Don't be fooled. Inside this thin coating of sweetness is a fiery core of total insanity.

Monday, July 9, 2018

In A (Few) Vases on Monday

This week I was conflicted about what to put in my vase. My first Dahlias in the cutting garden opened. It's a Dahlia called 'Totally Tangerine' and although it was more pink than orange I really wanted to use it in a vase with a couple of other flowers that had opened in the cutting garden with colors that I thought would go well. Of course I also wanted to keep my sweetpeas going, so I had to cut lots of them as well, but their stems are so delicate, they didn't go well with the robust nature of the Dahlia. So I just put each in separate vases and set them next to each other by the kitchen sink.

The Dahlia vase also contains Calendula 'Bronzed Beauty,' Calendula 'Solar Flashback,' and Cosmos 'Rubenza'

I've been redoing my front foundation bed, which contains a lot of self-sown Eryngium 'Blue Glitter' that I want to save, so I spent a few hours this weekend digging and potting them up. They've already produced tall wands of perfect flowers, so I saved those as well, cut them off and put them all together in a big vase, which I then set out on the back porch, on a little table where Nigel and I have occasionally in the past enjoyed eating a light summer supper. The other two pots are actually coffee cups from Disneyland, one shaped like Mickey's hand clutching an aspargus fern, the other with a Little Mermaid theme, containing a bird's nest fern (that somewhat -- to my eye at least -- resembles kelp).

The reason the Eryngium flowers are outside is because it seemed to me when I was cutting them that they were a bit stinky, and I didn't want the scent fighting the sweetpeas


Have you cut flowers from your garden today or this weekend? Or ever? It's fun if you don't get too obsessive about it (Haha).

Cathy at Rambling in the Garden hosts In a Vase on Monday. You can check out her post here.
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11 comments:

  1. Wilde CarrotJuly 9, 2018 at 10:29 AM

    Your dahlias are spectacular and offset well by the sweet peas. Wish I had a bed full of that Eryngium!

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  2. Kris PetersonJuly 9, 2018 at 12:12 PM

    Self-sown Eryngium! I can't even get the plants through a single season here. I love all your vases this week. Those sweet peas are spectacular.

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  3. ElizabethJuly 9, 2018 at 12:41 PM

    Hi Alison, I had much the same problem today but didn't add my vase of sweetpeas to my post - maybe next week. The dahlia is gorgeous - love the combination of orange and pink. I didn't know Eryngium could self seed. We have a particularly stunning one called 'Big Blue' which is busily increasing in size each year but so far does not appear to have self-seeded - pity, I'd love it if it did. And you have got me curious - will give ours a sniff tomorrow to check how smelly it is.

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  4. LINDA from Each Little WorldJuly 9, 2018 at 1:26 PM

    I am in the same boat as Kris. I keep trying Eryngium and losing them over the winter. What luxury to have a big vase full of them!

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  5. Cathy Lyon-GreenJuly 9, 2018 at 1:48 PM

    I thought the dahlia was an echinacea at first -it really is a lovely colour and one to look out for. And I envy you all that eryngium, smelly or not, as it is something I have not been able to grow successfully - and your quirky coffee cups!!

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  6. ksJuly 9, 2018 at 5:30 PM

    Oh wouldn't I love to have self-sowing Eryngium , and that looks like a nice one ! And it's been way to long since I've grown SweetPeas too. I need to think about a spot. I grew them for years and years so I must have a spot somewhere.

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  7. Linda ReederJuly 9, 2018 at 7:32 PM

    I might be a little obsessive about it.:-)

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  8. outlawgardenerJuly 9, 2018 at 9:46 PM

    Three, count 'em three vases! I love the way the first two complement each other so well and the grouping with the third is fab! Most impressive to me though is how you just decide to totally redo beds and go for it!

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  9. danger gardenJuly 9, 2018 at 10:04 PM

    Yep, some Eryngium really stink! I think E. venustum Is the worst. It smells like my dads socks. Excellent combo with that tall grey vase though. Have we seen it before? Is it vintage?

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  10. chavlinessJuly 10, 2018 at 8:43 AM

    Why or why didn't I plant more sweet pea... The Little Mermaid is gorgeous. You definitely upped your vase display.

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  11. JACKIESUEJuly 12, 2018 at 9:13 PM

    so beautiful

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