Flowers at the start of August - In a Vase on Monday

Today is another very hot day, and we haven't had rain for weeks and weeks.  The range of flowers is minimal as plants dry to a crips, but I have been watering a few, and others seem to have been quite resilient.  I am joining with Cathy who came to start this weekly Monday get together on her blog, a fair number of years ago.

This week's arrangement is in the Caithness vase and by its side is the little crystal watering can which I have used many times before.  It signifies that watering is needed to keep the flowers alive. The little trio of seed head rounds are from seeds I purloined during my holiday from a plant with very red stems which I believe are from Lunaria annua 'Chedglow'.  

I wanted to feature the Amni majus, which I have grown for the first time. I have been watching the Amni at every stage loving it from its green frothy foliage stage right up to flowering. It came to me as small plants sent over from Ben, Maggie's son: both are keen gardeners.

The cosmos were a mixed bag of seed, and there are several forms including this sea shell form.  

The achillea Lilac Beauty is somewhat bleached, but still goes nicely with the other colours.  The regular IAVOM gang know that I like seed heads, and looking rather elegant are the seed heads of Betonica officinalis 'Alba', and Teucrium hiranicum. In the background but not easily seen is a leaf from  Japanese aralia 'Tsumugi-shibori' or Fatsia japonica 'Spider's Web'

When I went to take back a couple of library books I came across 'Hortobiography' by Carol Klein. I was a little ambivalent about Carol Klein, and having read her book, mainly during our holiday away last week, I am now off the fence and will be looking out for other books, and perhaps searching for some of the TV programs she presented. I wouldn't have bought the book, but as it was one I could borrow from our local library, I am pleased to have read it. I also took some notes.  We are so lucky to still have free to borrow libraries, unless you reserve a book from a different library, for which there is a small fee.

 There is much about her life here, and interesting from a socio historic point of view.