In A Vase On Monday – Sunlight And Color
Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden invites us to share an arrangement using materials collected from our gardens.
It is a special Monday: Eclipse Day, Monday, August 21, 2017. Not since 1918 has a total solar eclipse swept the whole width of the United States. Those lucky enough to live in or able to travel to an approximately 70-mile wide path from Oregon to South Carolina will experience a total solar eclipse lasting up to 2 minutes and 40 seconds.
Chapel Hill is not within the path of totality, but the entire United States will experience a partial solar eclipse for up to a few hours today as the moon passes in front of the sun. Here the spectacle takes place between 1:16 pm – 4:06 pm, with maximum coverage at 2:44 pm. We did not get any special viewing glasses so we will not be looking directly at the sun, yet the effect is sure to be felt.
I was swept up by sunlight on Saturday. In the morning I had gathered zinnias and dahlias and left them on a counter in a canister for conditioning.
In A Vase On Monday – Sunlight And Color
Before I had time to arrange the blooms, late afternoon sun began spilling across the room from westerly windows, illuminating the flowers and accentuating the colors.
In A Vase On Monday – Sunlight And Color
Creating an arrangement seemed secondary to enjoying the light as it played on the petals.
In A Vase On Monday – Sunlight And Color
In A Vase On Monday – Sunlight And Color
Materials
Flowers
Dahlia sp.
Zinnia ‘Cut and Come Again Mix’
Zinnia elegans ’Cactus Flower Blend’
Vase
Red coffee canister
In A Vase On Monday – Sunlight And Color
In A Vase On Monday – Sunlight And Color
In A Vase On Monday – Sunlight And Color
As always a big thanks to Cathy at Rambling In The Garden for hosting and giving us a chance to express our flower arranging passion. Visit her to discover what she and others found this week in their gardens to place In A Vase On Monday.
pbmGarden 
Ah! The light is everything isn’t it? You can make your own safe glasses (I don’t remember how but you can find it on-line I’m sure). The light will be very odd during even a partial eclipse and what I remember most when we had a partial eclipse in the UK was the silence as flies and insects all seemed to stop flying. Enjoy!
Absolutely wonderful! The light really brings these colours to life. I hope you can observe the eclipse with ckear skies, even if you can’t look directly at the sun. We had one in 1999… I remember how it went quiet as we watched from our balcony. The colour was drained from the trees opposite us, and the birds stopped singing. Eery!
NASA has directions to make a shadow viewing box from a cereal box and foil.
Letting the zinnias fall naturally and highlighting the sunlight playing across them was inspired, Susie. Nature’s beauty without our fussing – a humble reminder. 🙂
Agreed. Nature gets it right quite often and we just have to be open to seeing.
Yes!
Beautiful zinnias in the perfect red cannister. Totally agree – sometimes it is important to seize the moment. Enjoy the eclipse!
Thanks, reds always do it for me. The eclipse was fun.
Love the reds…maybe a new name for a nail varnish…Zinnia!
Noelle, I think you’re on to something. Love reds also.
The sunlight did a wonderful job of gilding your flowers, Susie, and you captured its beauty with your camera. Zinnias and dahlias – the summer wouldn’t be the same without them!
Thanks Kris–enjoyed playing with that light. I know I’ve shown zinnias over and over but they really are carrying my garden through the summer.
A beautiful jumble of colours and it’s good that you were able to stop and enjoy them.
Thanks Alison. Taking time to enjoy the flowers is a meditation in itself.
Love the light and color. We watched the eclipse thru pinhole in paper. It works!
Thanks. We ended up using a pinhole in a cup bottom and also used a colander that made lots of fun multiples.
Wish I had thought of that, I was looking for leaf patterns!
Very cool also.
Wonderful colours! Hope that you enjoyed the odd twilight the partial eclipse bestowed.
Thank you. Yes the eclipse light was quite eerie. We used a colander to view the event safely.
Such lovely colours lit up. Enjoy the eclipse
Thanks Dorris. The eclipse was a nice distraction.
Oh gosh, you’re right–the sunlight was perfect for photography. And of course Zinnias are so photogenic, and just plain gorgeous. Your photography is awesome, too!
Thanks Beth. Sometimes the light is just so inspiring and it was fun to capture the play on the flowers.
The lighting just bathes every flower in an accentuated beauty filter. So lovely – simple and perfect!
Thanks. Was a nice bit of serendipity to capture the light play.
The mix of colours is so pretty and seems most appropriate for the day of your eclipse. As Christina said, it is the change in the light and then the silence that I remember too
The change in light was quite noticeable, the silence not so much. Pretty fun though.
Beautiful, that light really does make all the difference, the colors are so vibrant!
The eclipse was fun, but I think a lot of people were expecting something more exciting.
Only the people within in the totality zone, or at least those who had glasses, seemed awestruck. We definitely noticed the darkening but it stayed fairly light. Still something to remember