In A Vase On Monday – Summer Cheer
Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden invites us to share a vase of materials gathered from our gardens.
Today I planned to feature Dahlia ‘Petra’s Wedding,’ a ball-type dahlia.
In A Vase On Monday – Summer Cheer
It ended up taking on a support role when the larger orange Dahlia ‘David Howard’ and a bright yellow cactus zinnia were introduced. A few stems of Cosmos ‘Bright Lights’ reinforced the citrusy colors.
In A Vase On Monday – Summer Cheer
The dahlias are not flowering in great numbers so I added everything else that looked fairly presentable. Dahlia ‘Cafe Au Lait’ returned from last year. Most of its flowers are more pink than the iconic pale pink and coffee ones, but there were a few of those last year.
In A Vase On Monday – Summer Cheer
Dahlia ‘Gallery Pablo’ is a low-growing Border Decorative dahlia. This mature one sits tucked into the lower center of the vase. It has lost a few of its petals along the way.
In A Vase On Monday – Summer Cheer
This is D. ‘Gallery Pablo’ in its youth with tiny flowers of Heuchera (Coral Bells).
In A Vase On Monday – Summer Cheer
Materials
Flowers
Buddleja davidii ‘Adokeep’ (Adonis blue Butterfly Bush)
Cosmos ‘Bright Lights’ Mixed Colors
Dahlia Ball ‘Petra’s Wedding’
Dahlia Border Decorative ‘Gallery Pablo’
Dahlia ‘Cafe Au Lait’
Dahlia ‘David Howard’
Zinnia, Cactus Flowered Mix
Zinnia elegans ‘Purple Prince’
Foliage
Chrysanthemum
Gaura lindheimeri ‘Passionate Blush’ (Butterfly Gaura)
Heuchera villosa ‘Big Top Bronze’ (Coral Bells)
Lavandula x intermedia ‘Dutch’ (Dutch Lavender)
Container
Hand-thrown Seagrove Pottery (olive-artichoke)
As always thanks to our host Cathy at Rambling In The Garden for providing this opportunity to to share our vases. Visit her to discover what garden surprises she and others are offering this week.
pbmGarden 
A lovely summery bouquet, Susie. Love the color combo, so cheerful – sulphur cosmos are my favorites, much hardier than C. bipinnatus, imo. Mine are just coming on after rabbits nibbled them down to nubs in June.
Thanks Eliza. I haven’t grown cosmos in many years but I’ve been so pleased with them. I will look up the different types you mention. If you find a rabbit solution please pass it on. Throwing my shoe the other day didn’t work.
DIY or shop-bought repellents, and blood meal ($) work temporarily, but have to reapplied after every rain.
I had to make hardware cloth cages for nearly every cosmos plant, not ideal, but it worked. Wire fences aren’t pretty, but needs must. The thought of having to cage in my entire gardens (at much expense, I might add), is one I am resistant to. I know many gardeners who’ve had to erect wire enclosures to keep rodents and deer out.
I bought rabbit fencing to line my back fence but haven’t got it installed. It will not look nice. I sprayed repellent Saturday and that evening we had our first rain in 2 weeks.😀
Yep, that’s life! 😉
Love this and your descriptions. So glad you have a deer fence so we can enjoy these beauties. Jane
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Thanks Jane. I’m so glad to share the flowers with you. Thanks for reading.
If this needed a sign, and it certainly doesn’t, it would read summer joy. Beautiful.
Thanks Judy. Where were you when I was struggling for a title!
Another gorgeous vase, Susie. That must have taken some time! Your Dahlias look wonderful regardless of how many there are. The end result is usually a surprise with my vases.
Thanks Amy. It’s same with me–the vases turn out the way they want to, not the way I envision.
Think the flowers have a design in mind?
‘Cafe au Lait’ is one that I had avoided because it was a fad, and also because I am not so impressed by the color. However, I do not select the bedding plants or perennials. Someone else procured a few bedding dahlias, along with one dinnerplate dahlia that happens to be ‘Cafe au Lait’! I am still none too keen on it, but others like it.
Oh yes, summer cheer, indeed! I’m a huge fan of those shades of peach to warm, soft orange. Thanks for sharing the beauty!
Thanks Beth. We can always use some cheer!
Your dahlias continue to impress me, Susie, and I love the citrus color mix of this arrangement. Eliza was kind enough to send me seeds of her citrus-y Cosmos last year and I sowed them this year without seeing any germination, possibly because I didn’t offset the poor rainfall we had with enough in the way of extra irrigation. The odd thing is, I never see cosmos in that color range for sale here either. Perhaps the species simply isn’t well-suited to my climate 😦
Apparently Sulphur cosmos is native to Mexico and has been declared invasive in Southeastern USA. Didn’t know until today. It’s lovely though.
I don’t drink cocktails but your vase with its citrussy colours made me instantly think of a refreshing summer drink – most attractive, but your vases always are, even if they don’t turn out the way you originally plan. There are no yellows in my zinnia mix, but seeing yours realise that is a shame! I was going to suggest that your pretty Petra’s Wedding is perhaps a ‘decorative’ dahlia, until I looked at the first picture again and saw it in context and realised how much smaller it was, which is what tricked me when I was looking for what I thought was a ball dahlia but ended up with something much smaller! Love the shape of your actual vase too, which I would love to cup my hands around!
Cathy, you’re right those summery tropical cocktails would be at home next to these flowers! So do you think D. ‘Petra’s Wedding’ is unusually small for a ball dahlia? I haven’t grown that type before and thought it would be more of a spherical shape.
No, it’s just that until a few years back I didn’t realise ball dahlias had fairly small blooms and assumed that that the bigger spherical ones were the ball type, until I learned what a ‘decorative’ dahia was
And oh yes, the vase is quite tactile. A dear friend gave me that vase years ago.
Lovely colours Susie, and certainly evoking that late summer feeling. I have orange and yellow cosmos this year too and love the splashes of colour they create in the garden.
Thank Cathy. Nice to think of the orange and yellow cosmos in your garden also, it’s a happy little flower.