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!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Ninety Not Out

In A Vase On Monday ~ The One That Nearly Got Away

My vase this week is one that missed being posted at the end of July. I'm not quite sure what happened at the time but thought it a shame to let it vanish into obscurity. All the flowers in it are still flowering today.

The contents are as follows :

• Erigeron annuus - I first saw tall billowing clouds of this white daisy at Great Dixter a few years ago. I thought that it would be easy to raise from seed but my attempt last year didn't produce as much as a single daisy. Earlier in the spring I had an email from Special Plants Nursery  to say they had some small plants for sale including erigeron annus so I placed an order. My plants have been much more floppy and not as impressively statuesque as the ones I saw at Great Dixter but I'm quite taken with them. Whether they become nightmare self seeders remains to be seen.
• The yellow daisy is anthemis tinctoria 'E.C. Buxton' taken from a cutting I took at a propagation workshop held in 2010 at local to me Bluebell Cottage Gardens And Nursery. This anthemis has attractive ferny green leaves and the long lasting flowers are a soft pale creamy-yellow.
• An annual that I have not grown for a long time and I'm not sure why in the shape of nicotiana 'Lime Green'. Definitely on next year's to be sown list.
• A new to me annual and also to be repeated next year is phlox drummondii grandiflora 'Isabellina'. The seeds were from Chiltern Seeds and were sown in the greenhouse in March.
• The delicate white flowers of thalictrum delvayi 'Splendide White'. I bought this dappled shade loving perennial a couple of years ago or so and it's rapidly becoming a favourite.  It is sterile so has a long flowering period. I've still to work out how to support it properly and it will be moved further back in the snowdrop border next year.

As always a special thank you to Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for hosting. I'm off to find pen and paper and go vase visiting. 

Wordless Wednesday ~ In The Waiting Room

In A Vase On Monday ~ Allotment Pickings

The contents of this week vase had to suffer the indignity of suffering a bus journey back from the allotment to reach their destination. They did well to arrive substantially less crumpled, sticky and weary than I was. It was one of those unpleasantly muggy days that we seem to have had too many of this summer. They were just as appreciative of a long cool drink on arrival home as I was but I spared them the ice and a slice.

In my vase are :

• The first flower of rudbeckia 'Sahara', which were sown back in February in a heated propagator. Plans to end up with more plants than I did last year sadly didn't materialise. Note and reprimand to self - must do better next year!
• Cornflower 'Blue Ball' which was directly sown last September. The cornflowers have done well this year. I think that the blue and mauve remain my favourites. They are beginning to look a bit straggly now. I've not been able to keep up with deadheading them this summer which doesn't help their general appearance.
• A bronze fennel flowerhead. This is an old favourite despite its self seeding tendencies. It's one of those plants which is pure joy to feel and to smell. My original plant came from a fellow local gardening club member.
• Some sweet pea flowers. I think that this might be lathyrus 'Noel Sutton'. All my sweet peas were sown in March and the plants are now planted up a couple of bamboo wigwam structures at the allotment. I can sense a sweet pea vase coming soon.
• Tropaeolum majus 'Milkmaid'. Nasturtiums are always a must at the allotment. They self seed and are descendants of 'Empress of India' or 'Blue Pepe'. This year I also sowed some seeds from one of those 'freebie' packets of seeds that come with gardening magazine. 'Milkmaid' has flourished and will be sown again in the spring as an insurance policy just in case. She spreads well, is most floriferous and is an an appealing soft creamy yellow.

A special thanks must go as always to Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for providing perennial inspiration to snip flowers and greenery to fill a vase on a Monday.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Flying Fish

In A Vase On Monday ~ Singing The Blues

It's mainly about the blues but some pink and purple has crept in too with not just one but two Monday vases. We have just spent a most relaxing week away in Ceredigion, Wales in a cottage overlooking Cardigan Bay. There was much time spent gazing out to sea trying to spot bottlenose dolphins but they kept a low profile. However the view was still fabulous at all times of day and the antics of the rabbits on the lawn in front of the cottage kept us amused. There was a welcome pack on the kitchen table when we arrived - I assure you that the tea bags were opened first well before the wine. I especially appreciated the vase of flowers on the kitchen table and was kept spellbound watching the central florets of the hydrangea open out as the week progressed.

