Australia · David Austin roses · garden flowers · in my garden · roses · seasons · subtropical climate

In A Vase On Monday ~ Remnants of Summer

Joanne

As the last of the summer flowers begin to call it quits until spring, I collected flowers for today’s In a Vase on Monday, hosted each week by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden, that I may not see many of for the next few months, while the weather is cooler.

The Hydrangea shrubs look extremely healthy since the weather began to cool slightly; however, the flowers are looking just a tad battle-weary. They have been fighting the hot summer’s days for a while now, and are preparing to hibernate for winter. I still love their huge, showy blue blooms though, and picked nearly all the flowers that were left on the shrubs, bar a couple that may still grow larger.

The vase I chose for the Hydrangeas is one I had forgotten about! It lives in the guest bedroom, an old-style wash jug and basin with a dainty blue design. The design can just be seen in the first photo as a reflected image, so another day I will choose flowers to display in the vase that don’t insist on hiding the design!

The intricate detail of each flower, made up of several tiny, individual, flower-like sections is a wonder of nature, as far as I am concerned. Every year, I have to take at least one close-up of a flower.

On the wall in the guest bedroom, I have a canvas of a vase of hydrangeas, which can be seen on the wall behind the vase. The vase is sitting on top of a chest of drawers.

And here is a close-up of the picture. I really am a sucker for all things “Hydrangea” related.

As I have mentioned previously, the flowering season for the roses I adore is drawing to a close also, so I wanted to take full advantage of showing some more roses before they end.

This week, I have mainly David Austin’s ‘Roald Dahl’ roses in the vase, and as you can see, this photo shows some of the imperfections caused by summer heat and hungry insects.

David Austin’s ‘Jude the Obscure’ is also showing signs of heat affected petals. In spring, however, when the roses begin to bloom again and the weather isn’t quite as hot as in summer, the roses will look … well … just as pretty, but with less imperfections.

A cluster of Periwinkles growing beneath the shade of a Frangipani tree have recently started blooming, so I added a few stems to the vase, along with a pale pink salvia that has also just started to flower again.

In a tiny vase – a miniature wash jug and basin – I chose an assortment of miniature roses, mainly ‘Chameleon’, and one lilac ‘Love Potion’ which can be seen at the front of the vase.

The deep purple Tibouchina flower is from a recently planted shrub. Being such a young plant, I hadn’t expected it to flower so soon, so these beauties are a lovely surprise.

The daisies are beginning to flower again now. I have two plants of this gorgeous deep salmon-orange colour, and these two are the first on one of the plants. Before long, I will have enough daisies in bloom to fill a whole vase. 🙂 And on the right is a purple salvia.

As always, the tiny vase will spend the next few days beside my desk. Last week’s vases lasted until the end of the week – five whole days – which is a huge improvement on previous summer flowers, which started dropping after a couple of days. Now the weather is cooling, the flowers are much happier when they are brought indoors.

Also, since the weather has been slightly cooler, I have been spending more time in the garden. So if I temporarily go missing, as I have this past week, you know where I’ll be. 😉

Published by Joanne

37 thoughts on “In A Vase On Monday ~ Remnants of Summer”

    1. My hydrangeas will be barren sticks soon, but for just a short time. Enjoy your daffodils! They are one flower that I would love to grow, but we don’t have enough hours of cold weather to keep them happy.
      Enjoy your week too, Frank. 🙂

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  4. Your hydrangeas are beautiful! I saw a picture in the holiday issue of a magazine this winter. Someone had dried balls of hydrangeas flowers and then used them as decorations of their Christmas tree. It actually looked pretty nice. I love that sweet little pink periwinkle! The ones we have around here are usually blue.

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    1. That’s an interesting idea, Barbara, to decorate a Christmas tree with the dried flowers, especially in an area where there is snow on the ground at Christmas and no flowers are growing. That is one advantage of Australia’s summer being in December! 🙂

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  5. What stunning blooms that battled the heat. I love that flowers are stalwart and reliable for us. What a gift. With our soil it is rare I see blue hydrangeas, but they are my favorite. Actually I love anything hydrangea too!

