We are not barbecue aficionados ourselves (unlike some of our neighbours who seem to have had a BBQ every night throughout June and July) but we accepted an invitation from friends to attend theirs over the weekend; being thoughtful guests we arrived bearing gifts, a bottle of a wine and a home-grown posy.
Taking two more zinnias, larger blooms of a Summer Bouquet mix, as my starting point, it did not take long to assemble a pleasing collection of complementary blooms, almost exclusively from the cutting beds: Dahlia ‘Willo’s Violet’, Cosmos ‘Click Cranberries’, clary sage, Amaranthus caudatus, Sweet William ‘Cottage Perfume’, Helichrysum ‘Bright Rose’ and random cosmos foliage. I have a collection of different coloured string so this posy was tied with appropriately pink string.
If there were more blooms of the zinnia available I would have liked to recreate the posy to pop into a Monday vase for my own pleasure but sadly the new buds were still way off opening; I still have the pick of my cutting beds of course and will try to find the opportunity during an extra day of Grannie duties to create a posy of my own. I hope many of you will find time to create a vase or posy of your own too; if you like, please leave links to and from this post so that we can share the pleasure it gives you.
Rambling in the Garden 
Nice bouquet, my favourite colours! My vase: https://timpingradina.blogspot.com/2018/07/in-vase-on-monday-wild-and-beautiful.html
Thanks Anca – I was really pleased with the colours too 🙂
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That’s a lovely rich colour theme; I hope you’ll have enough of the Zinnias to repeat it soon. Here’s my contribution. https://myhesperidesgarden.wordpress.com/2018/07/23/in-a-vase-on-monday-return-of-the-traveller/
Good to hear from you, Christina – I guessed you were having an extended break and hope you feel all the better for it. My success rate with zinnias is improving year on year!!
That’s good, I think mine aren’t so good this year but there’s time for them to improve.
Oh those colours blend so well Cathy. I do like the matching string (is it Twool?) – a perfect finishing touch along with the curve of the amarathus flowers. I hope that you had a pleasant time and I’m sure that your friends will have appreciated your gift. We rarely go in for barbecues except the occasional one on holiday but seem to have been downwind of them often in recent months. My vase is here :
https://greentapestry.blogspot.com/2018/07/in-vase-on-monday-walking-on-sunshine.html
Thanks Anna – the string is cheap string from China via eBay, so cheap I can afford a rainbow of colours for every occasion! I think the last time I cooked on a BBQ myself was when we had a powercut in the winter in the 80s, probably ’84…!
What thoughtful guests you were bearing such perfect gifts. The gorgeous posy just makes me smile seeing all these old favorites. Hope your zinnias pick up the pace so you can enjoy them in a posy for yourself. Sweet William is one of my favorites and I like your Amaranthus draping gracefully over the other flowers. Thanks for hosting.
Thanks Susie – it was fun watching the bees enjoying the posy while we enjoyed our barbequed food!
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What a pretty bouquet. I love the colors and the Amaranthus.
Thanks Cindy – the amaranthus is so tactile and I love it too
What a beautiful and thoughtful gift. The contrast textures beautiful. I am sharing some sweet fragrant blooms. https://magnoliadarjeeling.com/blog/from-the-garden-no-4-the-sweet-scent-of-roses
Thanks MD
Your posy is a perfect match for the Merlot. We grilled out last night as we do a fair amount in summer. Fewer dishes to do up after dinner! My vase is here: http://www.lindabrazill.com/each_little_world/2018/07/in-a-vase-on-monday-diva-doubled.html
‘Grilled out’? Must be barbeque-speak!
So very pretty! I love the colors too and the matching string color is perfect (I would never have thought of that!). 🙂
My vase this week…
http://heirloomcottagegarden.weebly.com/blog/in-a-vase-on-monday-a-bit-of-everything
Thanks Joanna – I had the idea of the coloured string from another blogger 😉
Anyone would be delighted to receive this bouquet. Perfect combo with the wine. Happy IAVOM.
