In A Vase On Monday – June Coda
Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden invites us to share cut flowers from our gardens.
Days of generous rains are gone, but we did get a thunderstorm Sunday evening. Heat and humidity are settled in for summer. Fireflies are out. The month of June has flown quickly past but not before ushering in a host of summer blooms.
In A Vase On Monday – June Coda
With gladioli nearly finished, dahlias and phlox pick up the pace.
Phlox, Dahlia, Gladiolus
Dahlia ‘Cafe Au Lait’
Dahlia ‘David Howard’
Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Ruby Slippers’ and Dahlia ‘Gallery Art Deco’
Materials
Flowers
Achillea filipendulina (Fern-leaf Yarrow)
Dahlia ‘Cafe Au Lait’
Dahlia ‘Labyrinth’
Dahlia ‘David Howard’
Dahlia ‘Gallery Art Deco’
Gladiolus, unknown white
Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Ruby Slippers’ (Lil’ Ruby dwarf Oakleaf Hydrangea)
Lathyrus latifolius (Everlasting sweet pea)
Phalaenopsis (Moth Orchid)
Phlox paniculata ‘Robert Poore’ (Garden phlox)
Foliage
Vase
Black-glazed ceramic square
Two grocery-store moth orchids, each purchased several years ago, began reblooming in late February. One finished last week and I decided to go ahead and cut the other’s flower stalk for today’s vase. Its color details are picked up by other materials in the vase.
In A Vase On Monday – June Coda
Phalaenopsis (Moth Orchid)
Today’s flowers were inserted into a large florist’s pin set in a plastic black tray, and tucked into a deep, square black saucer. I had trouble with the composition and rearranged for more than an hour. After many iterations I ran out of time. I had planned a spare Ikebana-style design, but was too wedded to using as many of the collected flowers as possible. Lesson learned.
In A Vase On Monday – June Coda
Thanks to Cathy at Rambling In The Garden for hosting and giving us an opportunity to share flower-filled vases across the world. Visit her to discover what she and others found to place in a vase this week. Peace.
pbmGarden 
Lovely variety of flowers and such a good shape
Thank you Linda.
Look at all those dahlias! So beautiful! And really like the shape of the design. Well done!
Hi Angie. Thanks for you comment. I checked out your vase, too but couldn’t comment without creating an account. Will have to look at that later. My mother had a few pieces of milk glass and I always loved it. Yours is perfect to hold your special roses and hydrangea. Hard to single out just one but that ‘Roald Dahl’ is the loveliest of colors.
Interesting that we both used David Howard and a black dish (and the floral pin), but there the similarity ends! Your pin must be quite big to hold all these blooms as the arrangement is deceptively large. You have a real talent for being able to put together a varied collection of blooms in a most harmonious way, and this is certainly the case today. I know you had your Cafe au Lait replaced last year, but this one still seems very much pinker than the C au L I have seen – and prettier too! Thaks for sharing
Thanks for your kind words Cathy. The company replaced Cafe au Lait but those plants haven’t bloomed yet. They suggested mine might be D. ‘Labyrinth.’ I have only 3 types of dahlias so you may see ‘David Howard’ many times from me this summer Cathy. I planted a lot of other things especially for cutting for IAVOM but rabbits destroyed all of them, zinnias, bells of Ireland, alyssum, sweet william, ranunculus. The dahlias returned from last year and well on their way before the rabbits became such pests.
Oh that must be so upsetting/annoying/frustrating about the rabbits – if you say your dahlias were established before they vecame pests, does that mean they only go for the younger shoots and leaves? Are you considering some means of protecting your cutting beds?
Phlox is rad! I just met it when it appeared at work last year. I believe it was there the year before, and then seeded for last year. Several species self sow from home gardens up in the neighborhood above. So far, ours is all white. I happen to be very pleased with it. (White is my favorite color, and phlox happens to excel at it.) However, I would not mind if other colors appeared too. Yours has such vibrant color.
I’ve never been successful growing P. ‘David’ but I’d love to have it or maybe there’s another white one. Rabbits are eating many of mine currently. Grrr!
