Today is the 10th anniversary of In a Vase on Monday, a garden meme hosted by the intrepid Cathy at Rambling in the Garden. She has once again thrown down an anniversary challenge for contributors –
“When is a vase not a vase? We have had a similar challenge before, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to pop your contribution into something that isn’t actually a vase.”
Since I have no fresh flowers left in my garden, dried will have to do and my container is an old wooden bucket filled with Annabelle and Oak-leaf Hydrangea flower heads, fluffy tufts of Miscanthus grass and seed capsules from Balloon flower (Platycodon). And I even have a prop of sorts! A harvest basket filled with white pine cones, mini-gourds, and colored Indian corn. The oak leaves in the basket and tucked into the arrangement are Nature’s added touch. Isn’t she thoughtful?
Many thanks to Cathy for a decade of hosting this addictive and popular meme!
Eliza Waters 
Yours is a delightful contribution, illustrating that even dried flowers can be attractive.
Thank you very much, Anne. 🙂
Miscanthus is reminiscent of dried floral design from the early 1970s, which sometimes included pampas grass. Of course, that was on a larger scale, but the texture is . . . sort of similar.
Thanks, Tony. I’ve always liked grass in arrangements, it adds movement and a natural touch.
Pampas grass is what Brent (my colleague from school who is now a renowned landscape designer in Southern California) likes for ‘motion’ in the landscape. Not many landscapes can accommodate it, but a few can. It works like weeping willow that sits on the ground.
Pampas grass is invasive here, but Miscanthus seems not to self-sow as readily. Both offer great presence in the late summer/fall garden.
Cortaderia jubata is likely the invasive species of pampas grass there. A few cultivars of Cortaderia selloana are still available from nurseries, even in some parts of California. They bloom with only female flowers, so supposedly can not be invasive without male pollinators. However, they can sometimes hybridize with Cortaderia jubata, and their progeny are of both genders.
Eliza, this is absolutely delightful. I wish I could visit your front porch.
Ten years already? Time really does fly.
Thank you, Alys. If you ever visit MA, I hope you do visit my front porch!
I would love that. I haven’t been for many years, but I would love to go back. xo
Your arrangement certainly says “November.” I love it when a leaf gets caught up in another plant and looks like it was put there on purpose.
Thank you, Audrey!
This is lovely, Eliza. Such soothing colours, perfect for the season’s more sombre theme.
Thank you, Isha. Yes, our world is slowly turning to brown and gray. When the white stuff comes, it’ll brighten things up a bit. 😉
ABIANV Autumn beauty in a non-vase. 🙂
Ordinarily we allow our Miscanthus to sit in the yard through winter so we have a little grassy beauty atop the snow (should we actually get snow). But this summer’s rain knocked all the stalks over and it is lying prone so I may, or may not, cut it back as snow will just flatten it even more.
Thanks, Steve. The critters will still use it even if it has fallen down. Ours never makes in past the first snow. 🙂
Beautiful, Eliza. I enjoy and appreciate all of the beauty you create with the nature that surrounds you through sharing IAVOM with all of us! This one seems apropos of the month and the season. And today…a new moon in Scorpio. I just read this and it fits beautifully here:
“This is a time of profound transformation. Each ending is met with a blessed beginning.”
💜🙏🏻
Thank you, Carrie! 💜🙏🏻
A really beautiful…and lasting…combination…and Buddha, literally, looks tickled.
Ha, yes, Buddha serenely accepts anything I put by him. 🙂 Thanks, Alice!
Congratulations on this 10th anniversary. IAVOM is a great idea!
Thank you, Hien!
Your arrangement will be very nice for Thanksgiving.
Thanks, it’ll stay until it is replaced with Xmas greens. 🙂
I’m especially fond of dried hydrangea flowers, and these are lovely: both on their own, and complemented by all those other autumn delights.
Thank you, Linda. I can’t let all these great things go straight to the compost pile!
Nature is one amazing designer! Such a beautiful arrangement and so in tune with the season.
Thank you very much, Monika!
Perfect for the season! You are a natural, that is for sure.
Aw, thanks so much, Dale! x
My pleasure xo
Your wooden bucket and basket make awesome containers, Eliza. Mother Nature seems to have a hand in every vase! Happy Anniversary!
