In A Vase On Monday – High Summer
Each Monday brings the chance to join Cathy’s In A Vase On Monday to create an arrangement using materials gathered from the garden. That anything can bloom in such hot, humid conditions invites pause and contemplation. Nature surprises again and again.
It is a treat today to share a new botanical themed vase, a gift from my sisters. The ceramic vase is three-sided with a green, embossed exterior that is highly textured.
Birthday Vase -Three-sided with embossment
Birthday Vase – Width and height are same
The interior is colorfully patterned and decorative. Top edges are adorned with berries and tendrils.
Birthday Vase
Berries and Tendrils Sit Atop The Vase
Working with such a complex vase was a bit challenging. First I imagined it filled with hydrangeas, but mine are well past their prime. Next I envisioned using lots of foliage and that is what I decided to try. My pass-along dahlia is five feet tall and full of buds but very few flowers. The leaves are healthy and attractive so I cut several stems to use a a starting point for the arrangement. I also chose one stem of Euphorbia ‘Ascot Rainbow.’
Vase – Outlined with Foliage of Dahlia and Euphorbia
Next flowering stems of heuchera and sprigs of multi-hued lantana were added help define the design.
Early stage- shaping the design
I liked the vase at this stage and could have stopped here, but with many other cut flowers left, I wanted to continue working on the arrangement, forgetting to take any more photographs as the design was progressing.
Materials
Flowers:
Buddleja davidii ‘Adokeep’ (Adonis blue Butterfly Bush)
Fresh Look Mix Celosia (citrus colors)
Heuchera villosa ‘Big Top Bronze’ (Coral Bells)
Lantana camara (Common lantana)
Lathyrus latifolius (Perennial Sweet Pea)
Liriope muscari
Pelargonium (Geranium)
Physostegia virginiana (Obedient Plant)
Rudbeckia laciniata (Green-Headed Coneflower)
Zinnia
Foliage:
Dahlia sp.
Euphorbia ‘Ascot Rainbow’
These are some of the colorful summer flowers growing in the garden that fill today’s vase.
Lantana camara (Common lantana)
Pelargonium (Geranium) and Liriope muscari
Zinnia hovers above Buddleja davidii ‘Adokeep’, Liriope muscari, scarlet Pelargonium, Physostegia virginiana
Lathyrus latifolius (Perennial Sweet Pea)
Cactus Flowered Zinnia
Euphorbia ‘Ascot Rainbow’, Lantana, Zinnias
I need up having to remove some of the foliage to give room to the flowers. A view from above:
In A Vase On Monday – Overhead View
At our house this week we will be enjoying the colorful summer bounty of the garden.
In A Vase On Monday – High Summer
Thanks to Cathy for hosting this weekly chance to express our flower arranging passion. Visit her at Rambling In The Garden to discover what she and others are placing In A Vase On Monday. Feel free to join in.
pbmGarden 
What a gorgeous and unusual vase Susie. You have done it proud with your lovely arrangement. I love your choice of flowers.
Thanks Chloris, it’s wonderful to have a variety of flowers to gather this summer.
High summer in a vase; the birthday present from your sisters is lovely. Really unusual especially the lovely colour inside. I can believe it was difficult to use but you’ve done it proud.
Thanks Christina. It’s a shame to fill the vase and hide the interior design. Will have to think of other ways to use it. Enjoy your vacation.
Thanks Susie. We’re in the UK visiting family. Tomorrow I’m meeting up with Liz (the blooming garden) at Beth Chatto’s garden, just hoping it doesn’t rain.
Oh, that’s wonderful Christina. I’m envious on every level. Give Liz a hug for me. I know you will enjoy Beth Chatto’s garden.
I know I will too, it is the most inspiring garden I’ve ever visited.
I think you came up with the perfect posy for your stunning new vase. Lucky you to have such thoughtful sisters! They have played right into your talents, haven’t they?
Hi Marian, thank you. My sisters do keep me going! Hope you’re staying cool. We finally had much needed rain last night.
An explosion of summer better than any firework.
Thank you. It seems like summer colors all mix and match so well.
your featured bouquet is like a super model teetertottering on high heels 🙂
Such an interesting vase and gorgeous selection of flowers.
