In a Vase on Monday: July Jewels

~ Sam

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My Monday vases are usually dictated (and therefore limited) by what’s in flower or looking good in the garden. This week I have instead been spoilt for choice. There is an abundance of blooms and there are jars, vases and jugs of flowers dotted throughout the house. This is just what I’d hoped for when I sowed the seeds back in March, and there is hopefully more to come throughout the summer. It is astounding to me that the tiny seeds should have grown into sturdy plants pumping out flower after flower and it seems a huge reward for such small outlay.

This week I’ve picked a rich palette of colours for my vase – my favourite purple and orange but with added deep, dark pink and greens. The flowers are:

:: Cosmos ‘Dazzler’ and ‘Rubenza’ – from Sarah Raven’s dark mix seeds. I was late getting the young plants in the ground but they should carry on flowering well into the autumn.
:: Nicotiana alata ‘Lime Green’ – the flowers tend to close in the bright sun but open out in the evening and the colour positively glows in the border. They smell gorgeous then, too –they’re pollinated by moths so their scent wafts around at night.
:: Cerinthe major ‘Purpurascens’ – the ‘ombre’ foliage seems very variable with some plants not having much purple and others strongly coloured but they’re all lovely.
:: Anemone coronaria ‘Mr Fokker’ – I am delighted with these flowers. I planted several corms in May (a bit on the late side) but already they’re pushing out tall, deeply coloured blooms. I also planted ‘The Bride’ (white) which are also flowering well and ‘Sylphide’ (deep pink) which have sadly yet to appear at all. I was inspired to plant these flowers by Sarah’s success with ‘Sylphide’ last year – she had cut beautiful flowers for months and months, well into the winter.
:: Calendula officinalis ‘Indian Prince’ – I love this marigold. Tall, sturdy and vibrant, it makes a lovely cut flower and you can eat the petals in salads (although my children are highly suspicious of flowers disguised as food!).
:: Lavandula angustifolia ‘Miss Dawnderry’ – the flowers in our lavender beds are just starting to open out fully and the bees are getting busy.
:: Grasses – various wild grasses from our wild patch (so I don’t have names…).

Do pop over to Cathy’s blog to see her vase and links to many other beautiful vases from around the world. Many thanks to her for hosting this lovely weekly gathering.

Wishing you a splendid week.

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37 thoughts on “In a Vase on Monday: July Jewels”

  2. Seeds are a miracle aren’t they, some no bigger than dust. I grew some lime green nicotiana this year (I think I got the idea from you in fact) but they are lagging behind a bit and the first one to flower got decimated by a slug or a football or some such thing. I have high hopes for the rest though, I remember growing nicotiana when I was little and loving it. Your flowers for today are sensational. Definitely ones to look back on in the depths of winter. CJ xx

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  3. Lovely strong colours on your sunny window with the sparkling sea as backdrop. My anemones have been rather smothered by sweet rocket but now that has been pulled out I’m hoping they will recover! Thanks for the ping back Sam – don’t think I’ve had one of those in my in-box before😊

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  4. Yes, the excitement of all those blooms from a tiny seed is incalculable! Gorgeous colours today and your Dr Fokker are SO lovely – all my anemones have had enough for this year but I will see what happens next year. Are yours grown in the ground or pots? I am a little ambivalent about marigolds but I am very attracted to Indian Prince so I think I might invite him along next year

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    1. My anemones are in the ground – the white ones seem very happy, just a few blue (but they’re doing well) but no pink have come up yet. I’m hoping they will appear. Maybe next year. C.’Indian Prince’ is definitely worth planting – a very stately marigold.

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  8. I’m a recent convert to orange. I planted a few calendula but they looked out of place until recently. Suddenly they look cheery and gorgeous. Yours look gorgeous combined with the blue. Lovely.

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  9. I love the strong colors and the vase looks wonderful sitting in your kitchen window. It’s fun for me to see anemones again – they’re a very early spring bloom here, although this year an unusual spate of heat in February knocked them out.

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  11. I tried leaving a comment, but it appears to have been eaten by the Internet. If both comments happen to appear please feel free to delete one of them.

    Your flowers are beautiful, and have cheered me up considerably on what is a very rainy, dark, windy, and dreary day here in BC. 🙂

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    1. There are a couple of trees that need sorting out as they’re getting a bit tall but we are quite high up and can still see the sea clearly.

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  20. My goodness those anemones are beautiful! All the flowers are lovely but that blue is something else. I shall have to get some and find somewhere to put them…. Xx

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  22. I love the flowers you grow for all their bright colours – and am so inspired to grow more and different next year – thank you so much for the inspiration (and the detailed info on the plants too).

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