“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”
Leonardo da Vinci
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This week’s vase for In a Vase on Monday, hosted by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden
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The grasses were what caught my eye today; some are silvery, some shimmer like gold when the sun catches them, and when I spied a white Centranthus flower among them the arrangement started to form in my mind and then in my hands as I walked around the garden.
As I added a few more white Centranthus ruber ‘Alba’ flowers and a sprig of Daisy Fleabane I shaped the bunch of grasses around them, finally placing three white Zinnias at the front.
Do you have any pretty grasses in your garden at the moment?
We had just gathered some hazelnuts from a small tree the squirrels have overlooked, so I have put a few next to the vase as a simple decoration (I usually forget to add a prop!).
It was tempting to add a splash of colour, but the pink centre of one of the zinnias stands out all the more I think without any extra pink…. what do you think?
Now take a look at some of the other vases being created around the world on a Monday for Cathy’s meme at Rambling in the Garden
Thanks Cathy!
Have a good week everyone!
Words and Herbs 
Beautiful arrangement! I loved the simplicity of it, and I agree with you- I don’t think it needed any more color either.
Thanks Sue. Keeping things simple is not easy! 🙂
Now that IS lovely, Cathy! Simplicity is always the best, but not always easy to achieve. Yes there are lots of grasses looking wonderful at the moment but I’m saving them for when there are no more flowers.
An awful thought “no more flowers”… but I was thinking about that time to come too yesterday. I hate to think what I will be putting in a vase in December and January! It will require some very creative out-of-the-box thinking! 😉
Simply beautiful!
Thank you very much Wendell!
My grasses are really starting to show off and I think a grasses vas would be wonderful. I adore that white zinnia with the purple-pink center. I don’t think I see many white zinnias….a perfect, loevely simple vase that is extraordinarily beautiful…and hazelnuts…yum!
Thank you Donna. As I write, the squirrel is in the other hazel tree again. There can’t be many nuts left, but he’ll find them if there are any!
Leonardo’s quote says it all…..spot on 😉
It’s a quote I will try and remember Cathy! 🙂
Perfect! I love the hazelnut “props” too. I tried for simple this week as well but I think you did it better, Cathy. I find it’s hard to stop tweaking the vase.
I know what you mean! I was tempted to use a dahlia or zinnia again to pep it up! 😉
Very beautiful Cathy! I see you have acorns already falling, we do too as well as hickory nuts and the walnut will be falling soon! Fall is just around the corner 🙂
Hazelnuts Michael! The squirrels left us some this year! 😉 I don’t think we have hickory in Europe, but there’s a walnut tree not far from us, and chestnuts too.
Love this arrangement, and the lighting is perfect for the subject.
Thanks Gwynne. I’m just watching our squirrel searching for more of those last hazelnuts for his breakfast!
That really is a beautiful arrangement – your photos could come straight from the pages of a magazine. There’s a Stipa arundinacea in our garden that’s looking especially good right now, but it’s just that bit too floppy to be easily included in a vase of flowers.
Thank you Sarah! 🙂 I intend to plant some more grasses soon as they do well here in this well-drained garden. Stipa is lovely and Pennisetum is something I’d like too.
Amazing photos Cathy. I love the elegance about them.
Thanks Nancy – lovely to hear from you! 🙂
I could only see the first photo (the others didn’t download) & I was stunned by the sheer grace & noblesse brought out by its simplicity.
Very kind words – thank you! 🙂
Perfectly lovely–doesn’t need another thing–and your photos capture the essence of your arrangement wonderfully. Quite beautiful.
Thank you Susie! I felt happy with this vase again…which is not always the case! 😉
Looks like a stil life ~ something for meditate and calm the eyes.
It is calming, yes. Thanks Uta.
That´s what I feel and what I need. Thank you!
You’re welcome. Hope all is well with you.
I am so missing not having flowers for a Monday at the moment. Then I took a look at your arrangement and miss them even more. Your vase this week is right up my street, simply stunning. The LdV quote is spot on.
Thank you Dorris, and hope you can find some flowers again soon. 🙂
I think you did this arrangement perfectly with the white, the wood, and the hazelnuts. Such a nice clean autumn arrangement. Here the grasses are just coming into their own and I’m halfway liking it even if I am still in denial over the end of summer.
Thanks Frank. I’m sure you’ll get into the swing of autumn once the colours start showing. We are now getting the misty morings typical at this time of year and it still looks quite ghostly out there at 8am!
Lovely. I have tried to grow that Coreopsis with a magenta eye but it doesn’t last in my garden.
It’s a Zinnia! I had a mixed seed packet called “Profusion” and this white one was in there along with pinks and oranges too. 🙂
Cathy, that is really beautiful. You have a good eye!
Thanks Janet! I quite liked this one too!
I like the simplicity of your arrangement, Cathy. The vase works well for the cuttings, doesn’t it?
We do have grasses (two or three varieties) but I don’t think to cut them very often. I tried an all grass arrangement once and didn’t like it at all. I’ll have to try your method.
Thanks Alys. I put some grasses in a vase without water a few years ago and it still looks fabulous. Will have to resort to that one Monday in winter probably!
Really? Wow. I’ll give that a try this fall. Great idea
So elegant, Cathy! I love how you placed the arrangement for the photos as well – very complementary.
I think the grasses make it look so elegant. I will be using them a lot in the autumn as i just love them!
I never got to visit you last week, Cathy, so here I am a week late! The simplicity of your arrangement is so lovely. Simply perfect!
Thank you Dana! 🙂