With the abundance of flowers in my gardens and fields right now, I have plenty to fill this large, hand-crafted glass vase that I bought in Poland many years ago. It measures roughly 14″ x 6″ with a fluted top. I hand-carried it on the plane home in a large box, as there was no way it would survive shipping or in baggage.
I remember agonizing in the showroom over the variety of vases to choose from, each one unique, and finally chose this one. Befitting a beautiful piece of art, I keep it on display on a shelf in my livingroom. Sadly, due to its volume and height, it doesn’t get used often enough as it needs long-stemmed flowers.
Setting out with a large bucket of water in hand, I trimmed several red-tipped Japanese quince (Chaenomeles japonica) branches from the overgrown hedge out front for greens. Then, I headed to the fields to pick woodland sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus) and a couple types of goldenrod (Solidago species). Several stems of black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm’) fit the bill, and some dried grasses caught my eye as well.
From my main garden, I cut gold and orange zinnias (Z. elegans ‘County Fair Mix’) and white phlox (P. paniculata). Putting it all together was a lot of fun!
Thanks to Cathy at Rambling In the Garden, who hosts a weekly flower arranging meme to showcase what is blooming in our gardens. Wander over to see what gardeners all over the world are arranging this week.
Eliza Waters 
The exuberance of the gorgeous vase and flowers is perfect!
Thank you, Alice!
Absolutely beautiful. I am scratching about here trying to find anything to put in vases. It has been so dry for over two months, with just one day of rain, the garden and the fields and the hedegerows are all looking very sad.
Thank you. Sounds like dried grasses are about all you have. Well, they can be quite beautiful!
Beautiful vase and flowers. There is a hint of autumn this week in your colour scheme:)
Thank you. Goldenrod to me is the harbinger of fall. When I see the first bloom in August, I know the writing is on the wall – autumn is coming on. Wah!
Superb match of container and contents
Thank you, Derrick.
Another stunning display, Eliza. Can’t wait to see what you get up to in winter!
Thank you! Sadly, I don’t do much in winter. The world gets brown and gray, then white and frozen. Bare branches hardly evoke the excitement of a summer garden arrangement. 😦
but the harshness of nature in winter can produce wonderful images!
Yes, I do take walks and photos, but no arrangements past Christmas. Hot house flowers from then ’til spring. It is a long 4 months, however!
lovely autumnal colours and that vase is just gorgeous!
Thank you so much, Ann. 🙂
Perfect!
Thank you, Sue!
A beautiful miniature garden.
Thank you, Victor. It is a mini-garden, isn’t it? A bit of the outside to bring within. I’ll enjoy it while I can, as the days grow shorter… 😉
Wow, what a wild vase and the arrangement is perfect in it. The framing with the flowers in the background is beautiful too.
Thank you very much, Cath. 🙂
Absolutely gorgeous !! How I envy your talent! I have a large amethyst vase that is fluted like yours. I did put gladiolas in it this summer but it was a sad sight compared to your flower arrangement. I wish you lived closer! I would hire you to bring me flowers weekly!!
Thank you, my dear. If I lived closer, I’d bring the flowers just to visit and enjoy a cup of tea! 🙂
Beautiful, full of colours and shapes. Lovely vase too.
Thank you!
The vase is so perfect for the arrangement. Or is the arrangement perfect for the vase?
Thank you, Dor. Yes, the arrangement was picked for the vase! 😉 Finding 30″ stems means I have to hunt a bit. 🙂
Magnificent!
Thank you, Laurie!
PRACHTVOLL! 🙂
Vielen dank!
Your marriage of flowers and vase perfectly show summer’s last festival of color! Your vase is beautiful and well worth the effort of carrying it on the plane! Thanks for sharing both it and your beautiful flowers!
Thank you so much, Peter!
I love these flowers – so summery! And that vase is just gorgeous. I love the few things I have had to carry home from vacation on planes. Maybe it’s something about the extra effort those things require, but each of those things holds a special place in my heart.
Thank you, Sarah. It is true, the more effort, the more we value it.
So wild and free. I just love this one so very much. Beautiful and feels so good.
Thank you kindly, Gigi. I love ‘wild and free!’
