With tender annuals long gone, it’s slim pickings in my garden, but I managed to gather a few things for a vase this week. Witch alder foliage (Fothergilla major) shines this time of year, and I couldn’t resist clipping a bit for its bold color. A stem of daisy mums (Dendranthema), burgundy stonecrop ‘Autumn Joy’ flower heads (Hylotelephium telephium ‘Herbstfreude’), sage foliage (Salvia officinalis) and Nigella papillosa seedheads in a celadon vase.
And a handful of marigold blooms (Calendula officinalis), gently burnished by frost, in a vintage blue cherry milk pitcher.
Thanks to Cathy at Rambling in the Garden who hosts the weekly garden meme In A Vase On Monday, featuring flower arrangements from our gardens. Click the link to join the fun or see what others are sharing this week.
Eliza Waters 
Fothergilla major is a good idea. I did not know that its name is witch alder. We grew it years ago but discontinued it because no one here knows about it.
It is a great native, huge pollinator attractor in spring and its fall color is luminous. It likes moisture, so might not have thrived so well in SoCal.
They blend in nicely to the autumn background dear lady 🤗❤️🙏
Thanks, Mark. 🙂
A very pleasant text. It conveys a love for nature and the pleasure of creating beauty with what the garden offers, even in its simplicity.
Gracias!
those flower bouquets are wonderful – so original and just great
Thank you very much!
😉
And a lovely vase it is. Happy Monday.
Thank you, Alys! 💕
Lovely cuttings and that blue pitcher…oh my, what a beauty that makes those orange blooms shine.
Thank you, Monika. I do love a good color contrast to bring out the best of both. 🙂
I love you marigold flowers Eliza and your vase filled with seasonal beauties is lovely.
Thank you, Agnes! 🙂
Slim pickings maybe but still lovely
Merci, Sheree!
The first vase was lovely, but that second one is just gorgeous! I still have one or two calendula flowers, but they look rather worse for wear! It’s amazing what can be found though, even in November. 😁
Thank you, Cathy! It is a bit more of a hunt this time of year, for sure. 🙂
Very pretty. We’ve hit the upper 20’s so there is nothing left outside except some Winterberry. 🙂
Thank you, Judy. Very frosty this morning here, too. The fields look dusted with snow, they are so white. Yesterday, I noticed a flock of cedar waxwings and bluebirds had found my winterberries. I never have any left for Christmas decorations, no matter how many I plant. I guess that is a good thing, at least for the birds. 🙂
Still lots of subtle color…& so pretty. It ‘said’ we’d get down to 32°…but don’t think it got lower than 36°
Thank you, Alice! I think we dipped into the upper 20s this morning. You must live in a heat island. 🙂
I mostly can’t figure out what’s what in your first vase, but no matter — it’s so pretty, and admiration doesn’t require knowledge. Those are fancier marigolds than I’ve ever seen, and they’re just as pretty!
Thank you, Linda. Marigold is a common name for two genus. Americans mostly mean Tagetes when they say ‘marigold’, whereas for Europeans, it is Calendula. It is confusing. 🙂
The blue and orange in your second picture is always a striking combination! And the first grouping in that green vase is very Fall-ish. Lovely things are still available if we look hard enough, huh?
Thank you, Debbie. Fewer by the day, but one can usually come up with something. 🙂
I cannot decide which one I like better… No, that’s not true; you know I have a love for the daisy family. Plus both have my favourite orange colour. All gorgeous!
🙂 Thanks, Dale! 🧡
My pleasure!
I like adding tree and shrub leaves into my boquets, but had never thought about doing it in the fall. Beautiful BUT…the marigolds in the blue vase! Stupendous. I painted a card with a dark blue vase and a bright orange (complimentary colors, you know) blossom of some kind in it. I found the inspiration in one of my water color books. Now I think the angle of your marigold and blue vase would make for an interesting card. If I can ever find some time I might try it!
Thank you, Dawn. Glad you found it inspiring!
