For seven years Cathy at Rambling In The Garden has encouraged garden bloggers to share a vase of cuttings gathered from our gardens. A friendly community has grown up around these Monday vases nurtured by Cathy’s efforts. To mark the seventh anniversary of In A Vase On Monday she challenged us last week to create today’s vase using foliage alone.

I am more naturally drawn to flowers but there is much to learn and admire about leaf shape, texture, and color. Despite some overnight temperatures in the low 30s Fahrenheit we have yet to have frost this autumn. I took advantage of a mild afternoon and some rare free minutes Thursday to choose foliage for this week’s vase.

Fresh mounds of light green basal leaves are still forming on the columbine plants beneath older stems of reddened ones. The leaves are divided into groups of 3 leaflets; the triple lobes are rounded.

Shape, vein patterning and color shifts enhance columbine’s delicate leaf form.

My initial concept of the foliage vase this week centered around an Ikebana container filled with dramatic greenery of Hedychium coronarium (white ginger lily).  The leaves on this plant can be 2 feet long. I selected a couple of stems with leaf lengths between 9-13 inches.

But how could I leave behind the surprise of a raceme with fresh flowers forming—at this stage it seemed like greenery too and its bold form would add interest.

Hedychium stalks went in first toward the back, followed by the columbine in front. Liriope and marigold foliage were used to fill in around the base of the stems. With the materials arranged into place I was struck by how simple yet effective a dish of foliage selections can be.

[Imagine the white ginger lily flower buds as anniversary celebration candles.]

Materials
Flowers
Hedychium coronarium (Ginger lily)
Foliage
Aquilegia canadensis (Eastern red columbine)
Hedychium coronarium (Ginger lily)
Liriope spicata (creeping lilyturf)
Tagetes (Marigold)
Container
Porcelain Ikebana vase, Georgetown Pottery, Maine. Triangle Blue Wave (6.5 W x 6.5 L x 2H)

I had not planned to bend the foliage-only rule so flagrantly but first alerted by the jasmine-like fragrance, unexpectedly I noticed Saturday afternoon the flowers had begun opening and by evening they had come into full bloom.

Doesn’t this look like a delicious ice cream cone?

By Sunday afternoon the flowers had faded, leaving behind a foliage-only display. Happy seven years of In A Vase On Monday, Cathy and to the many participants and readers through the years!

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 surprises she and others found to place in a vase this week.