I am totally out of it qua flowers availabe during August.
Thanks Joanna! We just had a nice rain last night that may keep flowers here going for a bit longer (although some are lying on the ground after the song winds).
You’ve made such a nice blend of colors. I never risk that and always stay with two or three flowers since I rarely get the mix right, but you have and it compliments your new vase perfectly!
More oranges! Summer flowers just always seem to blend well together. Thank you.
What thoughtful sisters you have. Not often that a vase is as pretty on the inside as the outside. That soft green looks beautiful with your bouquet.
Thanks. So grateful for my sisters Linda. One of them volunteers at a botanical garden in her town and she found this vase in the gift shop.
A perfect present from your Sister. The zinnias are that special summer flower but with the other flowers and flowers the overall arrangement has a ladylike elegance.
Very lucky to have my 3 sisters. The vase was a great surprise. My zinnias are doing well but so far don’t have enough for a large arrangement, so glad I could find some other flowers to help fill it. I do also think of zinnias as informal flowers.
Wow! I was going to admire the shape of the vase when you showed it with all the blooms but then those amazing close ups – it’s wonderful!! And you have filled it so beautifully – the balance of colours and the amount of foliage is perfect. You really do have such a good eye – thanks for sharing
Cathy, thanks for your kind comment. So glad you like the vase. The inside of the vase is so decorative I’ll need to find a way to leave more of it uncovered. Wonderful problem to have!
Oh indeed!
An unusual but interesting vase with a lovely arrangement.
Thanks very much Brian.
A fantastic summer kaleidoscope! I think the muted greyish green of the vase complements the hot colours perfectly.
Thank you. The mix of flowers is a surprise even to me. Glad to have so many blooms, even though many are just odds and ends and not a grand show. Appreciate your comment.
What a beautiful and unique vase in which to arrange your colorful bouquet this week. It definitely shouts ‘high summer!’ I think my favorite bloom is the cactus zinnia – it’s terrific!
Thanks Eliza. I planted 3 kinds of zinnia packets this year and am pleased with them all. I agree the cactus ones are nice.
The vase is spectacular, your sisters have wonderful taste. I enjoyed seeing the mixture of flowers and especially a touch of the mundane with the Liriope (I love it!) I agree with Eliza about the Cactus Zinnia.
Thanks. I brought that liriope from my old house 15 years ago. It doesn’t do that well here until this summer. Must be all the rain we had early spring and summer. The cactus zinnias are just getting going. Hoping for them to do great things.
Believe it or not I have some Big Blue Liriope here in Zone 10! Yours looks better.
That’s an incredible vase, Susie! I’d be tempted to leave it out all the time, with flowers or without. Your garden must be exploding with color given the range of flowers in your arrangement. I was drawn to your beautiful zinnias, which are far more impressive than those I planted from plugs.
Hi Kris, the zinnias are doing pretty well. Not much else is going on, just a flower or two here and there. Definitely heading into the down time for garden excitement around here and its miserably hot, which I know you can relate to. Glad you like the vase. Will probably do just that–leave it out even without the flowers.
Your vase this week is simply wonderful Susie! It really inspires me to try harder when I see how carefully you arrange your flowers and foliage. Isn’t it great having all this material at hand to get carried away! The vase itself is an absolute treasure – your sisters clearly also have good taste! 🙂
Thanks Cathy, it’s nice to enjoy the abundance of summer while we can.
Wow, for both the birthday vase and for the bouquet!
Thanks Anca!
A riot of colors in that gorgeous vase certainly makes a statement about summer gardens. 🙂
Summer’s not a time to be shy about bright, strong color is it?
A lovely arrangement for summer. I agree that it also looks great with just the orange and green, but the finished vase is so summery.
Thanks Annette. Glad I didn’t stop with just the lantana and foliage because the lantana didn’t really hold up very well.
It is a plant that always reminds me of holidays, although we can grow it as an annual over here. It is quite pricey though unless you grow your own.
That vase can easily stand alone as an objet d’art but your additions sing the song of summer in a perfect key.
Love that: “sing the song of summer.”