Sugar, ah honey honey
You are my candy girl
And you got me wanting you
I don’t think zinnias haven’t been the main feature of any of my Monday vases this year, so the sunflowers I had intended to use will have to wait for another week. A mixture of Purple Prince, Orange King and Benary Giants, the zinnias make such a bold splash of colour and it seemed appropriate to feature my newest prop with its equally bright colours alongside them.
I have always found pleasure in these little toys* when I come across them, and decided some time ago that I really needed one of my own, if only for an IAVOM prop – but probably also for my amusement in an idle moment! But what would you call them? I searched eBay for ‘articulated toy figure’ which brought up Action Men and the like, so added ‘wooden’, then tried ‘press-up’ and finally ‘traditional’, before finding this one, listed as ‘Traditional Wood Wooden Classic Push Up Press Puppet Toy’ – so now you know what to look for if you want one too!
The spherical glass vase was not my first choice, having immediately and instinctively gone for the
bright cheeriness of my yellow spotted jug and photographing it in readiness for writing the post, before deciding that there was something unsatisfactory about it. I also included Rudbeckia ‘Rustic Dwarves’ in the first vase for a splash of yellow, but they were past their best and beginning to look a little bedraggled after being handled, so I removed them for the revised vase. Comparing both photographs now, I am fairly sure I made the right decision.
What might you be able to find in your garden to feature in a vase or jamjar on this last day of August? If you would like to share your finds with us, please leave the usual links to and from this post.
* for those who have not come across similar things before, this little figure is strung together and the moveable base has a spring which means when it is depressed, the figure will bend in different ways, depending on how you press it, giving hours/minutes/seconds of entertainment… This flower fairy version seemed the ideal choice for me.
Rambling in the Garden 
Ahh that takes me back!
I had a Portuguese boyfriend who used to sing that song (by the Archies wasn’t it) to me on a beach in the Algarve.
I’m sure your vase is delightful but I’m off on a nostalgic reverie right now!
Haha – the things we admit to on IAVOM!!
🙂 😉
Your zinnias are sparkling with color and sing summer. I was able to pick zinnias this week for the first time this year thanks to a second sowing. The vase you chose is perfect. I remember the song (not in the same way as Wild Daffodil!) but not the toy. Have a great week and thanks for hosting. https://pbmgarden.blog/2020/08/31/in-a-vase-on-monday-floral-harvest/
Good to now you now have some zinnias – they are destined to become firm favourites with me. I have included an addendum to the post for those who have not seen this type of toy before which you might want to look at – it’s too easy to assume everyone has come across them before.
HaHa!!! 🙂
Your little wooden toy is charming, as is your vase. Zinnias come in some wonderful colours and you clearly have proven. Here is my vase for the end of August: https://noellemace.blogspot.com/2020/08/in-vase-on-monday-seeing-out-august.html
Thanks Noelle – I may cast my net wider next year and research other zinnia varieties, although I shall still stick with these taller ones, I think
I love the toy! I see them here, but they’re usually a plastic replica….Yes, your new vase is perfect and, it seems, zinnias are looking great all around the world this week!
https://countygardening.wordpress.com/2020/08/31/in-a-vase-on-monday-just-zinnias/
Crikey – it wouldn’t seem the same in plastic…I can’t imagine it somehow 🙄 Hurrah for zinnias!
The plastic sort are all that I remember. They were rather creepy to; such as Wile E. Coyote and Ronald McDonald.
Good decision on the vase and the Rustic Dwarves (who comes up with these names?) I love Zinnias and have just received seed for a new variety to try this winter. I am trying not to get a earworm from the lyrics. Ebay is amazingly specific but you found what you were looking for and it is perfect. https://theshrubqueen.com/2020/08/31/in-a-vase-on-monday-taming-miss-alice/
Haha, yes, best to avoid the earworm, although for me it has actually been ‘My Boy Lollipop’ (‘You are as sweet as candy
You’re my sugar dandy’) that keeps returning to my ears!! With these rudbeckia it’s not as if they are shorter than the other varieties, not here in my garden anyway. If you are selling on eBay it is often recommended that you use as many keywords as possible in the title, to cover a range of possible of possible search terms – and for the buyer it invariably works as I have searched (and found) for all sorts of things I couldn’t put a name to or didn’t even know existed!!
