There were times this morning when I thought I may have to forego my contribution to Cathy’s In A Vase On Monday this week. We have had several days of rain, and I know from past experience that with the amount of rain we’ve had, flowers need time to dry out. They look rather droopy and frazzled otherwise.
This is the scene I was met with when I reached the pink Gerberas. With heads laden with raindrops and drooping towards the ground, they otherwise looked okay … ish! I thought I’d pick them all, and see how they faired when taken inside the house and left to dry out for the day.
A very lovely Jude the Obscure rose tempted me; however, with that amount of water on her petals, I know that Jude would not be any happier indoors.
Likewise, Desdemona appears fresh and beautiful now the weather has cooled slightly, but she needs to dry before she can visit a vase indoors.
By later this afternoon, the Gerberas were beginning to dry off. Their petals are not as perfect as I have seen them in the past, but given their appearance this morning, they look much happier now.
Even the back off the Gerbera flowers are rather attractive!
Today, I gained a new appreciation for IAVOM contributors who manage to arrange a single species of flowers in a vase successfully. Who knew how difficult it would be!
When the pink Gerberas flopped to the side of the “vases” I knew I needed more flowers to hold them in place, so dashed outside again to grab a few red flowers.
A great advantage of Gerberas, however, is how photogenic these beauties are, when photographed individually. ❤
So my contribution this week to In a Vase on Monday, albeit late in the day – and using imperfect flowers – was once again an enjoyable challenge! 🙂
Autumn has arrived! However, the daytime weather seems to have not read the memo yet, and the humid, damp days continue. Nights are cooler though, which continues to affect the garden: the Frangipani tree branches look barer with each passing day and the rose bushes continue to lose foliage without much regrowth at all.
I started to collect a few stems from the garden as my contribution to Cathy’s In a Vase on Monday post yesterday, between showers of rain. The Verbena Polaris continues to bloom and is looking healthier now than it has all summer.
The Verbena Polaris is in flying form!
There is so much new growth on my Camellia shrub that I needed to trim a few branches which were beginning to encroach on a walkway … and kept a few for my vase. I also noticed buds beginning to form, so took care not to take any of those branches. The foliage is beautiful and glossy, but you will notice the telltale signs of insect nibbles and heat scorch on the leaves. Hopefully, this will end as the weather cools.
Bud-free Camellia branches.
When I was hunted back indoors by a downpour of rain, I left the cuttings in a container of water on the kitchen bench. By the time rain – which developed into a storm – had stopped, the garden was in darkness.
This morning I cut a few stems of a Tibouchina shrub called ‘Peace Baby’. Every year after flowering finishes I cut the shrub back hard. It begins growing again almost immediately, which shows the hardiness of the plant.
Tibouchina ‘Peace Baby’.
I knew I had a rose bush in bloom that I haven’t brought in for a vase before. I think I have mentioned before that the blooms don’t last long in the summer heat, so there was only one stem suitable to bring indoors. It is slightly affected by heat, but has two pink buds beside the open flower. The buds probably won’t open, but they look very pretty just as they are.
A new David Austin rose to share ~ ‘Heritage’.
When I added the David Austin ‘Heritage’ rose to my vase, it crossed my mind that I should follow Cathy’s example by adding a prop to give meaning to the vase. My own heritage, although I was born in Australia, is English, but I don’t have a Union Jack to display. Hmm, what would tie into my British heritage, I wondered?
David Austin ‘Desdemona’.
Although I hadn’t planned on adding any Desdemona roses, there she was, as usual, waving her beautiful white blooms at me! It would have been rude not to bring her indoors too. 😉
The vase needed a little “something else”, so back outside I went and picked all the pink Gerberas I had in the garden. These are all new blooms since last week, which shows have fast they flower.
Happy Gerberas.
When I placed the vase where it will be on display in the family room this week and took a photo, I didn’t realise that I had inadvertently discovered a prop for my English heritage, albeit a sad mention … let me explain.
The first In a Vase on Monday contribution for autumn in Australia.
As you can see, I have turned the page of the calendar, which now shows the month of March – the first official month of autumn here in Australia. Usually, I would have cropped out the top shelf of the stand, which contains some of my recipe books, but look closely … there lies my heritage.
The world heard the sad news last week of the passing of Dave Myers, one half of the cooking duo The Hairy Bikers. I always enjoy watching Dave, along with Simon King, joking their way through the dishes they cook during their biking journeys. And both Dave and Si are from England, specifically the north of England, which is where my heritage lies. I will continue to enjoy watching reruns of episodes from The Hairy Bikers – the food they make, and their strong northern accents reminds me of my parents, who arrived in Australia with my three sisters several years before I was born. ❤
A tiny vase for my office.
Not wishing to end on such a sad note, I will now share the tiny vase of flowers I picked to sit beside my desk in my office. You will notice in the photo above, just one tiny Brachyscome ‘Mauve Bliss’. There are three in the vase, but the others are lost beneath the Gazanias!
Miniature peach rose.
To add context to the size of the flowers, the vase is only 6.5cm. tall, and the roses are miniatures. The peachy coloured rose bush has the most flowers in bloom just now and I really love this gentle shade of peachy colour.
Deep violet-purple ‘Love Potion’.
When I dead-headed the Love Potion rose, I found there was only one flower suitable for a vase this week.
Purple Salvia.
And the purple Salvia adds a touch of background interest.
At home in my office, for me to enjoy while working. 🙂
So they are my two vases for this first week of autumn’s contribution to In a Vase on Monday. Don’t forget to visit Cathy, and other Monday vase contributors during this week to admire the new flowers that are springing out of the ground and adorning branches in the Northern Hemisphere. 🙂
When I went outside to collect flowers for a vase yesterday afternoon for Cathy’s In a Vase on Monday meme at Rambling in the Garden, I was swarmed by a thousand mosquitoes! Okay, maybe not a thousand, but when you have your hands full of roses and can’t easily swat flying insects that are after your blood, it feels like thousands. 😉
So it was a matter of cut and run. I had waited for the showers of rain to ease before going outside, which is undoubtedly why there were so many active mozzies in the garden. Once in the vase, I decided to wait until today to take photos as the house seemed so dark with the overcast weather. I shouldn’t have waited: we have drizzling rain again today and the house is once again dark.
Last week, the pink Gerberas had only spent flowers, but this week I was able to cut several to bring indoors. There are also plenty of buds opening, so I may even bring in more to add to the vase later in the week. You may also notice some lilac-coloured Society Garlic blooms behind the Gerberas.
There are plenty of pale pink blooms on my Souvenir de la Malmaison rose bush. I wish I’d had longer to choose some to bring indoors, but by the time I reached that part of the garden, I’m sure the mozzies had told their family and friends I was there!
I love the delicate combination of Lavender and pink Gerberas together. When the weather improves, I would like to bring in more of the two for another vase. 🙂
Roald Dahl roses have a weeping habit, as is evident in the way they droop down the vase. By the smile on his face, they seem to be keeping my little duck ornament happy. 🙂 The Roald Dahl rose bush is also covered in blooms but again, I needed to try to outrun those mozzies!
From my kitchen window this morning I spotted a newly opened Hibiscus flower, so I zoomed in on it and caught a photo early. The rain will probably make the flower droop by tomorrow if this weather continues!
I do believe that as much as I enjoy all flowers, pastel colours are my favourites. 🙂
Thanks again, Cathy, for hosting In a Vase on Monday. 🙂
In My World 