This morning we woke up to an evenly grey sky with no billowing cumulus nimbus clouds, and like the other days where we were promised rain but got none, today I fear that wind will be the on the agenda as Storm Floris hits the north of the country, with lesser winds felt this far south. The Storm is called Floris, so quite apt to mention it as the name means flower or blossom.
To reflect the storm and the grey skies this week I chose again a monochromatic selection which I think for three or four days will form a shapely arrangement in our living room.
There are four elements in this Chinese Cloisonné vase. Central are the spikey rosettes of Eryngium 'Silver Ghost', and soft velvety whorls of Pseudodictamnus acetabulosus form a lovely contrast in texture, again the Hylotelephium × mottramianum 'Herbstfreude' much more easily referred to as Sedum 'Autumn Joy' is a favourite even before it is showing any colour, and appearing for the first time in a bouquet the delightful still green seed heads of Corncockle.
I only got to grow Corncockle this year as they had a tray of 9 small plants up at the Bishop's Palace, and I like to buy something as it raises funds for the garden. As a cultivar is had the tiniest of pink purple flowers not at all as shown in some pictures, but it did have good height, and I am so pleased that that I did not grub them all up straight away. The stems of the unripe seed heads are to me very attractive and the grey green colour a perfect element in this vase. When we were down in Kent a few weeks ago I saw the white form of Corncockle with larger blooms grown to great effect in Great Dixter and also at Sissinghurst
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| Unripe Corncockle seed head |
With winds in mind, armed with my bucket of water I had headed outside this morning and picked a selection of material including some roses, as well as doing some dead heading. Although I could have used the roses and changed the mood of the first arrangement completely, they did not go to waste. Here they are on the sideboard in the dinning room in front of a sampler made by a very special person.
The most recent read from the book club is James by Percival Everett. I found it well written and worth reading, but must say in parts I didn't feel brave enough to read it as a bed time read, as I found the cruelty metered out too upsetting.
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| James by Percival Everett. |
I am linking in the In a Vase on Monday post to Cathy's blog, where in contrast you will be able see the sweetest of colourful arrangements.
Very different indeed - and brave in a way to share a monochrome vase like this in the middle of summer. I especially love the Pseudodictamnus and the corn cockle seedheads area a great additionto th eryngium and sedum too. When I have used 'sedum' in a vase I sometimes feel I am cheating in a way, as they are so chunky that you can easily make a sizeable posy. It's a silly thought, I know!
ReplyDeleteI seem to be drawn to monochrome and am often drawn to the antithesis of currant vogues. For instance when people wear dark colours in the winter I like bright colours. This is indeed a sizeable vase and the sedum just had the right pale green glaucous sheen few other flowers in the garden have.
DeleteI'm fond of monochromatic arrangements myself so I love that first vase, Noelle. I wish I had better luck with Eryngium but your unripe corncockle seedheads remind me of some of my Leucadendrons ;) The roses are lovely of course. I hope you pick up some of that rain as the storm passes through.
ReplyDeleteThank you Kris, your Leucadendrons are just magnificent and I suppose it is the form which you are seeing. I haven't tried Leucadendrons but I have a feeling that I would fail with my garden aspect and winter weather.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed both arrangements. The first one is elegant in its simplicity, and I always enjoy Roses--in the garden and as cut flowers. Lovely. Thanks for the book recommendation. I'll check and see if it would be a good one for my book club.
ReplyDeleteSadly my rose bushes have been well below par this year suffering very much from the heat, sun and lack of rain. We keep having forecasts that predict rain but with very little or none falling. The ground is parched and cracking open. I really ought to have started watering much earlier.
DeleteI believe the book would be excellent for an American book club in particular, with much discussion about the character. I have not read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn, and I believe it would be even more significant if I had.
DeleteThe Eryngium is a lovely centrepiece, but my eye was caught by the corncockle and pseudodictamnus seedheads. Both are new to me, and they are quite beautiful. I must look up the plants to see how they flower. Lovely roses too!
ReplyDeleteI believe both these plants would fit in with your style of gardening Cathy, but I am not sure if the pseudodictamnus would stand temperatures less than -5C. They do come very quickly from cuttings, so maybe you have somewhere like a glasshouse where you could overwinter cuttings which would be ready to plant out in the spring.
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