In A Vase On Monday–Blue Tree Vase

Monday brings the chance to share cut flowers from the garden by joining in Cathy’s weekly challenge In A Vase On Monday.

The entirety of our summer’s missing rain was located and delivered consecutively for the last eleven days or so it seems. Ahead of warnings about Hurricane Joachin, on Thursday I gathered some flowers and placed them in several large containers of water for conditioning.

Late Friday afternoon I began thinking about how I might use the flowers for today’s vase. I definitely wanted to use the bright Helianthus angustifolius (Swamp Sunflower) that soared upwards of 10 feet before finally blooming a week ago. In just the right light the petals look oddly neon green.

I had collected several generous armloads of this native flower thinking I would cut the the long stems to one size and add them into a tall vase for a sunny bouquet.*

But my thoughts shifted toward first using some of the flowers in a creative abstract design.

I had in mind to use a special ceramic sculpture my daughter made. It features a stylized tree form rooted at the base that expands upward and hugs the curves of the two-chambered container. Midnight blue coloring at the top of the taller side and a cut-out crescent moon evokes nighttime.

Detail of tree vase

Detail of crescent moon on vase with Leaf of Helianthus angustifolius (Swamp Sunflower)

For years this piece has been on display in my living room and I thought it, the container, would make an interesting focal point for the design supplemented with one or two stems of Helianthus. It did look interesting that way but unfortunately I did not take pictures before continuing to experiment. I kept adding more things until I had the yellow flowers winding up the sides, middle and around the top of the vase—all too much and without purpose or merit.

I started over a couple more times until I was finally satisfied. By then it was nighttime and rainy, so the indoor light was too weak for taking sharp photographs. The lighting created strange variations in the background wall color (actually a pale yellow), but the flower colors are accurate.

In A Vase On Monday

The pot is the focus of the design but I am not convinced the color of the flower material relates well to the container. On thing that works is the way the branching red stems of the sunflower echo the dark redness of three dahlias.

In A Vase On Monday

Materials
Dahlia x hybrida
Helianthus angustifolius (Swamp Sunflower)
Perovskia atriplicifolia (Russian Sage)
Physostegia virginiana (Obedient Plant)

Dahlia, Swamp Sunflower and Obedient Plant

Not wanting to use water in the vessel, this week’s vase was completely staged, photographed and immediately disassembled. Overall I am pleased with the result and I definitely enjoyed the process.

In A Vase On Monday

Thanks to Cathy for hosting this weekly flower addiction. Visit her at Rambling In The Garden to discover what she and others are placing In A Vase On Monday and feel free to join in.

* [Eventually I got around to making that sunny bouquet and I had fun photographing it in a variety of vases. Here is a mesh gallery of that bouquet.]