Today’s vase is tribute to the dahlia it contains: ‘Art Nouveau’. With an estimated height of only 35cms this was the only dahlia to be planted out in one of the borders where sadly it hasn’t done very well and has suffered more slug damage than any of those in the cutting beds and adjacent pots. It certainly deserves better than that, and it would be a delight to have had more than just the handful of frilly pink blooms that have been produced this season – although the frilly pink blooms have at least been even more delightful than the ‘lilac, underside of petal red-purple’ that the Peter Nyssen catalogue described them as being.
The single stem of dahlias is joined by a similarly single stem of hardy Fuchsia magellanica, fuchsias being a common motif in the Art Nouveau period and featured, or so I thought, on the Royal Brierley Crystal vase that I was considering using because of its style. The vase was a gift from colleagues when I ceased the market research work I did whilst my children were small and I had always considered the motifs to be fuchsias, but today I was less sure and chose a different vase instead. In retrospect, on checking it out, they are indeed the stylised fuchsias of that period.
My alternative choice was one of the Caithness Glass ‘Ebony’ vases that live on the mantlepiece in our living room; these were all bought in the 90s from the factory shop in Oban on visits to my Mum. Photographs were taken on the stove below the mantlepiece (top) and with the complete collection of vases (bottom). The vases look like pottery but are indeed glass and I am very fond of them – despite having bought them for their aesthetic quality I really should remember to use them more often on a Monday!
It’s always interesting to see both blooms and vases in your posts every week so pop out into your gardens or forage around locally and find something to display in your home or workplace to bring you pleasure during the week – then link to and from this post so we can all have a look as well.
Rambling in the Garden 
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Everybody has been complaining about slug damage to their dahlias this year. I consider myself to be lucky that neither slugs nor snails thrive in my garden, indeed I think there must be nematodes naturally occurring as I often find empty shells of snails. The Dahlia is pretty but I like the vase even more. You’re right you should use them more, they are beautiful. Here’s my link: https://myhesperidesgarden.wordpress.com/2017/10/16/in-a-vase-on-monday-add-a-little-lime/
Are they generally less common in warmer countries, do you think? As you can see from the last photo, most of these vases are fairly tall, and I tend not to have ‘tall’ arrangements very often but I certainly need to remember them when I do 😉
Graceful and elegant arrangement, Cathy. The Dahlia looks similar to Asian paintings of Chrysanthemums. And yes, do use your beautiful vase collection more often! I like the grape motif tile around your fireplace as well.
My vase this week: http://wp.me/p3O3z4-22S
Oh yes, I see what you mean – I really like the curving of the petals which was not mentioned in the description in the catalogue. The tiles are reproduction, and are perfect in for this setting
Hi Cathy I haven’t had so much slug damage this year but found they were just late to start flowering. As always you have put together an interesting arrangement. Mine is all about petals this week https://digwithdorris.wordpress.com
Mine were planted out relatively early this year and I certainly noticed the difference in flowering time – they had a much shorter season last year
Therein lies the issue
Mine were late the previous year so I learned from that…! 🙂
And she is gently rustling the edges of her cloak here… 😉
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Graceful was the word which came to my mind as well – she almost seems to move. Here is mine http://absentgardener.com/2017/10/16/in-a-vase-on-monday-more-spring-bulbs/
Graceful, yes indeed, although the plant itself did not look in the least bit graceful!
That dahlia is beautiful! Fuschias are among my favorite flowers, too. 🙂 There isn’t too much left in my garden, but I gathered what I could find…http://heirloomcottagegarden.weebly.com/blog/in-a-vase-on-monday-late-flowers
It is a different sort of challenge when there are less blooms available, isn’t it?
Such an elegant arrangement this Monday.
Thanks Lisa
The dahlia has a lovely form and color. Your Caithness Ebony collection is remarkable. Nice choice for today. I prepared my vase on Saturday and mixed up the dates so scheduled it to post yesterday–always eager to join in the Monday vases! https://pbmgarden.blog/2017/10/15/in-a-vase-on-monday-peach-dahlia-delight/
Oops! We would have welcomed it early just the same though!
I love your vase collection. Elegant is a good description of the arrangement and a wonderful combination with the Dahlia and Fuchsia. The Dahlia reminds me of a water lily, ladylike and pretty.
Someone above asked about slugs in warmer climates. I see one about once a year, usually under a pot or a dark moist place. We have giant grasshoppers that cause similar damage. Here is my vase: http://theshrubqueen.com/2017/10/15/in-a-vase-on-monday-dark-glasses
Thnaks Amy and yes, I can see the water lily similarity. Thanks for confirming my thoughts on slugs in warmer climates – but your grasshoppers are somethng I have not heard mention as a garden pest before
Gigantic orange and yellow grasshoppers at that. It’s always something.