Rustic Dwarves sounds like a metal band or something. I liked the Big Sky Series name. Echinacea.Anyway, Ebay is an experience in itself. My husband loves it and he has to deal with it, I never look.
Haha, I like the idea of metal band called Rustic Dwarves!! EBay probably seems a bit scary if you don’t use it, but it is such a useful market place, especially for buyers. I but most of my seeds from there actually
My husband is the eBay king – amazing what you can buy there.
Such bright sunshine in a vase Cathy. I coming to the conclusion that as with tulips I’m going to stick with admiring them in other people’s vases as they are so hit and miss for me. I think that your instinct to swap vases was spot on as the spotty- dotty one is too much competition for all that colour. Your little puppet toy is most sweet. She looks as if she is clinging on to that flower for dear life with her hair and scarf streaming out in the wind. In the interest of domestic harmony just a little snip from me today :
https://greentapestry.blogspot.com/2020/08/iavom-hanging-on-in-there.html
Haha – yes I see what you mean about her clinging on to that flower, but even if it was a really windy day she is still smiling. I think the ‘scarf’ is actually wings though, so I think she is a fairy 😊 I know what you mean about zinnias, as there are certain plants I have decided not to try again with – although I am giving a helenium and an echinacea another chance this/next year
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She is the perfect prop.
Thank you – and a coincidence that I have only just bought her!
Oh, yes, the spotted jug is just perfect! Love the toy, too. 🙂
My vase this week: https://wp.me/p3O3z4-2zq
You preferred them in the spotty jug? I love that jug, and it looks great with sunflowers, so you might see it next week!
The toy is pretty cute and she can’t help but elicit a smile. Zinnias are a fantastic summer flower and outlast just about every other, at least in my garden. No Zinnias from me this week but of course I do have a post: https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/2020/08/in-vase-on-monday-sunny-blooms.html
It was certainly a good buy – and I might look for others too, but I thought a flower fairy was the perfect one for me to begin with 😊
Zinnias are wonderful as they bloom long and have such vibrant color. My flowers today are not in a vase, they are growing wild on the hill.
https://lulumusing.com/2020/08/30/a-walk-up-beech-hill/
Indeed, and they can be fussy to grow in the UK so now that I seem to have succeeded I will continue to sing their praises – not they will necessarily do well for me next year, but for now I will be cautiously optimistic!
Ah, the smiling wee girl and the flowers! Adorable! A very sweet combination. I have the grand total of 4 zinnias flowering and although it was my original intention to grow them for cutting I am afraid with that grand total I have been a bit too mean to do so! Maybe next week! Thank you for a delightful vase today Cathy! Amanda https://therunningwave.blogspot.com/2020/08/a-tangled-vase-on-monday.html
Well done for your four zinnia blooms, Amanda – my first small success a couple of years ago must have been something like that!
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That is so sweet Cathy! 😃 The zinnias, the song and your little fairy all create a magical image in my head of flowers and fairies dancing through your flower beds!
Here is my vase for today: https://wordsandherbs.wordpress.com/2020/08/31/in-a-vase-on-monday-bye-bye-august/
Many thanks!
That’s a great image Cathy – I like the idea of fairies dancing through the flower beds! 😊
Wha’ happened? No music today. And, I’ve never seen such toys!
We certainly seem to learn about things other than plants and gardening in this blogging community – and I am sorry your childhood lacked the opportunity to play with one of these simple toys!
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I love zinnias but didn’t grow any this year, so it’s lovely to see them here Cathy. Beautiful bright colours. My offering is rather subdued and late! https://wp.me/p5Pz00-2hI Thanks, as always. Sam x
Subdue and late is fine Sam, as you know 😉 You have had other things to contend with this year instead of thinking about sowing zinnas!