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    1. To me, Hydrangeas growing in the garden make the house feel more like a home. I do have to make sure they are watered, especially during hot weather, but they actually droop if the are thirsty, and look revived again after a drink! I love plants that can “talk” to you in that way. 🙂

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    1. It amazes me that we still have so many happy-ish flowers in the garden at the end of summer this year, Tracy, but I think this summer may have been a tad milder than usual. We also had plenty of rain, without being flooded, so that helped. 🙂

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  7. I haven’t got an active hydrangea these days, but when I did I am sure I would have overlooked it as vase potential, which is a big mistake, as your first vase shows. I love the variety your other contributions display too – as you say, the remnants of summer. You must be pleased to be having colour weather now, especially if temperatures have prevented you from getting out in the garden

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    1. Do you think you’ll grow Hydrangeas again, Cathy? I thought they would love your milder climate. It is so good to be getting back into gardening again! I’m even enjoying having sore muscles, which to me is a “good” pain to have, due to the cause. 😉

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      1. I know what you mean about the good side of sore muscles, Joanne, although on a long gardening day for me it is more likely to be a sudden weariness when I stop! Oh, and I do have a couple of hydrangeas still (Little Spooky (?) and Annabelle), but both are young and not flowering yet. They would grow well here, but some varieties would take up more space than I would choose to spare for them!

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        1. I don’t remember what varieties of hydrangeas I have, probably because I planted them so many years ago! They are all smaller than the large, old-fashioned bushes, so perhaps there are more compact varieties available as well. I hope yours begin to flower soon so you can share a photo or two of them. 🙂

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  8. I’m glad to see you’re making good use of your plethora of flowers as your summer season comes to an end. Every time I see your Hydrangeas I regret having none of my own. Maybe I’ll try one in a large container this year where I can watch its watering more closely 😉

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  9. Glad your temps are becoming more comfortable, one of the joys of autumn. Do you dry your hydrangeas in situ? I usually have a vase or two to enjoy during the winter.
    Enjoy the rest while they are still blooming!

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    1. The only flowers I have ever dried are Australian natives, Eliza. I think I am a tad spoiled – I can usually still find something floral, and definitely greenery, in the garden even during winter! 🙂

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  11. Lovely flowers and roses. ❤ I have been eyeing up Roald Dahl rose, it is good to see he grows well for you. I saw a Tibouchina on a hardware store discount bench and was very tempted to buy it for a pot. It is too cold and frosty here to grow it in the ground but they are superb!

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    1. Thank you, Sarah. 🙂
      Have you looked at the Treloar website for roses? I have discovered they give every plant a star rating, and even advise the climate they are suited to. The Roald Dahl rose bush is a beautiful feature plant in the garden and visitors often comment on it when it’s in bloom.
      If you decide to buy a Tibouchina for a pot, keep in mind that during summer, they love the sun! The hotter, the better, from my experience. 🙂

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  14. The hydrangeas are truly beautiful Joanne! I think youmade the right choice cutting as many as possible. Have you tried drying them before? The vase is lovely too. Although I am currently excited about our spring, I can completely understand your happiness that autumn has arrived. It is my favourite season, not least because it allows relaxed gardening time! Happy gardening!

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    1. Thank you, Cathy. 🙂 As I cut the flowers, I felt that it was also doubling as some minor pruning in readiness for winter. They say to only prune the branches that have flowered and leave the others, but goodness knows how anyone can remember which to leave! I haven’t tried drying hydrangeas myself, but I do admire the photos I see of dried arrangements. I think I may be spoilt here, in not having a long winter, so I always have something in flower. ❤

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  15. Pretty vases. I love hydrangeas but it is a little too warm here for them and roses as well. People do grow roses but I live on sand! I know you are happy with the cooler weather, it is heating up here. That same vinca reseeds everywhere here.

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    1. You are right, I think hydrangeas and roses are far too hungry to grow on sand. The periwinkle arrived among some rock and sand which was delivered here a few years ago, but I didn’t see them until they began to grow. I planted them under the frangipani tree, and they have thrived ever since. They seem like hardy little plants.

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