Zinnia elegans ’Cactus Flower Blend’
Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden invites us to share an arrangement using materials collected from our gardens.
A shaggy persimmon-hued zinnia appears to float in a dark shallow pool.
Zinnia elegans ’Cactus Flower Blend’
Perspective shifts and the flower floats above the container’s edge, following sinuous lines and graceful curves.
Zinnia elegans ’Cactus Flower Blend’
Materials
Flowers
Zinnia elegans ’Cactus Flower Blend’
Mechanics
Shallow, charcoal gray, footed dish
Florist’s frog
What color would you use to describe this flower? First I chose saffron which I think of as reddish orange, but wikipedia describes it as golden yellow. Tangerine came to mind, but that is not red enough. Maybe red-orange is what I needed, but I found myself settling on persimmon.
Zinnia elegans ’Cactus Flower Blend’
Sensory impressions are fascinating. My daughter recently posted a picture on a social media site of a beetle. Admiring its “iridescent green” she gave it a parenthetical comment,
“(incidentally a color very close to the letter P)” and tagged the entry #synesthesia, to which someone commented,
“We’ve had this discussion before- it’s clearly a number 9#synesthesia.”
That exchange made me smile and wonder about the world in color.
Thanks to Cathy at Rambling In The Garden for hosting and giving us a chance to express our colorful 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 
Just how elegant can a beauty such as your Zinnia get…star treatment here.
Thank you Noelle. Love that zinnia’s color.
Nice display.
Thank you.
You have a floating bloom today too, Susie, and an exceeedingly pretty one it is too 🙂 I find I am preferring the cactus zinnias to other shapes – how about you? Thinking abut the colour I agree that it is a difficult call – I found myself thinking of Buddhist monks’ robes…
Exactly Cathy–I thought those robes were saffron colored. Yes the cactus one do seem more exciting but this time of year I am grateful for any that bloom. Have a great week.
I don’t see persimmons very often here but yes, I would have gone with saffron I think – but of course we all see colours differently so perhaps it’s just a plain and simple red-orange zinnia after all!
Perfect presence to highlight a single flower, Susie. It is exquisite, whatever the color. 😉
Thanks Eliza.
I love the simplicity and elegance of your arrangement. Beautiful.
Thank you John.
Whatever name you fix on it’s bold and beautiful. I’m not sure all people see colour the same.
I think you’re right Alison. Color can be very subjective.
Shaggy maybe but an utterly perfect bloom. My initial thought on the color was pumpkin but I think persimmon captures the intensity of the color better. Synesthesia is such an interesting phenomenon. Have you ever viewed the site design-seeds.com?
Pumpkin is a good suggestion (especially the drippy insides). Thanks for introducing me to the design-seeds website.
It’s beautiful – that colour really is reminiscent of Persimmon. I also thought of the soon-to-be-seasonal Pumpkin, but that is not half as romantic, and not a warm enough shade anyway. 😉
Pumpkin is a good suggestion, but I agree it doesn’t carry the same cachet as persimmon. I had persimmons last year for the first time by the way. Very good.
Like Cathy above, I also thought of Pumpkin (the idealised notion that’s in my head because they vary enourmously in colour). Pumpkin Pie perhaps?!! Hahaha. Persimmon sounds very exotic to me so I do like that (I live way down the “bottom” of New Zealand).
Thanks for commenting today and joining in the color brainstorming. Pumpkin seems to be on everyone’s mind. I’ve had persimmon only once and liked it.
Love those Cactus Zinnias, they look like the Mexican Honeysuckle I grow here. Isn’t color interesting, I always see more colors than my husband does. I think Pumpkin, Persimmon or Deep Coral would describe the shade of red orange.
I looked up your Mexican Honeysuckle. It is uncanny how similar it looks.
I know! weird I like both – the plant looks like giant spinach.
Wow, awesome display. Brilliant colour. I was looking at colour charts for ‘orange’ just this week too, but I am useless at pinning it down.
You had a wonderful collection of oranges.
Such a gorgeous colour
Thanks Dorris. Hope I can save seeds from the beautiful orange zinnias this year.
That color defies description: actually many colors when you take into account the shadows and highlights and texture. I simply call it splendiferous and you gave this diva the perfect stage for her performance.
Thanks!