Such lovely flowers Eliza and the marigolds look especially gorgeous in the blue vase 🧡✨️ xxx
Thank you kindly, Xenia! 🙂
Oh! You have managed some contemporary vases after all, Eliza! It’s intriguing to see what has survived your frosts – I know the sedum is pretty tough, but those marigolds are amazing! The white of your ‘daisy mums’ add a sort of ethereal quality to the fading autumn pickings in the first vase, and I love the actual vase itself – lovely!
Thank you very much, Cathy!
My eyes went to your doily. Did you make it, or is it an heirloom?
I can’t remember exactly where I got the doily, but either an antique or thrift shop, or maybe a yard sale.
Pretty fall colors!
Thank you, Debra!
The first arrangement is suitably autumnal in feel, Eliza, and the second is downright perky despite the flowers’ exposure to frost. Your fall foliage in the background provides a beautiful backdrop too.
https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/
Thank you, Kris. Morning frost is becoming the norm now, so once the oak leaves are down, the landscape will be pretty monotonous. I’ll take what late color I can find. 🙂
A great example of just how lovely warm fall colors are. They’re just as appealing as spring things and summer flings!
Thank you, Tina! One works with what one has. 🙂
LOL, Calendula seeds going out now! I love that one and slim pickings looked good to me. I have never heard that common name for Fothergilla love it and the foliage..
Thank you, Amy. Calendula self-sow for me, so I only buy seed when I need a boost in color from years of reverted orange/yellow, which they seem to head to eventually. Fothergilla is a great little shrub, pollinators love it.
I love the simplicity of the marigolds in that beautiful blue vase. ♥️
Thank you, Bela. They are fading, but I surely enjoyed them while they lasted!
I would imagine you did! I love beautiful things in nature. I love them so much, I have a hard time cutting them and putting them inside! And in Hawaii we don’t have to, pretty much everything is perennial. And so of course I have never forgotten New England’s seasonal climate, and how carefully you must cultivate and certainly how you assemble what you’ve cultivated in vases in your house! Sweet dedication. 🙏♥️
Thanks much! 💖
Lovely once again. Always to get these late bloomers…(Suzanne)
Thank you, Suzanne! 🙂
Calendula are a wodner for late color as frost sets in. Lovely arrangements as always!
Thanks, Tom!
I really enjoy your last picture 🙂
Thanks, Anne!
These are lovely!
Thank you, Rupali!
Love the first photo with the autumn golds as a background for the vase and that wonderful vintage pitcher and flowers!🙂
Thank you, S! 🍁
You found some wonderful pickings, not so slim after all. Your Autumn Joy is impressive. That’s something I cannot keep in my garden. It has rarely come back for another year. The marigolds in that blue vase are complete joy.
Thank you, Susie. Maybe your winters are too wet? My best ones seem to grow in largely gravel!
A lovely vase of summer pickings. 🌸
Thank you, Flavia!
Beautiful arrangement! The witch alder foliage is the perfect seasonal background for the lingering autumn flowers.
Thank you very much, Barbara. It was just the pop I needed. I miss bright colors come late fall and winter, when all is monotone. But of course, there is beauty to be found year round. 🙂
Glad to see you here, you’ve been in my thoughts. 🙏🏼
Beautiful. I especially like the marigolds.
Thank you!
Look at you my place is pretty spent as the drought was awful.
Thank you, Eunice. It was pretty dry for a couple months, but we seem to be getting regular showers the past few weeks, thankfully.
Yes finally 🙂
Calendula are so tough, aren’t they? Mine made it through our early frosts and I’m curious to see if they’ll still be in bloom later this week, after today’s snow melts and it’s a bit warmer…I love the Fothergilla leaves! Does your shrub get eaten by rabbits in the winter like mine?
Calendula can take a few light frosts, but now they are pretty much done.
How much snow did you get? I’m not ready for that! We don’t have many rabbits, but perhaps the predators are keeping the numbers down. It is deer that are eating a lot around here. When they move from grass forage to twigs and bark this time of year, they will nibble just about everything! We wrap vulnerable shrubs for the winter to protect them.
They look gorgeous!
Thank you!