Last Blooms Before the Frost?

My area had a light frost last week. I gathered plentiful flowers and foliage, thinking it might be my last vase with "fresh" elements for the season.

But here in the woods, on the hill, near the lake most of the plants remain untouched and growing strong!

The vases in this post were compiled last Tuesday; some are still looking fresh almost a week later. And there are more thriving blooms and plants in the garden. Yay!



The first vase pictured at the top includes Cosmos (C. bipinnatus 'Sensation Mix');



Dusty Miller (Jacobaea maritima);



Weigela foliage (W. florida);



Fading Hydrangea blooms (H. arborescens subsp. radiata 'Invincibelle Lace');



'State Fair Mix' Zinnias (Z. elegans); and



'Zowie! Yellow Flame' Zinnias (Z. elegans).



I put a little 'Zowie!' in a bud vase in the restroom.



I also added a pot of mixed elements on the wicker shelf.



It includes Mums (Chrysanthemum morifolium, unknown hybrid);



Some Cosmos blooms and foliage (C. bipinnatus 'Sensation Mix') in the middle; and 



More Weigela foliage (W. florida).



A few cuttings of the Mums created a classy hat for my lady bud vase.



As it turns out, more of these elements remain in the garden, so I'll have new cuttings and fun in the week ahead.

Head on over to Cathy's 'In a Vase on Monday' meme at Rambling in the Garden to see more beautiful vases.

Berries on My Mind

 Common Yew (Taxus baccata)

Lately I've been noticing and thinking about berries, so I thought I'd reflect on them here on the blog. Some are poisonous and some are edible, but this post is simply about how beautiful they are and how they provide food for birds and other wildlife. For information on human edibility, check out this link. All berries shown here are in my garden.

Smooth Solomon's Seal (Polygonatum biflorum)

Fuchsias (F. 'Marinka') (unripe berries above the flowers)

White Baneberry (Actaea pachypoda)

Cranberrybush Viburnum (V. trilobum)

Beautyberry (Callicarpa 'Pearl Glam')

Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum)

Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina)

There are more, but this was a quick reflection. How are the berries doing in your garden? Happy autumn!

Garden Vase Elements That Continue to Deliver

I know frost and freezing are inevitable, but they seem far away. We're having a very mild autumn in much of the Upper Midwest. Here in the Madison area, our average high temperature this time of year is in the mid-60s F (18 C), but our 10-day forecast includes some highs in the 70s and 80s F (20-27 C). There's no frost in the forecast yet.

Anyway, the flowers keep blooming, so more bouquets! The arrangement I'm sharing here is very simple but fun.



The Hydrangea foliage (H. macrophylla) continues to deliver. It's a great frame for, and long-lasting element in, any arrangement.



Sedum flowers (Hylotelephium telephium 'Autumn Joy') seem appropriate for this time of year.



The Cosmos blooms (C. bipinnatus 'Sensation Mix'), with regular harvesting, will continue until frost.



And Dusty Miller (Jacobaea maritima) seems a good companion for the Sedums.

These elements have long vase lives and gracefully decorate their corner.

Do you have arrangements to share? Head on over to Cathy's 'In a Vase on Monday' meme at Rambling in the Garden.

Quick Cuttings in Vases on Monday

Mexican Sunflowers (Tithonia rotundifolia 'Goldfinger')

It's the end of the summer (happy autumn!), but the flowers are still bright and perky. I must admit I've been plopping elements into vases quickly, without a lot of planning, for various reasons.



This particular vase (above) was a composite of quick clippings from the garden. I wasn't thinking much of it, but then the Fishman mentioned he liked it. And the more I thought about it, the more I appreciated its less-than-perfect blooms and its scruffy appearance: sort of emblematic of the changing seasons.



It includes foliage from Dusty Miller (Jacobaea maritima)...

'Zowie! Yellow Flame' Zinnias (Z. elegans)...

'Sensation Mix' Cosmos (C. bipinnatus) foliage...



And some very scruffy False Sunflowers (Heliopsis helianthoides).



Another recent arrangement includes blooms from Mixed Zinnias, Blue Mistflowers (Conoclinium coelestinum), 'Sensation Mix' Cosmos (C. bipinnatus), 'Invincibelle Lace' Hydrangea (H. arborescens subsp. radiata), and Hydrangea foliage (H. macrophylla).



Similar, in a different vase; some white mixed in with the blue Conoclinium coelestinum.

Sometimes the simple things are the sweetest. Our recent windstorm blew over the Mexican Sunflowers (Tithonia rotundifolia 'Goldfinger'), so I clipped the flowers and gave this little miss a colorful hat.

Do you have some arrangements to share? Head on over to Cathy's 'In a Vase on Monday' meme at Rambling in the Garden.

Wordless Late Summer Blooms and Bugs

Western honey bee on Hylotelephium telephium ‘Autumn Joy’

Cabbage white butterfly on Clinopodium nepeta

Common hoverfly on Conoclinium coelestinum

Shiny sugar ant on Hylotelephium telephium ‘Autumn Joy’

Cocklebur weevil on Echinacea purpurea foliage

Shiny sugar ant on Zinnia elegans ‘State Fair Mix’

Flat-tailed leafcutter bee on Conoclinium coelestinum

Bee and fly on Hylotelephium telephium ‘Autumn Joy’

Common eastern bumble bee on Clinopodium nepeta

Common greenbottle fly on Hylotelephium telephium ‘Autumn Joy’

Goldenrod soldier beetle on Heliopsis helianthoides

It's Only Foliage in a Vase on Monday

The garden is still bursting with blooms!

But I needed to trim some of the foliage on my potted plants, so I thought it might be fun to do a "foliage only" arrangement. I clipped, clipped away out in the garden, gave it a little thought, and here's what I came up with. The "foliage only" grouping includes:









Several mixed cultivars of Coleus (C. scutellarioides) that I grow in pots;



The wonderful framing element of Hydrangea foliage (H. macrophylla);



A couple sprigs of the sprightly Dusty Miller (Jacobaea maritima);



A fun, squiggly spot of Cosmos (C. bipinnatus);



And several groupings of Polka Dot Plant (Hypoestes phyllostachya), to add some character.

This was a fun one! I might try to do this more often in the future...it's a slightly more challenging departure from the equally delightful bloom-focused arrangements.

Thanks so much to Cathy for hosting In a Vase on Monday!