Thanks Lisa – and I am plesaed to see that every Monday is a happy day, particularly with a nice vase to look at!!
You would laugh if you saw our patio. My husband has a texas sized (huge) propane tank style smoker and an extra large kamado. BBQ rules here. I was expecting a Barbie doll when I opened the post. I love the tapestry colors of the arrangement and have embraced Zinnias now. They do last well in a vase. My vase this week.http://theshrubqueen.com/2018/07/23/in-a-vase-on-monday-tropical-blues-2/
I would indeed laugh (politely, of course!!)- and I have no idea what a kamado is which probably shows how ignorant I am of the whole process, but I did ask our host some pertinent questions to further my education 🙂
A kamado is a ceramic grill that originated in the Orient, like a gigantic terracotta pot, they are egg shaped called ‘
the Big Green Egg, not sure if they are in the UK.
I have Googled it now and see what you mean – thanks
You’ve made a wonderful posy Cathy…I bet that is still being admired. Did you wait till the coals were white hot? Here is my contributions this week: http://noellemace.blogspot.com/2018/07/in-vase-on-monday-white-hot.html. In my post just before that one: http://noellemace.blogspot.com/2018/07/july-garden-update.html, you will see that seeds you kindly sent me in 2015 are working well in my new borders.
Hmm, well our friend’s BBQ is gas, do no coals were involved, but he was telling me the importance of coals needing to be white hot in a charcoal one. Will check out both posts and I am so pleased that we have been able able to share seeds and plants
A lovely posy Cathy. The amaranthus looks great with it , in fact the colours all go so well together. The zinnias are enjoying all this sun. We’ve all become zinnia fans now haven’t we?
My contribution is here: https://thebloominggarden.wordpress.com/2018/07/23/in-a-vase-on-monday-8/
Thanks Chloris, and yes, I suspect the sun is playing more of a part in my zinnia’s success than me!! 😉
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What a perfect posy – love it. I’ve never seen that Dahlia before.
Here’s mine
Thanks Jen – I hadn’t realised pompon dahlias were so small and was expecting someting much bigger, having been been confused by spherical ‘decorative’ ones!
Forget the wine …I’ll take the posy. Beautiful colors.
Glad you liked it!!
You are, indeed thoughtful guests. Your hosts must have been delighted with your pretty purple posy, a celebration of the color of the wine. Thanks again for hosting! My sort-of vase is here: https://outlawgarden.blogspot.com/2018/07/in-vase-on-monday-desert-still-life.html
Thanks Peter, I think they were
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That is gorgeous! What a lovely hostess gift! The combination of colors and textures in that are so very charming and sweet, I bet they were delighted to have that on the table with dinner. I do have a submission for this week: https://nomadsbynature.wordpress.com/2018/07/23/in-a-vase-on-monday-soup-weather/ Thank you for hosting this round up of garden delights each week!
Thanks NBN – it did go straight on the table but it was more of a ‘picnic table’ and not in the least bit formal 😉
With that posy it was definitely elevated from picnic table to celebration table!
🙂
I’m sure your hosts appreciated the gifts, Cathy! The bouquet is a beautiful jewel-colored mix of flowers. Amaranthus adds drama to any arrangement. My prior attempts to grow it here have been failures but maybe it would appreciate my cutting garden where it could receive more water. Here’s my post: https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/2018/07/in-vase-on-monday-cool-blues-for-hot-day.html
Thanks Kris, glad you like it. I don’t add a great deal of water to the cutting beds but I am not sure what conditions the amaranthus prefers
You’d be welcome at my BBQ with gifts like that! I joined back up with your vase party a couple of weeks ago, but I think I forgot to come by here and link up. I’m remembering this week!
