A cold front swept through Friday night and temperatures plummeted within a few hours from summer to autumn. With frost warnings for Sunday night, I was scrambling Sunday afternoon to pick my tender annuals for vases in the house, three of which I’ll share here.
I took down my large Polish glass vase once again and filled it with an armload of zinnias (Z. elegans ‘County Fair Mix’), white spider flower (Cleome hassleriana), and cosmos (C. bipinnatus ‘Sensation Mix). For filler, I used heart-leaved blue aster (Symphotrichum cordifolium) which is peaking this week, much to my delight.
My orange Blenko vase (a gift from my sister) was pressed into service for an arrangement of orange zinnias (Z. ‘Apricot Profusion’), black-eyed-Susan (Rudbeckia hirta), speedwell (Veronica spicata) and tall white aster (Symphyotrichum lanceolatum).
A simple glass vase of zinnias, a ‘Voodoo’ dahlia and shiso (Perilla frutescens).
Thanks to Cathy at Rambling In the Garden, who hosts a weekly meme to showcase what is blooming in our gardens. Wander over to see what gardeners all over the world are arranging this week. I wonder how many other gardeners have had a frost?
Eliza Waters 
Beautiful pictures!
Thank you!
Goodness, your first vase is a very colorful one and everything is coordinated, so it looks almost like a continuation of the flowers. 🙂
Thank you, Bun. Bright zinnias are perfect for that vase. 🙂
Wow! that is early for a first frost; we were at the lake yesterday and many people were swimming and the beach was filled with everyone enjoying the lovely warm sunshine. Your vases are a wonderful testament to summer, no signs of autumn in the flowers yet, I hope the frost passed over without any damage to them. The vase itself is gorgeous and your choice of flowers makes it perfect.
Thank you very much, Christina. This is typical timing for our first frost, but the change was very abrupt, rather than a gradual cooling down. The frost was patchy and light, thankfully, so the garden will still offer a few more blooms for another few weeks. However, most of them are now in vases in my house!
Great arrangements
Thank you, Derrick!
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Reblogged this on thelaundryrocks and commented:
Such wonderful colours of flowers and a wealth of knowledge.
Thank you kindly for the compliments and reblogging!
Beautiful flowers as always, as Nature starts to remind us who is in charge. I don’t find autumn and winter a sad time, just a time of rest and regeneration. Something we should all think more about!
Thank you! Yes, I’m torn between the two and I know there is good to both sides. I just wish our winters weren’t so very LONG! Gray and brown November to April is hard to take by the end. 🙂
a good time to catch up on all the ‘indoor’ stuff though!
More time for blogging, that’s for sure!
Love the vase and flowers Eliza 🌸🌻🌸
Thank you, Karen!
Hope the garden excaped the frost! But is sure provided a lovely harvest of blooms.
Thank you, Marian. The frost was light thankfully, and everything seems good for another few weeks. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye. 🙂
Just beautiful.
Thank you, Sylvia. 🙂
What a glorious bounty of beauty!!
Oh, yes it is! Thanks, Catherine. 🙂
These are just stunning, Eliza. I love your collection of vases. I found that I picked far fewer flowers this year than last, because I wanted to leave them for my honeybees. Next year, I will plant more and pick more!
Thank you, Brenda. I understand completely. One can never have too many flowers! You probably know that bees prefer blue/purple flowers, particularly in the mint family, so lots of herbs, and I found globe thistle and wild asters to delight them as well. My heart-leaved aster is covered right now. I plant snow crocus and snowdrops for early April food, then things straight through ’til fall. When I stand in my buzzing garden, I think, “If you plant it, they will come!”;)
I love my herbs. They make me and the bees happy. Just by coincidence, my hive is surrounded by asters and goldenrods and backed by apples and cherries. The bees have a tasty back yard in the spring and front yard in the fall.
Lucky bees and so nice they share their honey with you! 🙂
Brenda (above) said: “plant more, pick more”….great resolution. I think I buy & plant (mostly) specifically for pollinators, even letting basil bloom instead of pinching the flowers. So many 🐝 🐝🐝 that love them & Hummingbirds. It’s fun to share!
I agree. My purple asters are simply alive with buzzing bees – so delightful!
Yes, it seems that fall just came overnight, but what a lovely September we have had in central Maine. Beautiful arrangements, as always!
Thank you! 🙂
Very pretty bouquet. It is getting cold here as well…Fall has finally arrived after a beautiful & long summer. (Suzanne)
Thank you, Suzanne. It was a glorious summer. I wish it didn’t have to end!
Oh gosh – having to pick all your tender annuals in one fell swoop…! At least you have your lovely vases to compensate briefly for their loss – will the frost see the plants off altogether? I especially like the first bountiful collection of blooms in that beautiful glass vase – thanks for sharing them all
Thank you, Cathy. It was a light and patchy frost, so my covering things helped them through. We’re in for a warm stretch now, so it was worth it.