!!!
I always know I will get a treat when I visit you on Mondays and this week is no exception. I love the vase collection. I was thinking of doing something similar with a local glass artists’s vases but they sold out before I made up my mind to purchase more than one. They really make a statement as a group. My offering is here: http://www.lindabrazill.com/each_little_world/2017/10/ivom-gbbd-10152017.html
Aw thanks Linda, such kind words. I think I managed to get one of each shape of these vases before the outlet closed – the company still operates but has been taken over and makes nothing like the glass it did before
The tiles around your fireplace are as gorgeous as your collection of ‘Ebony’ vases. A stunning arrangement in a beautiful setting. Love the orange autumnal garland around your mirror as well. My vase is here: https://outlawgarden.blogspot.com/2017/10/in-vase-on-monday-from-thrift-store.html
Thanks Peter. The garland is a string of Christmas lights, syled as physalis husks – they look really effective when lit
Personally, I am glad you have this feature. I live vicariously through your beautiful flowers.
Thanks for your kind words, Lisa – it is a real pleasure to host this monthly meme
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Those are wonderful vases and, YES, you should use them more often. The dahlia is exceptionally pretty too and accented perfectly with the single stem of fuchsias. Less is more as you showed here, a lesson I need to re-learn. I’m featuring what I believe is the last of my vase-worthy dahlia blooms today: https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/2017/10/in-vase-on-monday-last-dahlia.html
Thanks for hosting, Cathy!
It is hard to accept that less can be more when there ae lots of blooms around that could be chosen. There are plenty of cosmos in exactly the same shade here but I felt it would detract from the dahlias so didn’t include them
Hi all, thanks for sharing the lovely links everyone, and Cathy, your display is just beautiful. It seems like it’s such a precious time of year for flowers, just before the weather really turns.
This week, I have a bouquet of pink sunshine as a storm is brewing.
https://doingtheplan.com/2017/10/16/bouquet-113-pink-sunshine-the-storm/
Aw thanks Jen – isn’t it great to see all the other vases? I love my Mondays 🙂
A most pleasingly shaped and elegant vase for an attractive dahlia and its companion Cathy. I wonder if ‘At Nouveau’ is related to dahlia ‘Art Deco’ which I intended to order earlier this year but then managed to forget. I love the seasonal Chinese lanterns decoration. I couldn’t resist buying a couple of bunches of them when we visited a country market on our recent holiday. My vase gathered in yesterday’s sunshine is here :
https://greentapestry.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/in-vase-on-monday-last-of-summer-wine.html
Thanks Anna – yes, Peter Nyssen had 3 ‘Art’ dahlias but the other 2 are less unusual in shape and didn’t appeal to me. My Chinese lanterns are Christmas lights – are yours the real thing…?
Perfect choice, that elegant shape of the vase goes so well with those beautiful graceful flowers!This is the link to my vase: https://timpingradina.blogspot.ro/2017/10/in-vase-on-monday-only-in-october.html
Thanks Anca – I love the shape of this vase!
Stunning, my #inavaseonMonday is a simple desktop arrangement, trick is to hollow out pumpkin and insert the medicine cup that comes with liquid children’s medicine
Thanks Peggy – and your vase sounds like a good idea!
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Oh no, another dahlia I’d like to add to my collection. Seriously I plan to only add ones which will enhance and compliment my existing ones. We’ll see! Beautifully put together and what a lovely fire place you have. The fuchsias look so dainty. Thanks as ever.
Here is my vase: http://ablogaboutcompost.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/still-hanging-on-in-vase-on-monday.html
Thus reaklly is a pretty dahlia, Alison. The fireplace and fuel effect gas fire were put in when we were renovating the house so for some time was the only feature in a bare room with bare plaster walls and a bare concrete floor – but it was warm, and pretty!
Cathy the vase is lovely: you have to use it more often. The Dahlia is wonderful, I see her as a lady in her “Art Nouveau” style dress. It fits perfectly with the Fucsias. It is a magnificent and elegant bouquet. Greetings from Margarita.
Thank you Margarita – I agree this dahlia is a real lady!
Dahlia ‘Art Nouveau’ has a lovely shaped flower. There’s life in those petals, which makes it much more interesting. It suits the Caithness vase very well (and what a great collection!)
My bunch of flowers can be found at http://wp.me/pM8Y1-6BM
Thanks Allison – I agree, and I keep sneaking glances at the vase and thinking how elegant it is!
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Love the arrangement and that ‘Art Nouveau’ Dahlia!
Here’s mine
https://duverdiary.wordpress.com/2017/10/16/in-a-vase-on-monday-moody-loos/
Thanks Jen
You have so many wonderful Dahlias! Don’t you just love collections to display? They bring such memories. The vase is a beautiful shape and perfect for the Dahlia.
https://mynewenglandflowerbeds.blogspot.com/
I have some dahlias that are less vase worthy and will not be hanging onto them next year – too many pretty ones to waste time on second rate ones!