Thank you, Susie!
Lovely. I adore dried hydrangea flowers and I wish I didn’t have such problem growing them (muntjac eat them). Your basket looks very autumnal and wholesome!
Thank you, Allison! Do you have Repels-All spray in the UK? It works like a dream as a chemical-free way to repel deer. (It is made from garlic and rotten eggs! The pellets aren’t stinky like the spray, but I only use the pellets near the house for obvious reasons!)
Congrats on your anniversary! Your arrangements are always lovely, but I particularily like this one with its nod to the season and enlightenment.
Thank you, Marian, happy autumn to you!
What a perfect arrangement for this challenge capturing the beauty of fall in your garden in November. Happy Anniversary and many more with lots of vases to share!
Thank you, Donna!
What a great idea, Eliza – we had an anniversary theme one year of ‘not alive’, so this would have been perfect for that too! There is beauty in all the materials you have used today, so thanks for sharing it and reminding people about the different options we have for ‘vases’ in autumn and winter
Thank you, Cathy, esp. for 10 years of happy bouquet sharing!
You are really welcome, Eliza
Looks great for the season.
Thank you!
That’s a lovely collection Eliza. I love dried grasses and seedheads and you’ve found a perfect container for some. The basket is great as a prop – the oak leaves are the icing on the cake! Love seeing things from your garden Eliza. 🤗
Thank you, Cathy. I usually collect some autumn drieds for the porch, so Cathy’s challenge fell in perfectly. 🙂
A wonderful Autumn display. Perfect for Thanksgiving. I love hydrangeas anyway I can get them and the mini gourds too. Happy Anniversary!
Thank you, Amy! I love Thanksgiving and all the decor that comes with it. Sandwiched between Halloween and Christmas, I think it gets short shrift!
I agree and love all the gourds and pumpkin varieties. We ate one of those grey warty pumpkins after I used it for a centerpiece .. last year, it was good!
Such an exuberant and apt representation of the season in your part of the country, Eliza. A wonderful interpretation of the script Cathy posed as a challenge as well. You can keep that arrangement in place well into December too!
Thanks much, Kris! It does speak of fall, dormancy and harvest. Probably around Dec. 1st I’ll put in evergreen boughs and berries. Time is flyin!’
That is certainly a bountiful arrangement, and one you will be able to enjoy for a long time to come.
Thank you, Noelle… it’ll get replaced with Christmas greens in a few weeks, but for now we’ll stick with an autumn theme. 🙂
I adore that basket arrangement Eliza. Could be a whole new spin-off!
Mjy
Thank you, MJ!
Hi Eliza: Yours is one of the more creative in the entire bunch. Great fodder for the months ahead! Happy autumn and happy IAVOM!
Many thanks, Beth!
The arrangements look great, especially the hydrangeas and grasses.
Wordpress has not been been recognizing my login, an occasional issue.
I’ve been having similar issues with my email links. I have to be in the Reader in order to comment. I think they constantly are tweaking things, and then there are glitches. 😦
For me it’s in part whether I’m responding email to a new post email (login fails, reply fails) or on an iPad (login fails intermittently). I think WordPress is messing with login security. All I want to do is reply!
A decade! Wow? I do so like your take on the challenge.
Thank you, Maria!
Your artistic creativity is fabulous, Eliza! ❤️
Thank you very much, Donna! 🙂
Your “vase” is perfect for the season, Eliza! And I’m happy you managed to find some things to gather together for the challenge.
Thank you, Debbie! 🙂
Lovely and perfect for this time of year 😊
Thank you, Belinda! I love autumn arrangements almost as much as summer/spring ones. 🙂
Absolutely love your beautiful autumn harvest selection for the anniversary challenge!! Wonderful ending to the season!!🙂
Thank you, S!
Those dried hydrangeas really caught my eye – beautiful! 🙂
Thank you, Joanne!
What a warm and cozy feeling autumn arrangement. I love the oak leaf hydrangeas — we saw some yesterday still on the bush surrounded by their rusty colored leaves.
Thank you, Barbara!
Love this dried arrangement … very autumnal!
Thank you, Denise!