The UK is in the throes of what some might describe as ‘a heatwave’, with temperatures here in the Midlands in the high 20s yesterday, nudging 30°C, with much the same for the next two days, or even hotter; the south east of the country, however, has already seen temperatures in the low 30s. The weather forecast certainly suggests no rain in the next fortnight and I found myself thinking back to 1976 when a heatwave began at the end of June and continued till September… 🙄Let’s cool ourselves down with a monochrome white vase instead, to take our minds off the heat!
Today’s vase celebrates as many white blooms as I could find, mostly in the cutting beds. We have Dahlia ‘White Onesta’ and Twyning’s After Eight’, white clary sage, a white annual scabious whose name evades me, white helichrysum and a few sweet peas from the cutting beds, together with the white version of Lychnis coronaria and Echinops ‘Arctic Glow’ from the blue & white border. Following the success of Clematis ‘Arabella’ in last week’s vase, I have added C ‘John Huxtable’ to the white mix, along with a single hosta bloom and some feathery astilbe.
The heavy green glass globe vase is one that used to live in the ‘back sitting room’ but was removed for safe keeping when Grannie days began over three years ago, and I am pleased to make its acquaintance again: it seemed the perfect choice for setting off the cool whites and hints of green foliage. I wasn’t sure how well they would stand up in the vase without using any support, so I gathered them up into a rough posy and tied them together with string, splaying the stems out, and this seemed to work. I feel cooler just looking at it!
If you can manage a few minutes to gather some material from your garden before the heat kicks in (or are experiencing something a little more temperate!), then please share them with us on IAMOV by leaving the usual links to and from this post.
Rambling in the Garden 
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Perfect for this weather. It is even hot here in Cornwall, reached 23 yesterday, but felt a lot hotter. I’m on a mission to get rid of some spreading bamboo… 😕 Any tips?
Does being near the sea keep the temperature lower, Jude? Sorry to hear about your mission – the only advice I can give is not to have it in the first place!! 😁
Yes the sea almost surrounds us here – 2 miles to the north and 6 miles to the south and 10 miles to the west. Unfortunately we inherited the bamboo. I think I may have to get a garden expert in if I am unsuccessful.
That must make such a big difference to the weather – we are on the doorstep of the centre of England and the place furthest from the sea in the UK!! Shame to have inherited your bamboo 🙄 and no doubt you will not be attacking the roots again quite yet, even though you are not as hot as we are!!
This really does have a cooling effect Cathy, although the heatwave hasn’t reached us yet (tomorrow….). And I love all the flowers you have used! The white Clematis is so pretty. I would not have thought white would make such an impact. I also love the white Helichrysums… all of mine (and there were a lot of seedlings) fell victim to the dreaded slugs. The white sage is gorgeous and has prompted to me to put white on my seed list for next year. 😃 And your ‘cool’ sunglasses are the perfect prop! I hope the heat doesn’t last too long for you. We have at least a week of temperatures around 30°C and higher forecast, but I do feel the weather reports are more into sensationalism than reality these days as our last ‘heatwave’ was a couple of days in the upper 20s. 🤪 I remember the summer of 1976! We went out into the street, laughing and dancing (well, I was only 9!) when it finally rained! We also walked over the dried up reservoir at nearby Holcot, which has not been possible ever since…
Here’s my vase for today. Thanks as always.
I saw a weather map earlier today, showing the wider continent, and could see how extensive the area of high pressure is – I guess it will be even hotter if it reaches you… 😩 Sorry to hear about your helichrysum – here they have proved to be completely reliable and have never been affected by slugs and snails. The varieties I have this year are shorter too, which is good. Forgot to mention I have white annual scabious in the vase too and will have to add it to the post – it is so pretty! Talking to the Golfer about 1976 we were saying (well, I was) that our priorities were different then – I was back home, inbetween uni and an independent married life and not thinking abour gardens or what things in the house needed water!
I do like your stance on arranging a cooling arrangement, I do admire your range of whites in the garden very clever. Here is my contribution to a cooling arrangement. https://noellemace.blogspot.com/2022/07/in-vase-on-monday-cooling-greens.html
Thanks Noelle – I think I was just taken with the sheer whiteness of the scabious (which I forgot to mention in my original post, but have since added) and helichrysum prompted me to look around and see what other whites there were – and I was surprised how many!
The white garden in a vase, do you think Vita would approve? I do and I like the Clary Sage and Astilbe especially in the green vase. It has been 33 C and up here, not good gardening weather but we had a bit of rain yesterday that replenished the garden. Wishing cool to you…http://theshrubqueen.com/2022/07/11/in-a-vase-on-monday-the-dahlia/
Ha, yes, I think she probably would! 😊 You will be more used to this sort of temperature, I guess – and rain? None of that due here at all… 😩
I am not sure you ever fully get used to the heat. I was in the UK in March one year and just about froze. Never again. The bulbs were fabulous, though.
