Tag Archives: Nature

In a Vase On Monday: Late Summer Colour

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August was wet and cool and I spent less time in the garden than I would have liked. 🤪 But at least my sunflowers did not succumb to any of the storms or heavy rainshowers and they are still looking good! So that is what I chose for my Monday vase, as I join Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for her wonderful meme.

(Look at those black clouds again!)

This heavy vase was literally stuffed with sunflowers, Tithonia, Rudbeckia, Heliopsis and grasses. There is even a sprig of fennel in there too.

The Tithonia are still going strong, despite some cool nights under 10°C.

I noticed after taking the photos that a stem of the Pennisetum had escaped. It was immediately tucked in safely, although the grasses last well without water too. I used Miscanthus Federweisser, which is just opening, and I also put my favourite Calamagrostis in – Karl Foerster.

A bonus vase this week is with Golden Rod and Himalayan Balsam. They are growing together just outside our fence, looking very innocent and rather pretty. I think they would like to come in, but they are both invasive non-natives, so I will not be encouraging them!

The Balsam has a strange soapy smell, otherwise I may have filled a vase with just them on their own.

And finally, I found that you can float sunflower heads! This is Earth Walker (I think) and it is lovely being able to see it up close like this. Some of my flowers have broken off in the wind, so I discovered this by chance when trying to preserve them. I can recommend it!

I am looking forward to a much more promising September weather-wise.

If we can believe the weather forecast. 😉

But I do also feel for all those facing stormy weather in the US as hurricane season gets underway. Wishing you all a safe week and calm weather!

🌤🌻☀️

 

In a Vase on Monday: Harebells

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This Monday I am joining Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for her lovely meme once again.

And it is a special vase today: not only is it my Man of Many Talents’ birthday, but the hare jug I used arrived unexpectedly on Saturday as a gift from my Mum! (And what’s more, we have finally got an electrician to set up the power for the doorbell and gate opener up at our gate. Tradesmen are like gold at the moment here!)

The gorgeous jug is filled with harebells (Campanula patula) and a few moon daisies from the wilder parts of the garden. Here it is a bit closer up.

My Mum sent a card with it that has wild flower seed incorporated into the paper. You just cover the whole card in compost and give it a good watering. 😃 I shall display it a bit longer before trying that though.

The grasses, some clover, sanguisorba and even a buttercup, sneaked in with the harebells too.

Hares galore are exploring our garden at the moment, and it is so lovely to see them. We watched this one the other evening as he ambled through the oval bed and nibbled at  various plants before moving on. No serious damage as he found the grass tasted better! 😉

Here he is again, washing his face… how could I be angry about a few dianthus flowers when I see this!

A big thank you to my Mum, for the vase. And a Happy Birthday and big thanks to my Man of Many Talents too, who helped me with the marathon task of spreading mulch around the whole garden last week. I will show you the results very soon.

In the meantime, thanks for reading and have a great week.

Happy Gardening!