In A Vase On Monday - Fall

                                 The title of today's 'In A Vase On Monday' post, is not only a nod to the arrival of a new season but also a reference to the fact that I recently had a rather nasty fall. A holiday in France and Italy had to be cut short when I took a tumble downhill on our way out for lunch and a glass of vino. Unlike Jack and Jill in the nursery rhyme I couldn't be mended with "vinegar and brown paper". Would it were that simple. I am sitting here not only looking slightly like a panda but my right (dominant) hand is now encased in plaster as I have a broken metacarpal. The long to do gardening list is on hold. I did have a go at sowing some annual seeds on Saturday and discovered that it is not easy to do using the wrong hand. I ended up with a mountain of seeds in the middle of one tray. On the plus side though I'm not in any great pain and the various cuts and bruises are now healing. I have also recently discovered the most useful dictation feature on my iPad which is making one aspect of life easier.

It was a bit of a challenge to snip and plonk a few flowers for vase but I got there and felt a sense of achievement when I did. Himself kindly took the photo for me. Just a couple of varieties in the mix :

• Rudbeckia hirta 'Sahara' - grown from seed sown back in February. This is the second year that I have grown these and the plants have been so much sturdier and productive than last year. Maybe the drought conditions that we experienced last summer didn't suit them. A definite candidate for next year's seed list.
• Dahlia - possibly 'Henriette' and only just into flower but most pretty.

With thanks as always to our lovely hostess Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for all her gentle encouragement to get out there and snip.

In A Vase On Monday ~ Sizzle

Although this weekend's temperatures were down a good few degrees on the previous weekend and the weather has been most unsettled the flowers are sizzling. In my vase today are :

• Amaranthus caudatus 'Viridis - grown from seed sown in the greenhouse back in March. The plants are at the allotment and are looking rather aenemic. My allotment plot neighbour who has an exotic jungle of a a plot has plants that have reached dizzying heights. I will have to ask him his secret.
• A single flower from dahlia 'Sarah Raven'. This is new to me and I don't like it as much as I did when it was looking at me from the pages of a catalogue. My dahlias have been an unmitigated disaster this year. With the exception of  the dark leaved 'Magenta Star' and one to still to flower plant, all the allotment dahlias were either nobbled in the winter or came through only to fall victim to bunny or mollusc damage. Our wet summer meant that there were more of the latter pests out and about. I was especially upset to loose 'Henriette' which had been so productive last summer. Time soon to start thinking of replacements for next year.
• Phlox drummondii 'Cherry Caramel' grown from seed again sown  in the greenhouse on 11th March. I like the colour of this and it seems to be trouble free so will probably sow it again next year.
• A single flower of the perennial helenium 'Sahin's Early Flowerer'. This came to me as a division from the owner of a cottage that we stayed in back in 2009. I had asked her for the name of the plant having admired it both in the garden and in a vase with other late summer flowers and was delighted to come away with a living souvenir of our holiday.
• Flowers of rudbeckia hirta 'Sahara' grown from seed started off in a heated propagator in February. Two of the plants that I planted at the allotment last year survived the winter but fizzled out in spring. I still haven't seen the full colour range of these flowers as promised by the seed packet but maybe next summer. They are beauties.
• Some foliage in the shape of physocarpus probably the variety 'Diablo'.
• A very dark scabious which has appeared of its own accord at the allotment. Last year I grew some scabious from a packet of allegedly mixed coloured tall flowers. They all turned out white. Whether this is one that did not reach maturity land flower last year I just don't know or maybe it is a self seeder? There are white flowers too which came through the winter.

Thanks as always to our hostess the lovely Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' . Do join in the fun!