Hi Cathy, lovely arrangement of dahlias and fuchsias. You’ve done rather better than I have with your dahlias. The army of snails in our garden had chomped its way through mine so it is a miracle that I have, this morning, managed to pick just one lovely bloom. The vase is the perfect container and your collection is beautiful. I haven’t seen this style of Caithness glass before. Here’s my vase for today: https://silverscrappers.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/in-vase-on-monday-octobers-unexpected.html
Thanks Elizabeth – and sorry to hear about your dahlias, and snails…!
Your vase today is so, so elegant. Thanks for the delightful arrangement.
https://johnsviccellio.com/2017/10/16/in-a-vase-on-monday-remontant/
Thanks John – sadly the dahlias have now drooped although I did condition the stem which was quite woody 😦
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Dramatic and lovely…and your collection of vases is truly spectacular. We’re seeing a lot of Dahlias these days and far be it from me to buck the trend: http://bannersbyricki.com/archives/5911
Thanks rickii – yes, let’s hear it for the dahlias while we still can!
Wow! What a fabulous collection…and I love that dahlia! I’m in this week at http://marianstclair.wordpress.com
Hi Marian – yes, I really need to ensure it is better looked after next year to get more of its pretty flowers
I admire the simple elegance of your collection of vases. I’m a bit of a vase collector, too, but the most cohesive set is a bunch of rustic, brown saltware jugs I inherited from my grandmother – nothing quite so chic as yours. This is my first year growing two varieties of dahlia, and I’ve had both problems people have mentioned – one had a late start, and the other has been plagued by slugs. They are beautiful, though, and I will try them again. My arrangement is here: http://www.torontogardens.com/2017/10/getting-ready-for-the-big-chill.html/ And I’ll have to come back later to browse the long list of links posted by others. Who’d think mid-October would be so productive!
Brown rustic jugs are perfect for all sorts of arrangements though – look forward to seeing some of them. Producing a vase every week has made many of us appreciate even more just what is available in our gardens at all times of the year
I think this is one of your most elegant vases ever, Cathy! The shape of that Caithness vase is so art nouveau anyway; it’s almost surprising to read it was a change of plans!
I went a little overboard on mine today, perhaps 😉 https://www.smallsunnygarden.com/2017/10/17/in-a-vase-feathers-and-frills/
Thanks Amy – it was the ‘fuchsia’ on the other one that made it the first choice, although I do much prefer this one as it is so tactile and elegant!
What a beautiful collection of vases Cathy, and your final choice looks so elegant lined up with its sisters over the fireplace. (I love the chinese lanterns too – I’m trying to grow them but slugs and squirrels are conspiring against me). The descriptions of flowers in catalogues can sometimes be far off the mark, can’t they! Or seem to have been written by some poe-faced, detached scientist with no soul. Sorry for not getting round to posting my link yesterday. I got distracted by the garden! Here it is: https://edinburghgardendiary.com/2017/10/16/dahlias-and-roses-on-a-painted-shelf/
Thanks Joanna – and the ‘physalis’ is a string of Christmas lights but so realistic which is why I am so fond of it 😉
They are a beautiful collection of vases Cathy. They do look like pottery.
Thanks Brian – they did a red version as well which had a Chinese lacquer look about it
I love those vases and your lovely dahlia looks very stylishly displayed. I wondered about the Chinese lanterns, very pretty, they look like buds of Crinodendron hookerianum..
Thanks Chloris – I googled the Crinodendrum…is it one you have?
Those vases are truly gorgeous. Love your fireplace too. A very pretty arrangement. I love looking at what everyone is growing. I’ve prepared my flowers today, and will join in on Monday, if no one minds me being a bit out of step. My flowers always got to MIL at the weekends when we go over there to care for them. I’m looking forward to having a bit more time over the winter. It’s been difficult caring for two households these last few years. Not that I’m complaining. But it will be good not to have to worry about keeping their garden immaculate every week when the weeds and grass stop growing. Phew. I’m a bit worn out in truth. Love karen x
Oh I do hope you manage to have a more restful autumn and winter, Karen – you have been doing a lot of juggling! Glad to read that the talk is a sell-out. And yes, just link with IAVOM as and when you can – I know how dedicated you are with flowers for vases for MIL and yourself too, and that is far more important than sharing them them with your blogging frineds
Thank you Cathy. I’ll write on the weekends then and link the following Monday, if that’s ok. I did try and do a few midweek, but it seemed to annoy people and they kept reminding me it wasn’t Monday. I do like to read what everyone’s getting up to though. Just can’t always join in on the right day.
. My flowers always got to MIL at the weekends when we go over there to caution for them.
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