Monday is here again bringing the chance to practice flower arranging by joining in Cathy’s weekly challenge In A Vase On Monday. The goal is to fill a vase using materials gathered in one’s own garden.

With a Monday vase in mind I have had my eye on a white phlox that began blooming last week.   New to the garden this year, this one is called Phlox paniculata ‘White Flame’ and is a dwarf garden phlox. Last night I gathered two of the only three blooms on the plant to use today. For companions to the featured phlox I selected a large bundle of lavender and some echinacea.

The day was busier than expected so I abandoned the idea of formally arranging the flowers and decided to eliminate the echinacea altogether.  Using a Portmerion botanic vase that reflects the lavender and white coloring of today’s blossoms, I massed the phlox together in front and the lavender together in back for a simple display.

 

Once I photographed the flowers I was not satisfied with the design.  My use of space struck me as more flat and two-dimensional than I would like. So in the end I decided to add an echinacea or two to get something happening on another plane. It took more than two but I liked the result.

Adding the echinacea made the arrangement more dynamic and definitely gave it a pop of color.

It is always instructive to explore and experiment with these arrangements. If I were to start over I can think of several other ways I might try to assemble the flowers. But this is it for today.

Materials

Phlox paniculata ‘White Flame’ (Dwarf Garden Phlox)
Lavender
Echinacea purpurea (Purple Coneflower)

Thanks to Cathy at Rambling In The Garden for hosting. Discover what she and others are placing In A Vase On Monday.