http://www.thedangergarden.com/2018/07/in-vase-on-monday-hot.html
Thanks Amy, and of course it’s easy to forget to add the link
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Outstanding colours, and so well coordinated with each other (and the string) – lucky hosts! And how clever to bring matching wine too. I hope you get some more zinnias soon. They must be loving this weather. Here is mine this week: https://edinburghgardendiary.com/2018/07/23/simply-the-rose/
Thanks Joanna – I was really pleased with how well they went together 🙂
Cathy is an adorable and cute corsage. She is a very polite and generous guest: flowers and wine. Going back to the bouquet, it’s wonderful. The Amaranthus caudatus is beautiful and creates a very beautiful effect just like the foliage of the Cosmos. The perfume of Sweet Williams must be divine as well as its beauty. I love all the flowers that the bouquet carries. Have a nice week. Greetings from Margarita.
Thank you Margarita – the posy went together quickly and I could afford to be genreous with my blooms. Hope you have a lovely week too
As an American, I would love it if we barbequed more in the summer, but my husband, being a Brit of a certain number of years, isn’t into it. That’s a lovely gift to bring, I love the colors in your posy. I hope you soon get one of your own. I’ve tried growing various kinds of Amaranthus, but they always fail to thrive. My IaVoM post is here: http://bonneylassie.blogspot.com/2018/07/in-vase-on-monday_23.html
I think people are quite divided about barbeques – and to be honest, I am not especially keen on any form of eating outside. Each to their own! We did enjoy the food at this one though although I would have preferred more veg and less meat!!
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Been such a long time Cathy! Lovely little posy – I’m sure your neighbours were delighted and I really hope you manage to recreate one for yourself! We have rather a nice little Austrian ‘fire bowl’ on the Iris Garden for barbeques, but are rarely together to invite friends and enjoy it. There are memorable exceptions, thank goodness, with plenty of happy faces and chat, that I still keep to warm me on winter nights!
The amaranthus in your bouquet is a perfect foil for the others – and gosh, that helichrysum’s a bit special, isn’t it? The very idea of Sweet William (always associated with my uncle Willie and cool Scottish summers) seems so far away from my arid garden here in France. I expect I am much too late for anyone else to visit, but here’s my vase (I’m sure you’ll get there towards the end of the week!):
Have a great week and hoping to be more ‘regular’!
Sorry – think I was actually looking at the dahlia ‘Willa’s Violet’, not the Helichrysum … went back and peeked again. Don’t you think it’s most helychrysum-like?
I just noticed your post in my inbox and we must have been commenting at the same time! Assuming you DO mean the dahlia it is an amazingly perfectly round blob, like a drumstick lolly, but much smaller than I thought it might be – I have mixed feelings 😉 The helichrysum is, I think, pretty special in its papery way. Not something I have grown before and it has done really well – not sure when to pick them for preserving though so must check it out. Too hot for Sweet William in Chatillon? It’s done OK here this summer!
Yes – both nice! It was definitely the dahlia that I was zooming in on though! I’m really fond of those little blobby dark coloured ones (small collerettes? – my spelling probably skew-iff!) – especially a really dark one called La Recoleta. Re the Sweet William: as with many things, I think it is probably a combination of the heat (for us it is always over 30 for weeks at a time in summer – this year it started in June) WITH the very heavy soil. It really is exceptionally heavy – when I gardened on clay in Suffolk, it was still amazingly fertile and easy to cultivate things on. Hey – you’ve got what you’ve got. I am planning on trying them in the cut flower garden where it is only sunny for half the day and away from the large rampart walls that give off so much heat.
Lucky neighbours!
What gorgeous colors, Cathy! I’m sure your hosts were delighted with your thoughtful gifts. I love these colors together and I like the way you’ve arranged them. Just lovely.
Thank you ☺
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beautiful colours – but you know how much I love purple and dark pinks… it sounds like the open days went really well (even if it was alot of hard work) – well done on raising so much money. Hope you’ve been relaxing with a nice glass of wine now and again. Here’s my vase – yellow and red for a change 🙂
Thanks Bec – we really do enjoy the experience and it raises money for such good causes