The weather is glorious – sunny but without the blistering heat of last week, thank goodness – and everyone in my little family is fine. My daughter is on a two-week ballet workshop which culminates in a four-day run of The Nutcracker (odd choice for a summer ballet but, hey). My two boys are not working today and the eldest had a dentist appointment so we drove to Deal in our new (second-hand) car. This was a pretty momentous occasion. We’ve been dithering about getting a small car with a manual gearstick for the children to learn in for months (actually, a couple of years) and with my younger son’s second attempt at his driving test fast approaching we finally have one! Yay! I can tell you that sitting in the passenger seat next to your seventeen-year-old child while they drive is pretty awesome. I thought it would be terrifying but all the driving lessons have obviously been worth it and as soon as he’s used to this car I think he’ll be good to go.
Anyway, flowers… The garden has been quietly getting on with itself since the village garden safari. I’ve been watering and feeding the veg and roses, dead-heading and doing the occasional half hour of weeding but other than that it’s had to had to fend for itself. Happily, there is a second flush of roses and buds on ‘The Generous Gardener’ and so I snipped a few for a Monday vase. There’s a large patch of pale pink phlox (unknown variety) that’s coming into bloom, so I cut a few of those, too. Too much pink? No. I added a few spires of pink snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus ‘Appleblossom’), which are flowering beautifully, and a single marigold (Calendula officinalis ‘Sunset Buff’). Too much pink? Maybe. So I snipped a couple of orange Crocosmia and Perovskia ‘Blue Spire’ to add a little contrast. It all smells amazing and I’m pretty bowled over by that rose.
It’s lovely to be joining Cathy at Rambling in the Garden (who has also picked pink this week) and other bloggers with their Monday vases. Do click on the link to see her vase and many more from around the world.
I hope all’s good in your part of the world, with your loved ones and with you. Have a great week.
acoastalplot 
Well, I certainly can’t say there is too much’ pink, Sam! The calendula is a great choice to link the pinks with the other contents – such a nice shade. Always interesting to hear what your offspring are up to too 🙂
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Good luck with your driving test Ollie xx
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Such pretty ‘summery’ colours – glorious!
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You did an exemplary job balancing out the pink, Sam! I’d have never thought of throwing in the an orange Crocosmia flower (if I had one) but you made it work. Now, you’ve got me wondering what exactly happened to those Crocosmia bulbs I planted.
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Generous Gardener is my favourite rose because it smells so good and I ove the splash of orange.
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I think your vase is perfect. There can never be too much pink in my opinion.
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Dear Sam, enjoying your blog as always! For some reason, the pictures have slipped into a smaller size than they were and won’t open full screen for me. And I want to see every luscious detail. please.
Marta in Canada
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Hi Marta, WordPress glitch I think! Hopefully all resolved now 🙂 Thanks for reading.
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I think your arrangement has a nice balance with the blue and orange. Glad your weather has turned pleasant, ours has as well. Funny you should mention manual transition because these days they are very hard to find in the US, while I was under the impression the automatics were rare in Europe. When we were last in France we rented a car and where we were (outside Paris) they had only manual. Judy had not driven a manual for decades and I never had, but we figured: how hard can it be? So we got onto the highway and … let’s just say it wasn’t pretty. We did get the hang of it eventually, more or less.
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I learnt in a manual but hadn’t driven one for years – it came back to me, like riding a bike, after a couple of crunchy clutch moments!
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How cool that you use crocosmia. Many consider it to be a weed. Although I do not care, I would not use it only because the blooms do not last very long, perhaps because of the arid climate.
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It grows like a weed here, too, but we’ve allowed a few to flower 🙂
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Not too much pink at all, although I’m not a fan of pink in interiors or clothing for myself. I especially love your vase and the wee shell and dish feature beside it.
I’ve had a hard learning experience recently making the transition from driving a manual all my life to the automatic we’ve just bought for my business. Definitely prefer the manual – the automatic is like driving a floating sofa, and I just don’t feel a connection with the engine and being able to make the car do what I think it should be doing! Good for you having your kids learn on a manual, even tho automatics are rare in this country.
I was just saying to my husband last night (who I’m sure wasn’t listening but was thinking about the floor he is going to be laying as part of our house renovations) that I really miss the crocosmia we have in our Edinburgh garden. It has grown to be a massive, exuberant, deep red fireburst of late summer (which early August is in Scotland). Apart from being glorious in its own right, it’s very “useful” in a vase, just as you’ve done to tone down the pink.
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I know exactly what you mean about automatics, although they’re easier on long journeys. Can you plant some crocosmia corms for next year? x
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