In A Vase On Monday – Last Of Summer Orb
Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden invites us to share a vase of cuttings from our gardens.
In A Vase On Monday – Last Of Summer Orb
Tomorrow fall officially begins. Autumn equinox arrives on Tuesday, September 22, 2020, at 9:31 A.M. EDT.
Today, on the last day of summer, this spherical floral design features zinnias and dahlias circling round a supportive framework of gardenia stems and a sheaf of oakleaf hydrangea leaves.
In A Vase On Monday – Last Of Summer Orb
Although summer is ending, I expect dahlias and zinnias to serve as the mainstay of color in the garden first frost.
In A Vase On Monday – Last Of Summer Orb
In A Vase On Monday – Last Of Summer Orb
In A Vase On Monday – Last Of Summer Orb
In A Vase On Monday – Last Of Summer Orb
Materials
Flowers
Dahlia ‘Gallery Art Deco’
Buddleja davidii ‘Adokeep’ (Adonis blue Butterfly Bush)
Dahlia ‘Cafe Au Lait’
Dahlia ‘David Howard’
Dahlia ‘Tsuku Yori No Shisha’
Gardenia jasminoides ‘August Beauty’
Rudbeckia laciniata (Green-Headed Coneflower), Seed heads
Verbena bonariensis (Tall Verbena)
Zinnia
Foliage
Gardenia jasminoides ‘August Beauty’
Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Ruby Slippers’ (Lil’ Ruby dwarf Oakleaf Hydrangea)
Vase
Melon Bowl, Vendanges (Blue Trim) by Ceralene, A. Raynaud et Cie, Limoges, France
One more vase today
This is a different arrangement I prepared especially for my husband who is recuperating after an illness. Increasingly he has admired my In A Vase On Monday posts and over the past months he has commented many times how nice it is to have flowers in our house all the time. While the materials used are nearly identical in both arrangements, I actually prefer this one. The proportions and scale feel more balanced, the flowers are looser and more energetically placed, the supporting gardenia foliage buoys and lifts the design. As these are imbued with healing and love I hope these flowers serve to cheer and uplift everyone today.
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 
I love your second arrangement as well – perhaps it’s the Camelia seedhead sticking up on the left – it’s like a maestro leading an orchestra. The musicians are all performing perfectly!
It’s fun to seek what imaginative thoughts get sparked Chris! Maestro is actually a Green-Headed Coneflower seedhead, but camellia buds are forming.
It is nice to have cheery flowers in the house. I love your fall flowers.
Yes I love flowers indoors. I know a lot of people are reluctant to cut flowers, preferring to leave them in the garden, but cutting encourages dahlias and zinnias so we can enjoy both places.
I am one of those, plus my cats eats them.
Best enjoyed in situ then.
Gor-gee-ous!
Thank you Cynthia!
I love the sentiments behind your second vase, Susie, and wish your husband a steady and successful recovery. It’s good to hear he appreciates your efforts with flowers every week! Your first vase is so perfectly rounded though, and I really admire the skill of achieving that, but it is the relaxed nature of the second one that makes it the more pleasing of the two
Thanks Cathy. He’s working hard in PT. The round arrangement has been reworked since Saturday when I prepared it. A few of the dahlias faded immediately and had to be replaced. The substitutes were not exact matches and so it’s been interesting to see the design evolve. It’s been freed up a little and now has been passed on to a friend in the neighborhood.
Why do you think the dahlias faded so quickly? Or were they already past their best?
I’m not really sure Cathy. They all looked fresh when I arranged them but perhaps some were open more than others. Now that we’re having cooler weather wonder if they’ll last better.
Simply awesome, Susie, like a florist bouquet, perfection in every way 🙂 I wish your husband a speedy recovery, take care of yourselves xx
Thanks for your good wishes Annette and glad you like the bouquet.
Susie, I am glad your husband is home enjoying your vases. I am! Gorgeous Dahlias and I love the white line in the first one, though I agree with you about the movement in the second and like its less formal arrangement.
Oh I liked that white line also. Not really planned but it seemed to carry the design. Those white dahlias were ones that faded quickly and I replaced them with other dahlias that looked perfectly fine, but it did break the flow. (Thanks for good wishes).
Both arrangements are gorgeous, Susie, but I do adore the second one. As I recall, you were a little disappointed with your dahlias earlier in the season but I think they’ve performed admirably. The colors also coordinate well with one another which, regrettably, isn’t something I gave much thought to when I chose the tubers I’d grow this year.
Most of the new dahlias I planted didn’t grow. Could be combination of weather, rabbit and just finickiness of dahlias. Funny you mention coordinating the dahlia colors. The ones I have are a bit of a stretch and sometimes I can pull it off better than other times.
Gardenia is not an easy one to grow! Those who grow it well can not figure out how or why it grows well for them.
In central North Carolina where I live gardenias are grown everywhere, but I have had hit or miss luck with them.
My colleague in the Los Angeles regions grows them as short term perennials. He keeps them alive as long as possible, but eventually discards them as they deteriorate within about two years.
I love this Susie, I am always awed by your flower arranging skills. Apart from the gardenia I have all these flowers in my garden but I couldn’t make anything so beautiful with them. Do you use wire to support them? My best wishes to you and your husband and may he make a speedy recoovery.
Thank you! Some weeks I think I’ve gotten better and other times I am a frustrated novice. Cathy said in her post this week IAVOM is coming up on 7 years. I had been taking some floral design classes through my garden club which I loved except I was slower than everyone else and it felt so hectic, trying to socialize and concentrate at the same time. Over these years I’ve enjoyed practicing weekly in the quiet of home where I can take my time and make it into a meditative practice. I used an eco-friendly version of floral foam this week.
I wish I could have a few lessons from you, I always admire your arrangements. It’s nice that your husband appreciates them.
Would be so fun! Thank you. Yes, he’s a dear!
Both are lovely arrangements Susie and the one for your husband is sure to cheer him. Hope he gets well soon. 😃
Thanks Cathy. I’ll pass along your good wishes.