In A Vase On Monday ~ Make Me Smile

Lower temperatures, leaden grey skies and some rain have been huge make me smile factors over the last few days. Hopefully the weather will continue in the same vein a while longer although today's vase is still very much on the sunny side.

In this week's 'In A Vase on Monday' are :

• A couple of swirls of humulus lupus aureus or to give it its common name golden hop. This grows over an arch and is one of the banes of himself's life as he has to pass underneath it with the lawnmower. If you've not come close up and personal with this climber before the texture of the leaves is like velcro! The hop has taken off this year and has sprawled higgledy piggledey in all directions lapping up the sunshine. In fact it has now formed an impenetrable thicket so another route to the what passes as a lawn has had to be found. I think that this is its glory year and whilst other plants have been stuttering and gasping its has loved the long hot summer.
• Some spikes of amaranthus cruentus 'Hot Biscuits'. I included this in a vase last month. I like the colour but am not so struck by the fairly upright tassels so it will not feature on the repeat seed order.
• On that order though will be zinnia 'Queen Red Lime' which I have been so pleased with this year. Whether my success is down to this particular warm summer remains to be seem but it's a will sow again without any hesitation.
• Amaranthus caudatus 'Viridis' with those caterpillar like furry green tassels is also on the list doing well in cooler summers too. I think that I sowed the seed in March but can't be sure. Next year I think that I might try direct sowing in May. The foliage is rather nondescript and tends to be nibbled but oh those tassels more than make up for it! 
• Finally and new to me is rudbeckia hirta 'Sahara' which I grew from seed. I think that these were sown at the back end of February in a heated propagator but must find the label from the seed tray to be check. It is described as having "mostly double, velvety flowers is a blend of dusty rose, milk chocolate, copper, pale lemon and rich merlot". I have planted too few of these - only six so will not have the pleasure of the full colour range. So far I have a predominance of the above golden colour which morphs into a pinky shade with age. I'm still waiting with bated breath for one plant to open, the buds of which look as if they could be the "rich merlot" shade. The plants may overwinter but there is no guarantee. This is already near the top of my new seed list with a note to plant them in quantity! 

Thanks as always to our lovely hostess Cathy who resides over at 'Rambling In The Garden' and who is sharing a veritable explosion of colour in her vase this week. I'm off now into the greenhouse to see if I can find that missing label. Enjoy your Monday whatever you are up to!