In A Vase on Monday – October Messenger
Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden invites us to share a vase of materials gathered from our gardens. It has been another week without rain.
Some of the dahlias are blooming more vigorously, like the one I’m featuring in today’s vase: Dahlia ‘Tsuki Yori No Shisha’. [Apparently I’ve been misspelling the name of this flower as Dahlia ‘Tsuku Yori No Shisha’. I checked my records and it was sold under the latter name, but this year I noticed the change.]
Dahlia ‘Tsuki Yori No Shisha’
I’ve grown this white semi-cactus dahlia for about three years. Bred in Japan and introduced in 1953 its name means “Messenger From The Moon.” It seems to produce its best flowers in fall—some are finally reaching the promised 6-8 inches.
Dahlia ‘Tsuki Yori No Shisha’
Dahlia ‘Tsuki Yori No Shisha’
Gardenias are having one of the nicest re-blooming periods I can recall. Last week I used foliage of Gardenia jasminoides ‘August Beauty’. This week the shrub is in bloom and I was able to include stems whose flowers are open, releasing their signature sweet fragrance.
Gardenia jasminoides ‘August Beauty’
Last year all my dahlias seemed to be the nearly the same type and size, making it challenging to create arrangements. This year I ordered more variety, including a white ball form called Dahlia ‘Petra’s Wedding’ that has been useful.
Dahlia ‘Petra’s Wedding’
I like the white-on-white effect and had planned to use only white flowers today, but a few remaining bare spots forced my hand. After taking a long time to produce, D. ‘Totally Tangerine’ has found its stride so there are fresh blooms daily.
Dahlia ‘Totally Tangerine’
Dahlia ‘Totally Tangerine’
Maybe the design needed a bit of color after all.
In A Vase on Monday – October Messenger
Materials
Flowers
Dahlia ‘Petra’s Wedding’ (Ball)
Dahlia ‘Totally Tangerine’ (Anemone)
Dahlia ‘Tsuki Yori No Shisha’ (was: Dahlia ‘Tsuku Yori No Shisha’)
Gardenia jasminoides ‘August Beauty’
Foliage
Lavandula x intermedia ‘Dutch’ (Dutch Lavender)
Container
Dark blue matte ceramic jar
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 
The two tones of colour: white and sophisticated burnt orange/pink dahlias work beautifully in your nicely balanced arrangement. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Noelle. Glad I went ahead and used D. ‘Totally Tangerine’ to help fill out. It doesn’t grab too much attention.
Oooo I bet that gardenia smells delicious!! How white it is set against the creamy dahlias. I do love the Tsuki Yori No Shisha dahlia. It has such movement and femininity and is generally softer than most dahlias which I have to admit I find rather stiff! A lovely vase Susie! My tiny new garden is hanging on to summer with all its might in my little vase this week! Amanda https://therunningwave290580645.wordpress.com/2021/10/04/pretty-things-in-a-vase-on-monday/
The gardenias are a treat and of course the scent is a fabulous bonus. I know what you mean about dahlias being still–I’ve thought the same.
The orange really adds a lot to your vase, and the yellowy centres on the white softens the whole look. Beautiful!
Thanks Chris. It’s always good to take a step back and reevaluate and now I can see how the bits of color were probably needed.
I love the Totally Tangerine in there, especially with the color of the vase. Thought those were spider mums at first. Gorgeous and how wonderful to have Gardenias in October.
I do like the tangerine/blue combo. Wish I did have spider mums. That would be awesome. I am happy the gardenias rebloomed so well this fall.
I think I tried Spider mums in Atlanta, to no avail, sigh.
Yes, you are right, Totally Tangerine adds a certain je ne sais quoi, somehow lifting the arrangement. I agree that the heads of ‘Tsuki Yori No Shisha’ are stunningly beautiful but personally I don’t really like huge dahlias – but that’s just me, I suppose
I’ve been the opposite–loved the larger dahlias and not as interested in smaller single ones. But now I’m happy to include the singles, especially after learning they’re more appealing to pollinators.
And to think at one time I didn’t like any dahlias at all… 😁
Same here, Cathy! I’ve embraced them late in my gardening life.
Lovely contrasts.
Thanks so much!
The arrangement is very elegant, Susie, and I think the addition of a few splashes of color emphasized rather than detracted from the overall effect. I finally have buds on the two white-flowered dahlias I planted as tubers this year and I look forward to working with them.
Thanks Kris. I cut 6 large D. ‘Break Out’ this afternoon just ahead of a mini-shower. Do you get ants on your dahlias? These had a few–sometimes I’m afraid to bring on inside.
Another lovely arrangement, Susie. I do like the bit of orange added to the cream. Beautiful!
Thanks Eliza, everyone seemed to agree on keeping the orange flower accent. (When I married I requested an all-white wedding cake–my dear aunt, whose friend specialized in cakes, sneaked in some pink!)
A truly beautiful arrangement, Susie, and even better when I imagine the gardenia scent wafting from it! Your Tsuki Yori No Shisha is a treasure–what wonderful flowers!
Thanks Amy. Tsuki Yori No Shisha started out slowly with not very large flowers, but seems to have found its happy spot now.
That is one amazing dahlia, Dahlia ‘Tsuki Yori No Shisha’, and a beautiful arrangement. This display just right out quickens this gardener’s pulse. 🙂
Judy, thanks so much! So far it’s still pretty warm here and I hope the dahlias will keep going a long time.
Awesome, Susie, simply takes my breath away. The white flowers look all so elegant and the copper orange flowers are just perfectly placed. Quickened my puls too!
Thank you so much, Annette. My pulse too!
Beautiful. Especially the tangerine dahlia. 😃
Thank you Cathy. The tangerine dahlia is a hit with everyone. I hope it will overwinter.
Ooh, lots of white, or at least creamy white. Most of our dahlias bloom best later also. I would expect them to bloom at least as well here as they do everywhere else, since the climate is warmer and drier. Yet, they seem to perform better in cooler and damper climates, including the Pacific Northwest.
Pacific Northwest seems to be a great gardening climate overall.
Yes, but the Santa Clara Valley is still the best for what I want to grow. That is why there are so many fruits and nuts here.
I’ve been thinking of getting that Japanese Dahlia and seeing it convinced me I should put it on next year’s plant list.
Linda, it would be perfect in your garden. The early flowers in hot summer are not as attractive as these later ones. They are getting bigger and better.