In A Vase On Monday – Texture And Whimsy
Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden invites us to share a vase of cuttings from our gardens.
Today I had in mind a particular style for my vase: asymmetrical, loosely arranged, strongly textured yet airy, whimsical and light. Though not completely true to my vision, it does fairly dance. For its vibrancy and color I am happy with how this one turned out.
I don’t use a lot of yellow but in the garden strong yellows of rudbeckia and tansy have come alive in the past several weeks. Tansy with its rich textural characteristics ended up being a good material to define the shape and tone of the design. I used rudbeckia to continue the color while changing the texture. While cutting the tansy, heart-shaped leaves from a young redbud seedling caught my attention as well. These items, along with everlasting sweet pea seed pods, were the starting point for the vase.
In A Vase On Monday – Texture And Whimsy
Next I added stems of verbena, achillea and salvias and then finished with dahlias and phlox.
In A Vase On Monday – Texture And Whimsy
Because the weather has been so hot many of the flowers are not pristine, but I cut as many as I could find, using the imperfect ones as well. The vase may not last long but it was fun to create.
In A Vase On Monday – Texture And Whimsy
In A Vase On Monday – Texture And Whimsy
In A Vase On Monday – Texture And Whimsy
In A Vase On Monday – Texture And Whimsy
In A Vase On Monday – Texture And Whimsy
In A Vase On Monday – Texture And Whimsy
In A Vase On Monday – Texture And Whimsy
In A Vase On Monday – Texture And Whimsy
Materials
Flowers
Achillea filipendulina (Fern-leaf Yarrow)
Antirrhinum majus ‘Speedy Sonnet Bronze’ (Snapdragon)
Buddleja davidii ‘Adokeep’ (Adonis blue Butterfly Bush)
Dahlia sp.
Dahlia ‘David Howard’
Dahlia ‘Gallery Art Deco’
Dahlia ‘Tsuku Yori No Shisha’
Phlox paniculata ‘Robert Poore’ (Garden phlox)
Rudbeckia laciniata (Green-Headed Coneflower)
Salvia guaranitica ‘Black and Blue’
Salvia uliginosa ‘Blue Sky’ (Bog sage)
Tanacetum vulgare (Tansy)
Verbena bonariensis
Foliage
Cercis canadensis (Eastern Redbud)
Dahlia leaves
Gaura lindheimeri ‘Passionate Blush’ (Butterfly Gaura)
Vase
Crystal pedestal dish
The flowers were styled with floral foam in a plastic 6-inch Lomey dish that sits inside the low crystal pedestal vase.
In A Vase On Monday – Texture And Whimsy
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.
pbmGarden 
Really enjoy your photos!
Thanks so much Bev.
You really have a nice selection, even for these hot days.
There are just one or two of things blooming right now–not the garden of my imagination, but I’m happy to have them. We’re stuck with the heat for more days.
Your arrangements are always so light, airy, and lovely. I love seeing the tansy, as I haven’t grown that herb in years, at least 30, since I lived in Maryland. I should try and find a place in my gardens for that lovely herb. Isn’t it good for keeping ants away?
I’ve never given the tansy much attention. It was a passalong I planted before knowing its nature and haven’t been able to get rid of it. I’ve made peace with it though. Perhaps I will take time to learn more about it. I do like the foliage.
I love that you showed us the way you structured your vase, Susie – it was really helpful to see how it was put together…certainly not pick and plonk! Strangely, I didn’t notice the dahlias in the first picture, which shows how well all the elements tied together, without any dominating – I agree that it dances (something rustic, with lusty wenches, perhaps?)
Cathy, it wasn’t plonked but did not take too long either. The thing about this type of arrangement is you’ll be shocked at how many stems you need. Then as I did, you suddenly realize it’s too full but you really want to finish using up the flowers.
Ah yes, I know that feeling
I forgot to say I’m glad you found it helpful how this was put together. Realize of course it’s just how I did it and not necessarily how you’re supposed to! Worked ok. I meant to take pictures throughout but completely forgot after the first one.
If it works then clearly how you did it is OK 😉 And thinking about it, I suppose I do often start with placing specific stems and build the others round it. Depends on the content – and this week’s used some of the biodegradable foam so it was more important to get it ‘rightish’ first time
Beautiful arrangement, Susie. Your style is reminiscent of Constance Spry. It says ‘summer in the garden’ to me. 🙂
Thanks Eliza. I looked up Constance and appreciate the reference. I’ve been following Floret Flowers and several others on Instagram (but have a long way to go to match those). Good to have inspirations.
I think the yellow added life and energy to this arrangement, Susie. I love it. You’ve about convinced me that I need to look into floral foam, which I’ve never used.
Thanks Kris. I did enjoy using the yellows this week and will have to keep in mind more often. I have a large stock of floral foam I’d ordered because I learned with it and find it so much more reliable than other techniques. But you may not wish to get started with it as Chelsea Flower Show banned it this year for environmental reasons. The company claims their reformulation is eco-friendly but I don’t really know. A lot of people use chicken wire folded around and down into the vase–in fact now that I think of it, my grandmother used to do so. The florals pins are pretty good too, especially larger, heavy ones.
Another glorious creation Susie! 😃 I think it is important to have fun and just experiment sometimes, even if you know the flowers won’t last very long. And yes, it does dance, and somehow reminded me of village fetes and country dancing as a child. 😃
Thanks for the childhood memory association. Lovely. A few years back when I took floral design class from a garden club member, she said to practice all the time. She’d even rearranged flowers after they had died to keep working on the styling. I probably won’t go that far but IAVOM has been a good reason to practice. Otherwise I wouldn’t have the discipline.
Rustic with lusty wenches? best comment ever. I love the texture contrasts in here, especially the Redbud – amazing amount of plant material in there. Beautiful. You rock.
Eastern redbud? How nice to see that someone else appreciates the foliage too. I know it is a minor feature with all those colorful flowers, but it got my attention. I have always liked it. I think it looks elegant.
Thanks. I love the leaf shape of redbud.
Yes, it is so distinguished.
The tansy makes me think of little yellow buttons.
Exactly! Rather cute.