Ours looks just like ‘David’, but I do not know what it really is, or if it is true to type from seed.
Your arrangement is lovely Susie – romantic and stylish at the same time. The dahlias are quite classy, don‘t you think?! And the Gladioli are a lovely touch. 😃
Thanks Cathy. I guess the dahlias are indeed classy. I’m becoming enamored of them and wish I had grown some different kinds this year. The gladiolas are always like old friends–enjoy seeing them.
I routinely get wedded to using what I’ve cut so I can sympathize there. This arrangement may not be as elegantly spare as many of your others but you still did a masterful job of pulling it together. I love the mix of colors.
Thanks Kris. It’s funny but at first the arrangement looked too empty, then ended up stuffed to the gills. I think every stem was rearranged at least once, then I just ran out of time. I try to think of it as a process, and not an end in itself, and that helps!
I love this Susie, such fabulous colours. I always love it when the dahlias start they are wonderful in a vase. I agree with Cathy, my Cafe au Lait is more coffee -coloured , yours looks more like Cafe au Lait Royal.
The grower replaced this for me but the replacement has not bloomed yet. They suggested this might be D. ‘Labyrinth’. I was hoping for the softer, coffee-colored one. We’ll see.
Love the soft colors, Susie. ‘Cafe au Lait’ esp. looks well with the phlox and glads.
I, too, find it hard to ‘keep it simple’ when there are so many beautiful flowers to choose from.
Thanks Eliza. I’m finding the large dahlia (dinnerplate) like Cafe au Lait rather difficult to arrange. They command the whole vase, but it’s fun to try to work with them.
I looked at growing them, but found their actual size daunting. I prefer the smaller heads, though I love that color.
I’m terrible at staking things so I should really stick to smaller ones too!
I stake tomato cages over them when they first emerge from the soil, which they fill up nicely. It is much easier than staking!
I have an extra cage I can use to try that. Thanks Eliza.
My pleasure.
Just luscious and colors..so,so beautiful. Dahlia lust.
Thanks so much. You’ll see these dahlias again. Wishing I’d finished filling out the order form and choosing more dahlias this year.
Oh, next year will be here before you know. Fill the form! Painting here.
You’re right. Time is flying. So glad you’re painting. Makes me happy. All I can say is I have had it on my mind lately. Enjoy.
Wow, wow, wow! Are you sure you aren’t a professional florist? Many bloggers have posted about ‘Cafe au Lait.’ I really like it! But then I really like most Dahlias. It will be a while before mine bloom. I was thrilled to get them growing after winter storage for a third year in a row. 🙂 Lovely bouquet!
Beth, I’m impressed with your dahlia success. I’m a more laid-back gardener as you may know. If I had to dig and store the dahlias I’d never have them. Fortunately these overwintered. I do have a few new ones but they were replacements from the grower for last year’s order and so are all the same kind. Thanks.
Your garden is surely in full swing now, as your lovely arrangement testifies. I love to think that one day I shall be able to see fireflies. They do have them up in the hills, the question is which area, and just how easy it would be to find them. Our local wildlife group had planned a group outing, but guess that will be next year now.
Thank you! I do hope you find the fireflies one day. They’re lots of fun.
Even your David Howard look special, a little hint of extra colour. Beautiful!
Thanks so much. David Howard fades quite a bit as it fills out. Initially the color is quite strong–a rewarding dahlia.
Yum!
Thanks Ricki!
Luscious and colorful!
Thanks!
Dahlia ‘Cafe Au Lait’ is one of my favourite flowers and you can see why. It is magnificent. There is a pinky version as well and this looks midway between the two.
Susan, thanks for the info on D. ‘Cafe Au Lait’. I’m disappointed mine are so much the pinky kind and not very much the cafe au lait one, soft and creamy. This is the 2nd year for mine. The mail order company even replaced mine for free because they were so pink but the new ones are coming out the same. Perhaps I’ll look for a different source if that might make a difference.
Dahlia ‘Cafe au Lait Royal’ is the pink one I was thinking of – it’s a mix of pink and coffee and the amount of pink varies. I do love your version though and the flowers are such a magnificent size.