This week, I decided to combine all my white (or close to white) flowers into my arrangement. My Italian bunny jug seemed like a good choice, its pale yellow complements all, especially the few blooms of ‘Italian White’ Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus), which curiously, only turn creamy-white as they age.
Cleome, Nicotiana, Sunflower
Cleome, Dahlia ‘Little Lamb’
‘Italian White’ Sunflower
In addition, there are Spider Flowers (Cleome hassleriana), Flowering Tobacco (Nicotiana alata), Garlic Chives (Allium tuberosum), Garden Phlox (P. paniculata) and Dahlia ‘Little Lamb.’
In A Vase on Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden. Click the link to see arrangements made by other gardeners around the world.
Dahlias have come on strongly in the garden, so I picked a few varieties to showcase. As these were gifted to me, I think I got their cultivar names right.
A giveaway packet of seeds, which started blooming this week, yielded these cute little dwarf ‘Teddy Bear’ Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus ‘Teddy Bear’). Fluffy ray flowers make up most of the bloom, meaning less pollen for bees, but it is a charming novelty, to say the least.
In late summer, our fields are full of several types of Goldenrod (Solidago sp.), laid out like a huge buffet for pollinators. Goldenrod pollen is high in protein, just what bees need to prepare for the cold season ahead. An armful that had flopped over a path was picked to clear the trail, providing a base for today’s arrangement.
I’m featuring a simple arrangement in my little Ikebana vase that was a gift from my son and his partner. Representing ‘heaven and earth with man in the middle,’ are Mealycup Sage (Salvia farincea), Cigar Flower (Cuphea ignea ‘Vermillionaire’) and Sunflower (Helianthus annuus).
After a wonderful, relaxing yoga session that focused on our second chakra governing Creativity, I led the group in a mini-floral design class. It was a lot of fun and everyone got to take home their own arrangement.
