I have got a vase full of sunshine today – lovely lemon and lime colours, refreshing and cheery!
There are sunflowers to be picked in the flower field near us, but Cathy’s lovely meme encourages us to take materials from our own gardens and they are plentiful right now. I stuck with the sunflower jug though. 🙂
Lemon balm was the first ingredient taken, and then the lime green Euphorbia. The rest was built up around that theme.
I included a few Marigolds and a white Zinnia (both grown from seed and slightly disappointing), a yellow Achillea flower and some fresh green Sedum buds. Below you can also see a yellow wild flower is in there, which has popped up around the edges of our ‘lawn’.
The yellow Potentillas are flowering, so I added a couple of sprigs – I have two large shrubs which I always overlook until they flower. A useful plant for (almost) evergreen interest. (It does shed leaves in a very cold winter though).
The Clematis tangutica is as rampant as ever. Perhaps I will get round to giving it a larger obelisk next year! Both the flowers and seed heads feature here, as well as a small piece of Golden Euonymus and some St John’s Wort.
The finishing touches: some Zebra grass (botanical name?), an arch of Vinca leaves and a couple of Alchemilla leaves around the edges.
Do visit our host, Cathy at Rambling in the Garden. Her vases with her imaginative props are always a delight!
Great combination of colours, Cathy!I will try it, too, as I have some gorgeous Hydrangea Paniculata Limelight in bloom these days.
Oh yes, that hydrangea would be a lovely backdrop for any additional colour, but especially more yellows and greens, which can be so refreshing and calming. 🙂
Your vase says summer..but somehow fresh and cool at the same time. What a lovely assortment of blooms. Have a lovely week.
Thank you Noelle – summer and cool is just what I wanted to achieve! 🙂 (It is cooler today actually, but I have had enough of the heat we have been having recently!)
A lovely amalgamation of flowers.
Thanks Lisa!
Lovely! And what a cheery vase. Summer, summer, summer!
Thanks Laurie! Summer is at its peak now!
I love the green with the splashes of yellow, Cathy – and especially the clematis, even more attractive whilst still in bud. Thanks for sharing. Great photo on your header too
Thanks Cathy! Those golden clematis flowers never really open out, which is a shame but I still love the bell-like form. 🙂
I wonder why they don’t open out? I thought the tangutica ones did?
Well, maybe it is just this one, but the last yellow one I had also didn’t get much beyond the ‘bell’ shape.
Miscanthus zebrinus (I think) and one of my favorites. It’s perfect in your vase with yellow flowers.
Thank you for that ID Marian! It has finally got large enough to snip off the odd leaf here and there; mine has proved to be much slower getting established than other Miscanthus.
J > Wonderful colours – a real zzzing to the arrangements!
Thanks! The lemon balm smells lovely too!
J & D > lemon balm is our favourite herbal tea: just the other day we harvested a lot and dried it for winter – it’ll remind us of great days to come next year: but of course we’re enjoying it fresh right now.
I do the same with lemon verbena… in winter a cup of that brings back memories of summer!
I love it this week, you can almost smell it just from the pictures. Love the sunflower jug too.
Thank you Haile! 🙂
It looks so professional, Cathy, you’d think they came straight from Fleurop. Sunny indeed! And beautifully photographed too, happy Monday xx
What a lovely comment Annette! Thank you! 😀
A jug full of sunshine, with several plants i have never seen before. With Lemon Balm for fragrance. Wonderful. And I love the Sunflower.
Thanks Amelia, and glad I can show you some plants you don’t know too!
What a sweet vase! You did a great job selecting its contents too. The lime colors cool down the bright yellows to just the right degree.
Thank you Kris! I should use that vase more often!
Cathy, I think this might be my favorite vase of the summer. What absolutely gorgeous, cheerful, yellow flowers. I love the vase, too. Your photos, as always, are breathtaking, so I’m feeling quite uplifted by the end of this read. Now I’m going back for a second look.
Aah, what a sweet comment again Alys! Thank you, and I am so glad it has brightened your day too!
🙂 I hope you enjoy your weekend ahead.
You too, Alys!
This is so delightfully sunshiny, Cathy – love the jug, it fits the arrangement perfectly!
Thanks Eliza! Thankfully the real sunshine is rare so far this week and we are enjoying some relief from the heat. 🙂
It’s really good to have a close up view and see all the ‘ingredients’, I often think ‘Oh I’ve got that’. A bright collection in a pretty vase.
I get lots of ideas from other people’s vases too. In fact I saw Lemon Balm in someone else’s vase last week… 😉
A lovely combination of flowers and herbs, the vase must smell amazing.
It smelt strongest when fresh, but if you rub the herb leaves it still smells nice! 🙂
Love these rich, jubilant colors. Like sunshine.
Perfect for indoors today, as the sun is having a day off! 😉
Must be a luscious vaseful 🙂 I used to grow lemon balm… or rather, I planted it and it grew on no matter what! 😉 Sorry I have been so absent lately; it’s been all I could do to keep up posting lately – hope that will change soon, but not sure…
Amy, it is always lovely to hear from you, no matter how frequent or infrequent! Hope all is well.
Thanks, Cathy – it’s looking like we may be moving, which is exciting from some standpoints, but a bit devastating as far as the garden is concerned, making blogging a bit difficult lately!
Oh what a dilemma, and how frustrating! Just as you have got your lovely garden established. But moving can be so positive too, and it will mean you can create a new garden again! Anyway, I hope that whatever happens you will be able to blog in the future too and share your experiences. xx
Cathy, I love your bouquet. That combination of yellow and green, I love the amount of flowers you have used, especially the Zinnia. The jug of sunflowers is beautiful as a vase. Everything tastes to Summer. Greetings from Margarita
Thank you Margarita.
I love your page, so beautiful and creative! 🙂
Thank you!
Lemon and lime, those are always a great mix Cathy. You used such lovely flowers to create it too. You always have an interesting mix and these look great.
I was thinking of lemon barley water and lime cordial… both of which I can’t get here! 😉
Oh that’s a shame Cathy. There must be something similar, surely? Perhaps you could become the official importer and vendor of.
I’m not sure there would be much demand! 😉
Hmm. You sure? Worth a survey surely?
A colleague of mine used to run a British Shop, mostly selling stuff online, but it didn’t really pay. I sometimes buy teabags online and you would never believe what I have to pay for them compared to British supermarket prices!
Really? That’s interesting I’d of thought there would be demand sufficient to make it pay. I guess you fill your bags whenever you’re over ?
Yep! The most important things are teabags, Marmite, curry pastes and spearmint polo mints! LOL! I used to bring back loads of other things, like crumpets, rich tea biscuits and marmalade (!), but tastes change and I either don’t miss things or have found a good equivalent here. 😀
Polos and marmite those I get. Marmalade you can make your own, surely? Crumpets and rich tea, hmm better off without them I guess!
I’ve been traveling and missed last week’s beautiful vase. I was in another state, Oregon, and had so much fun noting flowers that often grew wild, and would never survive where I live! Walking and taking note of home gardens was a highlight of my time away! Your lemon and lime vase this week is quintessential summer, Cathy! I absolutely love the variety you have been able to bring together. It is very cheery! 🙂
That is what I love doing too Debra! Walking in the woods around here my eyes are always on the wild plants and flowers and butterflies too. Glad you enjoyed your holiday!
How absolutely gorgeous!! Love the flowers and how they blend soo perfectly . Really refreshing and lovely!
Thank you Lemon Zest! 🙂
Welcome 😄