Cathy, at Rambling in the Garden, is celebrating the 6th anniversary of In a Vase on Monday, a meme where gardeners showcase a weekly vase from their gardens. This week she has requested that we make a miniature (six inches or less) arrangement. It’s a good thing, as there is very little left in my garden to show after wind, rain, a dusting of snow and below freezing temperatures were what we’ve experienced in the past week.
Viola, Lavender, Beautyberry
I was able to scrounge a few blossoms of Heartsease (Viola tricolor), Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) and Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) tucked into a few pieces of Sage (Salvia officinalis).
A second vase, while not a miniature, celebrates November in my yard.
I spied a stem of Gooseneck Loosestrife (Lysimachia clethroides) showing red/burgundy that the frost had not turned brown. To that I added a stem of ‘Husker’s Red’ Penstemon, a sprig of Winterberry (Ilex verticillata) and a Black-eyed Susan bloom (Rudbeckia hirta) filched from last week’s arrangement.
A couple of dried Hosta seed heads, backed by a stem of evergreen Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia) finishes the arrangement.
Thanks to Cathy for hosting over 300 weeks of arrangements– whew! A very addictive meme it is! To see more, click the link above.
Eliza Waters 
Such beautiful colours in both of them. The vases complement them too.
Thank you, Anne. I tend to color coordinate where I can. 🙂
It’s impressive that you still have flowers. The vases are very beautiful.
Thank you, Maria. I doubt I’ll find more at this point, but one never knows!
I’m coming up for air and …. ahhhh! Thank you for sharing these. I love violas!
Thank you, Dawn. Violas are so cheerful!
I love that miniature, being a sucker for blue. And your large arrangement really does capture the season!
Thank you, Lisa! 🙂
I love the valiant flower! We have fog!!!! Hooray. Driving in it was awful and wonderful. It means the fire risk is lessening.
Thank you, Cindy! Glad to hear about the fog at last, fire season is a nerve-wracking time of year.
Very beautiful – love those !
Thank you!
I just love your 6″ high arrangement and am amazed that through frost & snow, you actually found something so beautiful 🙂
I would have thought the Heartsease would be too fragile to survive the cold weather alone.
Thank you, Vicki. Violas are more tolerant of cold than heat, taking a bit of frost in stride.
Stunningly sweet
Thank you, Dorris!
Little treasures!
Thank you, Alice. End of the season surprises!
It’s amazing how many flowers persist even after frosts. Surely a life lesson….hang on in there with your beauty! 🙂
Yes, true! Thanks a bunch! 🙂
I’m impressed Eliza, as I think of your area as colder than here in Ohio. We had a couple nights last week down to 20 and it killed everything. I have nothing blooming, and even worse, it’s supposed to go down to 17 this week, which is more like January than November. Oh well. So glad you still have a little color left.
Thank you, Cindy. We did have a night in the teens, but those intrepid violas hung in there, just barely. 🙂
I am impressed that you found these. The only thing green here is the moss growing on the rocks. The first vase is gorgeous. I think if you run out of flowers, you could just post your vase collection one at a time. 🙂
Hehe, yes, I do have over 100 vases, and while I try to vary them, most never get used. It is my only collection that I find hard to part with, like Christmas ornaments, each has a story. Since most of them fit in a glass-fronted hutch, they aren’t too intrusive. 🙂
You are the best scrounger Eliza ❣️
Haha, thanks, Val! 😀
Your Heartsease looks so cheery on this bleak November day! I should go and see if I can find a few flowers yet. My Calendulas were hanging on but the last few days with highs below freezing pretty much finished them off. Are you expecting any snow? We have a winter storm warning for 7-12 inches tonight through tomorrow!
Oh, gosh, winter is upon you, Joanna! We are expecting only a dusting. My calendula hung on valiantly, but finally succumbed when we hit the teens. I’m grateful for these last few blossoms I found, they do cheer a soul!
Your vases are all so sweet. I guess from the comments that you were lucky to have so many flowers.
Thank you, yes, it took a bit of scrounging as most have gone dormant.
Your miniature vase is so sweet, Eliza, and both vases demonstrate that we can invariably still find something pretty or structural to add to a vase even as we head toward winter (nothern hemisphere, that is). Thanks for joining us today, and whenever you can
Thank you very much for hosting so faithfully, Cathy. I look forward to seeing what everyone creates week to week, even if I can’t participate in the snowy, winter season.
