In A Vase On Monday ~ Drip

It's soggy and grey out there this morning and either rain and/or leaves have been showering down with some gusto. The willow in the background is slowly shedding it's leaves but there is a silver lining in that some of them fall on the other side of the wall so we do not have to clear them up. The next few days promise to continue in the same vein weather wise with another named storm forecast for the middle of the week. Still a few tenacious flowers are clinging on and one or two are positively thriving including dahlias and the stalwart hardy geranium that is 'Rozanne', who so well deserves her award of winner of the RHS Plant of the Centenary at the 2013 Chelsea Flower Show.

In my vase this week are :

• A single stem of dahlia 'Molly Raven' whose praises I've sung  loudly before now.
• A stem of antirrhinum 'Madame Butterfly Watermelon'. This was grown from seed back in March and has not really thrived. It seems to be producing more flowering stems now that we're reaching the end of the season than it did in the summer. However it might be more floriferous next year if it comes through the winter.
• A couple of sprigs of pittosporum 'Silver Ball'. This was new to me earlier this year and the plan is to keep it in a pot and to try to keep it in trim. Apparently it's a plant that lives up to it's name forming a ball like shape.

Thanks as always to our hostess Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for her gentle encouragement to pick a few flowers and share them whatever the weather is up to.

Here there might be a long enough break in the clouds for me to get outside to top up that green waste bin - tomorrow sees the penultimate collection of the year and there is still a little space inviting me to fill it to the brim. In the greenhouse there are some hardy annuals that are ready to be potted on so that will be the next job. A garden visit with a friend is on the cards tomorrow weather permitting. I hope that you all enjoy your garden activities this week.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Still Shining

Wordless Wednesday ~ Webbed Wonder

 

IAVOM ~ Clinging On

 The mercury has really dropped over the last week or so. Gone are the balmy days we were enjoying and although so far we have escaped that first frost the temperature has dropped to just above 4 degrees centigrade for the last two nights in the greenhouse - the doors have been closed overnight. We've also had some significant rain. There are still though pockets of summery resistance. In my vase this week are :

• More of the cosmos that has not lived up to the label of 'Fizzy Purple' but is still going strong. Funnily enough though there has been the odd flowers that looks as if they are almost living up to their name and one of them has made it's way into this vase.
• The very last solitary flower from 'Misty Lavender' larkspur. No signs of life yet from my autumn sowings of this beautiful hardy annual despite the seed packet's sojourn in the freezer prior to sowing so it's looking like a second sowing in March.
• Some stems of self seeded briza maxima also known as Greater quaking grass presumably because of the way it shivers and shakes in any wind. I've decided that I should never need to sow this again as seedlings pop up in all sorts of places!
• The final occupant in this Monday's vase is perilla frutescens var. purpurescens also known as shiso  and Chinese basil. It's an hardy annual herb which is a member of the mint family. The leaves are edible and can be used in stir fry dishes and salads. I first came across it in a Vietnamese restaurant in Frankfurt a few years ago where I asked what it was. It has a most unusual taste which I can't quite make my mind up about. Apparently the flowers are edible too although I've never tried them. It makes for a good foliage container plant. I've grown it from seed before but this year bought as a young plant in the spring from the excellent Hampshire based 'Pepperpot Herbs'.

Thanks as always to our excellent hostess Cathy who blogs over at 'Rambling In The Garden' and who gently encourages to share our vases each and every week of the year.

In A Vase On Monday ~ Blush

 

A quick pick and plonk from me this week with just a couple of cuttings. In my vase are :

• Some stems of the late flowering hardy tuberous begonia grandis subsp. evansiana. Despite its delicate appearance this is a toughie flowering from late summer until the early frosts. The stems are attractively suffused with red. Not only do the plants produce small bulbils they also self-seed but never enough to be a nuisance. The seedlings are easily recognised and in my experience fall close to the parent. There is also a white flowering version which is my favourite of the two. These plants appears extremely late in the day and I have often fretted in the spring that I've lost them so patience is absolutely essential.
• Some leaves from my bushy salvia officinalis or sage plant which looked most bedraggled and sad in the spring but has grown with vigour despite the wet summer. I like the texture of the silvery gray leaves but I don't think that I've ever used it in a vase before now. 

I picked and photographed yesterday when the weather was obliging but left the vase in the greenhouse overnight. On going into the greenhouse this morning I noticed gleams of either snail or slug slime on the sage leaves! I either bought a mollusc in with me or there is already one at lose in the greenhouse which must have been drawn to the aroma of the sage. An inspection revealed zilch but I think it calls for a torchlight patrol this evening as there were trays of seedlings in the vicinity.

The vase is another of a recent purchase of three ribbed bud vases. Cathy asked me last week if the vases were different and yes they are both in size and shape. This is taller then the one I used last week with a narrower neck. I daresay that the third vase will feature at some point in the future.

Many thanks as always to Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden', who this week has a dramatic display of beautiful white flowers to share with us. Here the sun has made an appearance and after a diversion filled tour around rural Cheshire, I'm more than ready for a breath of fresh air in the garden but will be vase visiting later today.

In A Vase On Monday ~ Shades Of Autumn

Picked yesterday in short break after a most soggy saturating Saturday and in anticipation of today's forecast rainclouds are :

• Rudbeckia 'Sahara' - a half-hardy perennial which is now a must have on my seed growing list each spring. It produces a veritable lucky dip of colours and either single or double flowers. Invariably there are some colours that I like more than others and these flowers are my favourites this year.
• Some spikes of forgotten identity persicaria - it's quite a tall one and flowers for a good long spell.
• Dahlia - 'Copper Boy' - not fully open yet and I wonder if they will still oblige off the plant and in water.
• A single shy picking from our next door neighbour's fuschia. I think that it may be the from the hardy variety 'Mrs Popple'. Whatever it is it has produced a splash of colour in late summer/early autumn for many years, which we are also able to enjoy as it's part of a boundary hedge. 

The vase is a new - one from a trio of grooved bud vases purchased only last week when I enjoyed an appetising lunch and a garden walkabout in the company of an old and dear friend. We visited Abbeywood Gardens in Delamere, Cheshire where we found it hard to believe that we didn't come across another soul in the gardens apart from one of the gardeners! It was a breezy day with a slight chill in the air but dry at the time of our visit. Apparently though it had been very busy in the morning so we were just obviously lucky with our timing. On the way out we popped in into the gift shop where I couldn't resist temptation. 

Thanks to Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for hosting and inviting us to share our Monday vases each week. I'm looking forward to seeing what's in other blogger's vases today and will certainly have pen and paper to hand as I do.