In a Vase on Monday: Late Summer Blues

The sun is tired,
Snatching
An extra few minutes
Slumber
Each day,
Taking advantage
Of passing clouds
To have a nap,
And retiring early.
Mornings are
Softer, cooler,
With spidery
Misty-eyed dampness,
And nights reassess
Their wardrobe.
Seedpods are forming

And new growth
Falters;
Trees surreptitiously drop
Litter on the ground;
Squirrels
Industriously plan
Their winter breaks.
The end is nigh
For summer;
Autumn beckons,
Teasing us with
Bold blooms
Of dahlias
And flushed roses
But promising her own
Seasonal delights
And a gentle passage
Towards winter
And beyond.

Some people feel this transition from summer to autumn more keenly, feeling the loss of warmth and sunshine and colour as the seasons progress; others are more pragmatic, recognising that autumn brings its own joys, whether it’s the chance to wear a favourite jumper again, better sleep on the longer nights or the opportunity to rest as summer tasks recede. In a garden, late summer colour can ease the transition, prolonging the season and blending the boundaries. Although my cutting beds have ensured there is plenty of blousy colour still,  summer no longer has much to show for itself elsewhere in the garden although it did produce today’s blooms.

The blue vase was built around the beautiful upright herbaceous clematis, C heraclifolia ‘New Love’, currently smothered in deep blue blooms, and enhanced by annual lavender ‘Spanish Eyes’, Caryopteris ‘Heavenly Blue’, Verbena bonariensis, Echinops ‘Blue Glow’, sweet pea ‘Purple Pimpernel’ and the tactile furry foliage of stachys. None of my blue vases were of an appropriate size or shape to suit the blooms so they were placed instead in a small galvanised pot, one of several IKEA ones acquired from car boot sales; perhaps a blue container would have suited them better, but needs must. The supporting prop was a small blue and white vintage china mug, possibly aimed at a child with the alphabet and numbers 1-19 and thus loosely appropriate for the time of year when many children are returning to school or starting for the first time.

What will your late summer garden produce for you to pop in a vase today? Do share it with us by posting a picture on your blog and leaving links to and from this post.