How pretty with the little heartsease… and a lavender flower in November?! Amazing what can be found so late in the year. 🙂 Love your second vase too – it really conjures up images of what your garden looks like at this time of year. 🙂
Thank you, Cathy. With a bit of snow forecast, I think the garden is truly done for this year. Brown and gray from here on. 😉
I think it will be the same here in a week – we also have snow forecast! Stay warm and cosy Eliza!
Thank you, same to you!
Always enjoy seeing your arrangements and your vases. That top one sure catches my eye.
Thank you very much, Laurie. I keep thinking the garden is done, then I gather a bit more, but now I think we’re really done with the blossoms. Snow tonight!
Yup. And in central Maine, freezing rain. The new normal. Alas.
Sad, but true. The unexpected seems to be the new normal.
Yes. Sigh.
Your vases are gorgeous and the flower arrangements are lovely Eliza.
Thank you, Karen, much appreciated.
Your’e welcome Eliza, have a lovely day.
Thanks and same to you!
Both so sweet. I love your vase in the first one. Lovely autumn colours in the second.
Thank you, Liz!
I love your miniature arrangement – both vase and flowers, and the autumnal one really does convey a flavour of the season as you slide towards winter proper.
Thank you, Carol. It gets chillier by the day, snow tonight, ugh!
Keep warm and snug!
Thank you, the wood stove is cranking! 🙂
Beautiful flowers
Thank you, Crystal.
You’re Welcome
Sweet first vase, I love Violas and have not heard the name ‘Heartsease’ wonderful. Being from the South I have a fear of Lysimachia and did not realize it had fall color, wonderful again. The joys of blogging, hope your woodstove is doing its job and you are tucked in and toasty.
Thank you, Amy. Johnny-Jump-up is what I grew up calling these, but the old-fashioned Heartsease is shorter to write! 😉
Gooseneck Lysimachia can take over, but I find it pretty easy to pull up. Even easier in your sandy soil, I imagine. It turns a beautiful color in the cool weather, but frost turns it brown, so some years are better than others. This year was a good one with a long cool period before the frost came.
Yes, I’m staying close to the wood stove these days!
How nice to see these beautiful arrangements, Eliza. Just lovely!
Thank you very much, Belinda!
Love what you were able to scrounge up and have faith that vase season isn’t over even with the arrival of snow. Lovely arrangements and this is one of my favorite themes.🙂
Thank you so much!
I adore the first vase, Eliza. The Callicarpa and the Viola complement each other well.
Thank you, Kris!
You have made up a delightful little vase, which is a gem, and chosen some beautiful little late treasures.
Thank you, Noelle. Not much left and the weather has taken a frigid turn with windchill well into the minus C, teens F. Brrr!
These are gorgeous!
Thank you, Fi!
Congratulations! I find them all very attractive.
Thanks so much, Maria. I was lucky to eke out these last few remnants, as the garden has gone dormant.
Eliza, this is stunning. Wonderful colors and great example of choosing perfect vase for the materials inside.
Thank you very much, Susie!
Your arrangements are always so beautiful. ♥
Thank you so much, Robin! 🙂
A wonderful tribute to the meme. These are lovely arrangements – I always love the way you match the vases to the flowers.
Thank you, Susan. Color coordination was drilled into me in my youth, lol!
Such a pretty blue vase and the blue flowers fit beautifully. Just got another Callicarpa and your viola reminds me that I must get some too. Their charming, dear little faces are hard to beat. Happy autumn 🙂
Thank you, Annette!
Beauties both!
Thank you kindly, Sandra!
Both are absolutely delightful! Gosh, I love your arrangements Eliza… ❤
Aw, muchas gracias, Julie. 🙂
I know positively that you have an eye for nature’s beauty, can take anything you find, and create a stunning arrangement. You are an artist through and through, Eliza!
Wow, thanks so much for that wonderful compliment, Donna! 🙂
I still dig that beautyberry. I have been seeing a bit of it, but only in pictures of course. I don’t recognize the mountain laurel. I have not seen any in years, so do not really know what it looks like without bloom.
Thank you, Tony. Both are great native plants. The laurel is a good winter evergreen, giving welcome color to a white, snowy landscape.
We no longer grow it. It was not marketable. No one here knows what it is. I still like the old stock plants out in the arboretum. They fit right in with the surrounding redwood forests, as if they had always been here. They are my little piece of Pennsylvania, even though I have never been there.