Now for a random collection of mainly blues from the garden ~

• Some flowers of clematis 'Blekitny Aniol' also known as clematis' Blue Angel'. I bought a small plant at least ten years ago from the Country Market stall at Tavistock Pannier Market in Devon. I was bewitched by the colour. She has spread over the years and is entwined in the embrace of rosa 'Blush Noisette' which peaks before the clematis. The angel seems to have gone slightly astray this year and will need some prompting next spring to climb up rather than lurch perilously close to the ground which she is doing this summer.
• A couple of sprigs of salvia 'Nachtvlinder' which has proved hardy so far and has the most delightful scented foliage. I was surprised last year by the appearance of a couple of seedlings which I suppose I should extract and replant now that they have put on some growth.
• Some flowers from the annual phlox drummondii grown from seed sown in the greenhouse in March. The photo does not really do it justice. I think it will be on the repeat list next year.
• A helping of what I think is possibly campanula trachelium, which invited itself into the garden some time ago and which also has a white counterpart. It seeds itself about a bit but never enough to become a nuisance.
• Finally some foliage in the shape of physocarpus leaves. I am unable to remember the variety but it's probably 'Diabolo'.

As always a special thanks to our hostess Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' whose vase this week aptly reflects the hot temperatures that are forecast for the week ahead. Time to sit in the shade with a long cool drink and a good book methinks.

In A Vase On Monday ~ Shades Of Pale

This week's 'In A Vase On Monday' was photographed in a new spot, still on top of a wall overlooking the stream but a wider wall decorated with a soft cushion of green. Unlike last week's readymade gifted vase the contents all were picked from the garden. In my vase this week are :

• A stem of a rose 'Luisa's Daughter' which is now in it's third flowering season and has certainly leapt this year. The rose was a present from my sister and was specifically named in memory of my mother. It was a most thoughtful gift but one that I have fretted about in case the rose didn't flourish. Anyway it seems to be happy where it's planted and has been in flower since the beginning of May. It has a light but discernible lemony scent.
• A couple of stems of anemone coronaria 'The Bride', the tubers of which were planted in a tray in the greenhouse back in March. 
• A couple of calendula 'Snow Princess', which were sown on 11th March. 
• A stem of the annual phlox drummondii 'Crème Brûlée'', grown from seed again sown on 11th March. I've yet to make my mind up about this one. It seems to have a rather spindly habit and so far I have been unable to detect the scent promised on the seed packet blurb. I went slightly over the top this year on annual phloxes and sowed four varieties. The others will hopefully feature in later vases.

Our lovely hostess Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' is doing her very best this week to make sure that we will all be singing and disco dancing until the sun goes down.

IAVOM ~ Game, Set and Match

The creation of today's 'In A Vase On Monday' came about by pure chance. My weedathon at the allotment continues and I spent a good part of the day there. Plans for picking flowers to bring home with me and perhaps combine with flowers from the garden floated round in my head whilst I tussled with comfrey roots, brambles and other delights. Before my snippers were primed for action one of my lovely plot neighbours kindly offered me an instant vase, when he asked whether I would like three calla lily stems in exchange for some stems of cornflower 'Black Ball'. Never look a gift horse in the mouth!

My post would have appeared sooner but I was distracted when I sat down to watch Serena Williams play the talented young Cori Gauff at Wimbledon. I'm looking forward to the next fortnight and all the excitement and wonder of watching some more thrilling tennis matches.

Thanks as always to our hostess Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for encouraging us to fill a vase on a Monday. It has become a most comforting and pleasing activity to begin the week with.