I love that Polish vase and the arrangement really sets off the colors. Frost, a chilling thought. There have been four here since 1980, all the Iguanas that are loose drop dead and fall out of the palm trees, then the shrubs follow suit. Very unlike where you are! Hope some Zinnias made it.
Thank you. It was a light and patchy frost, so covering things was successful. I’m hoping that we’ll now have a few more frost-free weeks to enjoy the garden. Iguanas falling dead out of trees sounds horrible! Many of our insects die, but at least I don’t notice the bodies or get hit on the head with one.
What a stunning arrangement and how fabulous it looks in the Polish glass vase. I love the way the aster sets off all the bright colours. What an abundance of gorgeous flowers you gathered to fill these vases so prettily. But oh dear, I don’ t like the idea of frost. It still feels very summery here.
Thank you, Chloris. I’m glad you are still enjoying summer temps. Fall is definitely ‘in the air’ here!
A frost?! Thankfully, we’ve still been spared!
These are all gorgeous. They are a summery riot – and I love them!
Thank you, Sarah. They are indeed a ‘summery riot!’
It must be a bittersweet experience to harvest all those beautiful flowers in advance of frost warnings (although I do something of the same thing in advance of heatwave notices). Frost is something that doesn’t happen often here but I well remember finding plants transformed into dead black blobs overnight by one of the rare frosts that hit our former garden. I hope your vases have long lives indoors, giving you plenty of time to enjoy them!
Thank you, Kris. Refreshing them will be a daily task for a while! But at least I can see and enjoy them close up.
Plants don’t like the extremes of heat or cold in our ‘opposite’ gardens. 🙂
That first vase and arrangement is really nice. Makes one grateful for color film, so to speak.
Yes, I know what you mean. Thanks, David!
You have such an eye for the perfect combinations. A symphony of Symphyotrichum! Is that blue leaf in the final vase really that blue?
Thank you, Joanna. The iridescent perilla reflected the sky in that photo. In sunlight, it’s foliage normally looks oily, like one sees petrol in puddles sometimes. I grow it for its great foliage.
These are wonderful arrangements. Really like the balance and textures in the first one with that special vase. Also am impressed with the orange vase. Our first frost averages mid-October. Just writing it now made me realize how quickly that will be here.
Thank you, Susie. I was lulled by the warm summery temps, so the frost warning took me by surprise. But when are we ever really ready for it? I go kicking and screaming the whole way. ;D
The word luscious comes to mind. Gorgeous. Frost!!! Oh no!
Thank you, Gigi. IKR? A word that chills the spine.
Isn’t it fun to scatter your house with bouquets? I hope you weren’t frosted and will have flowers for a little longer.
Everywhere I look there are lovely flowers – what luxury! 🙂
All lovely. The Blenko vase and arrangement is my favourite. I hope the cold weather has moved on.
Thank you, Belinda. Yes, the forecast looks good for the next few weeks. I’ll take it while I can!
So gorgeous Eliza!
Thank you, Julie!
What a puffaloon of colour!!!
Frost warning: And so, it begins. 😀
Thank you. 🙂
Exuberant arrangements! Although the first frost warning is always a bit sad, the armloads of tender flowers certainly make the happy thoughts of summer last a bit longer inside.
Thank you, Peter. It is true, so nice to bring summer inside. I have a reprieve for the next few weeks, so I’ll have a bit more time to enjoy the gardens.
Those zinnias in the first vase are lovely Eliza, and the second vase is just fabulous with that orange glass a perfect match for the Rudbeckias! In one way it was a wonderful opportunity to bring all that sunshine indoors, but frost?…. I hope we don’t get any for another month or so! Glad yours was only light and you can continue to enjoy all those blooms. 🙂
Thank you, Cathy. I had friends over last night and they raved about the big vase. It is rare to see an arrangement that big outside a hotel lobby, so fun to do!
Fiesta! I’d say with that f**** warning you’re subconsciously thinking of Mexico!
Ha, I think you’re right, Kathy! How GMTA! 😉
What lovely and vibrant arrangements. I have a huge flower garden but don’t often cut the flowers to bring them in–I don’t know why.
Thank you. It is really nice to have bouquets around the house where I can see the flowers close-up. There is even a small one in the WC!
This is what I call a colourful vase! Beautiful, thanks for sharing, Eliza!
Thank you, Anca!
Wow – that is stunning! Such a gorgeous arrangement and vase.
Thank you, Fi. 🙂
They all look so beautiful, but I particularly love the Blenko vase and arrangement. Hope the frost was too destructive.
Thank you, Allison. We got lucky with only a light frost. It is supposed to stay warm for a few more weeks. We’ll take anything we can get right now!
My feelings too.
I feel happy looking at these. Thanks Eliza!
Thank you, Mary! You must be heading East soon – enjoy your visit. 🙂
I wonder if the frost did come Eliza? Your opening mix is delightful like sweets in a jar
Thank you so much, Dorris. I love the analogy. 🙂 We had a very light and patchy frost, so with things covered I managed to keep everything, hurrah.
As usual, great color combinations.
Muchas gracias!