Haha – probably just pleasant spring weather to us 😁
Refreshingly cool, Cathy! Love the monochromatic selection of flowers. Astilbe adds nice character and I am fond of your white lychnis. I have a few plants left from a seeding many years ago, but most flowers are now tinged with pink. Thirst for rain is the theme of my vase this week also. Hope you get some relief soon. https://pbmgarden.blog/2022/07/11/in-a-vase-on-monday-resilience/
Thank you Susie, I was surprised by how many whites I had got… 😉 What a shame your white lychnis are taking on a pink tinge, which i suppose is a risk when you gave both white and pink varieties. I suppose my white ones are not in the same borders as the pink, but the bees do get around though! I do periodically sow fresh seed – and thinking about it I don’t think my white seeds as readily. I love both of them!
It hasn’t been as hot here, although if you factor in the humidity it certainly feels like 30! We’re (farmers and gardeners alike) mainly hoping for rain…the weather network says we have 100% chance of about 10mm of rain overnight… Fingers crossed!
Love your white flowers, especially the astilbe…cool and airy…
https://countygardening.wordpress.com/2022/07/11/in-a-vase-on-monday-last-lily-standing/
Thankfully not humid here, Chris – and hope you get your 10mm tonight, but preferably more! I was pleased to find as many white flowers as I did 😁
I would gladly take your ‘heatwave’ over our freezing cold mid-winter Cathy! High 20s sounds positively delightful! Actually, it’s not that cold here by your UK standards, but we don’t have your winter-proofed housing nor central heating here.
Such a beautiful bunch you have created this week, Cathy. It surprises me that the clematis does so well as a cut flower and I love your white Lychnis coronaria – have never seen the white version here. The touches of apple green and silver foliage bring an overall freshness to your arrangement.
My bunch this week has me looking for signs of spring:
https://plantaholicoz.blogspot.com/2022/07/in-vase-on-monday-hints-of-spring.html
What are your winter temperatures? I suppose it’s all relative 😉 The lychnis are such gardenworthy plants, although the white ones are not such good do-oers as the pink. Glad you liked the vase today 😊
Not actually that cold- at least by your standards, Cathy! Today it’s 13C and yesterday was 11C. It’s just that our houses are not built to retain the heat like yours are so it feels much colder.
And ours are, so it now feels much warmer!! 🤣
Nothing like those icy whites to visually cool you down…beautiful plant material!
Thanks Jayne, I was surprised to find I had so many whites 👍
I’m sorry you’re getting an uncomfortable stretch of heat – and a shortage of rain to boot. Our temperatures are currently in the same range but, by comparison to the rest of the US, we’re doing well so far, courtesy of our persistent early morning marine layer. Your cool arrangement is lovely. I searched my own garden yesterday for white flowers and couldn’t come up with anything on the order of what you found. Here’ my post: https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/2022/07/in-vase-on-monday-large-medium-small.html
Is your marine layer like a must ir fog, and does it make it more humid? It’s certainly rare that we share similar remperatures!
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Love the sunglasses! Lovely clematis again. I never think of buying seeds for white clary, but it is a really pretty addition. Very cool.
Here is my (sadly slightly wilting) vase: https://wp.me/pM8Y1-8GP
I prefer to grow my blue, pink and white clary separately, Allison – and same with my cornflowers although I did buy a mix of those this year but haven’t decided if I will repeat that next year
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Lovely! I didn’t know the clary came in a white form, I must try that, I would like to introduce more white as it really does give a border added zing. Just squeezing in at the 11th hour, here’s my vase this week: https://notesfromtheundergardener.wordpress.com/2022/07/11/in-a-vase-on-monday-11th-july-2022/
Sorry to be so late in following up your comment Arwen – I visited Elder Daughter for a couple of days so wasn’t as attentive as I usually am 😉 Yes, you can buy the separate colours of clary if you shop around – such an easy and useful annual 👍
No problem, thanks for your response! I’ve slipped a bit myself in keeping an eye on WordPress – I think it’s the time of year, too many other things to do! 😊
That is warm for you, isn’t it? Our summers are usually hot here in the U.S. Midwest, but in my location, specifically, we’ve been fluctuating between very hot (32-35C) and comfy (24C). Our “normal” midsummer weather is about 28-30C. Your arrangement is lovely, as always.
Thanks Beth. As we are reaching record breaking temperatures today (29/40), I can’t say it’s a one-off, but in some ways a few extra degrees is only relative, but our houses aren’t designed to cope with these temperatures… 🙄. And it’s not just the UK but much of the rest of Europe
OH! I forgot that you told me about this earlier. I do not recognize all of the flowers; but I do not need to. They are all white, and that is what matters. There is even white campion!