love the prairie garden style.
I think I love it so much because it is what suits my location best. I dream of having a team of gardeners come over to plant me an Oudolf planned garden from scratch! LOL!
Wouldn’t that be nice.
It may be cold still, but your ingenuity still shines through. Thanks for sharing.
Aw, thanks Noelle. Such a lovely comment. 🙏
Oh your photo captures summer sunshine Cathy. It was extremely cold here yesterday morning – too frosty for me to snip a few flowers for a vase. My dad used to grow echinops – such an intense blue. I do hope that you get to the garden you mention at some point in the future 😀
Thank you Anna. Cold here too, snowy and icy, but at least the sun came out today. 😃
Echinops have eluded me–must try to get some this year! I love your open book as a way to stay inspired! Great idea. And Oudolf is such an inspiration. Hope you get to visit that garden.
Thanks Susie. It is something I will look forward to doing one day. 😃
Flower dreams are good dreams!
Absolutely! 🌷🌷🌷
Good idea for your arrangement. Yes, dried flowers are fascinating, for sure!
The best are the Everlasting flowers. These Echinops are very fragile!