Crescendo is certainly the perfect description. And that vase is ideal for a colorful bouquet like this.
Thank you, Linda. It takes a lot to fill that vase!
My goodness this vase and flowers practically leaped off the page!!! This is fantastic, Eliza! What an outstanding job you did of flower arranging. NICE!!!! 🙂 ❤
Thank you so much, Amy! xo
Gorgeous Eliza, summer crescendo indeed! 🙂
Thank you, Julie!
What a fantastic display. An explosion of colour!
Thank you, Belinda. 🙂
Oh Eliza, this is so lovely. You’ve filled the special vase with wonderful flowers and balanced the arrangement so well.
Thank you very much, Susie!
That vase is GORGEOUS, Eliza! I have a number of tall vases I seldom use either as there are few long-stemmed flowers in my garden (and, sadly, my husband isn’t prone to bringing armloads of roses home to surprise me). You picked a great assortment of flowers to play off the wonderful colors in your vase, so appropriate to celebrate the unofficial end of summer.
Thank you, Kris. I do love that vase, even if it doesn’t see many arrangements. (Not enough spouses bring home armloads of flowers!)
A perfect title for this gorgeous bouquet!
Thank you, Anca!
Oh my goodness!!! I was stunned when I opened this posting, Eliza. You outdid yourself on this one.
🙂 Thanks, Kim. Glad you liked it.
What a colorful combination, Eliza!
Thank you, Jane. It’s nice to have a lot to choose from!
Summer crescendo – that is SO apt Eliza, and that vase with its fluted edges is stunning. I am glad you have had a big enough arrangement to be able to use it this week – it is perfect for your selection of brazen blooms. Lovely – thanks for sharing
Thank you, Cathy.
Perfect plant party in a perfect vase. Wow.
Thank you!
Spectacular symphony of colour! 🙂
Thank you!
I think you have elevated Goldenrod as a plant with the arrangement. Just love it and the vase as well.
Thank you! I love using goldenrod in arrangements, it’s beautiful and long-lasting. It has been much maligned as an allergen, when it is ragweed that is the villain. Goldenrod is the innocent bystander!
There is even Goldenrod in South Florida!
I think there is a variety in every state. Ubiquitous!
That vase!! You always have lovely ones, but that one, goodness (I thought it was Chihuly and it may as well be given its gorgeousness) and the flowers are a lovely match for it. Glad it’s out in your house all year!
Thank you, Lisa! It has the Chihuly bright colors, that’s for sure. My spouse was so pleased to see it used, as it is one of his favorites. It would require probably three bunches of alstroemeria from the market – so maybe I’ll drop the hint! 😉
It’s lovely Eliza! And your vase is so pretty – it’s nice to have memories connected with it too. There is abundance here too, but with some heavy rain and wind yesterday everything is looking a little battered this morning!
Thank you, Cathy. We’re starting to see a lot of yellow in the trees. It’s been so dry, I think that is pushing in fall faster. Oh, no-no-no-no-no-no!
How is it that you were able to capture the subtle change of seasons in a vase!? Although your arrangement is a fantastic salute to your summer flowers, there is an underlying hint of fall that sits in the background. Thank you for sharing your gorgeous arrangement with us!
Thank you very much, Stephanie! I do feel that stirring of change. It’s slipping in the back door. 😉
You always seem to have exactly the right vase for your flowers. Or the right flowers for your vases. Crescendo is just the right word for this magnificence!
Thank you, Joanna. I do have a lot of both, so you’re right on both counts! 😉
Summer with just a hint of fall … beautiful!
Thank you, Denise!
Oh my, this is definitely a crescendo – it sings!!!
Thank you, Kathy. I had a lot of fun creating it, but you probably already guessed that! 😉
Gorgeous arrangement, gorgeous vase.
Thank you! 🙂
That’s going to be difficult to beat! A beautiful vase and lovely flowers to fill it – summer exuberance, gorgeous.
Thank you, Christina. That will definitely be my ‘to the max’ arrangement for this year. But who knows what might bubble up from my creative consciousness in the next few weeks? 😉
Very artistic and beautiful 🙂
Thank you, Ann. 🙂
Very nice!
Thank you, Maria!