Succumbing to the urge to move unusually lanky aster Symphyotrichum‘Little Carlow’ today instead of waiting till it was dormant, I also moved the sanguisorba I featured in a vase a few weeks ago, and again today, a little nearer the fence. Whilst doing so, I realised the label read Sanguisorba dodecandra and not S canadensis as I had thought. Googling doesn’t tell me a lot about the former, and illustrations suggest it looks more like the latter, so it remains a bit of a puzzle. The aster looks all the better with something behind it and, having dug it out with a large rootball, doesn’t look any the worse for its experience; the sanguisorba, however, is now glowering at me and I cut a few flowering stems for today’s vase rather than leave them to a potentially slow demise on the plant.
I had already envisaged using sprays of wood aster Eurybia divaricata alongside the sanguisorba and wondered if there might be enough material to create a wholly white vase on Monday. That turned out to be the case, and joining the first two are Cosmos ‘Double Click Snow Puff’, Scabious ‘ Snowmaiden’, Dahlia ‘Twynings Afer Eight’ and useful white limonium from the cutting beds, astonishingly pure white Busy Lizzies from pots, still-flowering super-fragrant Phlox ‘Rembrandt’, a couple of creamy white blooms of Rosa ‘Claire Austin’ and reliable foliage from Arum italicum ‘Marmoratum’.
Today’s prop is the current ‘What’s On’ brochure for one of Birmingham’s theatres. We may live in a semi-rural location, but Birmingham is still less than 20 miles away, so a theatre trip is only a 20 minute train journey away. I would have liked to have seen the featured ‘Calendar Girls’ musical, but it was only on for a week and I couldn’t fit it in. Shows at The Hippodrome, Birmingham’s other main theatre, tend to be on for a longer period and I have seen both Les Mis and The Lion King this year, with Hamilton and Six booked for next year, the former two not just for the first time.
If you would like to join us today on IAVOM with material from your garden or foraged nearby, as always with or without a prop, please do so by leaving the usual links to and from this post.
Rambling in the Garden 
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Very lovely blooms Cathy. They really show up against the dark background. It’s years since we went to the theatre! I used to love going. We used to go to london regularly when we could get cheap train tickets. Happy memories! Have a great day. Karen xx
Thanks Karen – how easy is it for you to get into Nottingham or Leicester? Do they not have a range of shows there?
Yes, we have the Curve in leicester and Theatre Royal in Nottingham. We used to go to ballet shows at the royal. Modern and traditional. I think it’s one if the many things I stopped during the pandemic and haven’t got back into the habit of booking. Yet!
Do try and go again, Karen – or do you feel you still need to avoid crowded places? Hope you and your Mum have shared some time together this weekend
Will do Cathy. Your post has made me at least look! Yes lunch with Mum and brother tomorrow 😃❤️ xx
I love white flowers, and your vase has some of the best I have seen. I intend to have more white in my garden next year…
Thanks – grouped together like this, they do make quite an impact. Perhaps I should have separate blue and white borders, rather than having them both n the same one…?! 😉
Your garden, your choice, Cathy…
What a delightful arrangement and the season has been kind in providing so many perfect white flowers for one vase. An outing to the Theatre or Ballet is a real treat. Here is my arrangement with one of the blooms white, and I was going to do an all white arrangement too, but decided to feature red and white instead: https://noellemace.blogspot.com/2023/10/in-vase-on-monday-9-october-2023.html
I was surprised how many white blooms I could amass for the vase, Noelle – most of the annuals are past their best but limonium rarely lets me down!
So many pretty white flowers! I don’t think I could ever manage an entirely white flower bed, but a vase sounds much more doable. Have to remember to plant more whites next year to give this a try 🙂
Thanks Angela – it is sometimes hard to get a balance in the blue & white border as it is far easier to get white flowering plants than blue ones!
I love your all-white theme, Cathy. Nicely done. The Sanguisorba really works well in your vase. I’m interesting in trying it next year. Glad you have access to interesting live productions. https://pbmgarden.blog/2023/10/09/in-a-vase-on-monday-october-caress/
Thanks Susie – I love these sanguisorba flowers and I really do hope it flowers again next year as it had several years when it didn’t
That last photo is so beautiful! And interesting to note the different Sanguisorbas – might explain the difference in blooming periods. I have a prop this week!
I must look up the sanguisorbas again Chris, and check the flowering periods – the photo of S Dodecandra shows the blooms less vertical than S canadensis, so I am left confused. How tall is the your native variety? Hurrah for your prop!
I like an all white vase sometimes and it surprises me how many different flowers you managed to get in there. It looks great on the black background. I hope the sanguisorba bounces back, I love the texture. Happy Monday! https://theshrubqueen.com/2023/10/09/in-a-vase-on-monday-lady-di-was-a-firecracker/
Thanks Amelia – I have no doubt the sanguisorba will live to see another day, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it chose to have a rest now until next year
That works!
Very pretty, it would make a lovely bridal bouquet, loose and flowing.
My vase this week, in contrast, is colourful and compact: https://wp.me/p3O3z4-369
Interesting thought, Eliza – I had to cut the sanguisorba stems down a lot, but at full length a number of them would certainly make a great basis for wedding flowers
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A clever title, especially as the contrast of white and the night-time background makes the stars of the show stand out even better. 😃 A lovely selection of white flowers, and although I love colour, I also love white in a garden. I hope your Sanguisorba survives as it is a really pretty one. And the wood aster is gorgeous too.
I have a few vases this week, celebrating my asters among other things…
Thanks as always!
Thanks Cathy – and what an intriguing title your vase has!!
A most dramatic display of white flowers which especially shine in your final photo Cathy. The sanguisorba is a beauty by whatever name it goes. You’re fortunate in being in such easy reach of Birmingham. Liverpool is about 20 minutes from us as well as a small local arts centre where there are sometimes stage productions. A most clever post title which made me smile. My vase is here : https://greentapestry.blogspot.com/2023/10/in-vase-on-monday-blush.html
Thanks Anna, I was surprised how many different white blooms I could find
Your arrangement reminds me that I need more white in my own garden, Cathy. I love your ‘Double Click’ Cosmos. My single petaled Cosmos are quickly giving way to mildew and the deep marine layer that returned today and is expected to persist this week isn’t going to help matters any. I still have scads of dahlias, though: https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/2023/10/in-vase-on-monday-can-you-have-too-many.html
I do like the Double Click range of cosmos, Kris – I have 4 different ones this year, the only cosmos I grow. Mildew on my outdoor plants is a rarity, and I am sorry that conditions are such that your cosmos have succumbed…
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Hello everyone! Here is my vase for today, with a photobomb from the Under-Gardener! Look forward to catching up with everyone else’s vases later — right now, emergency watering calls! https://notesfromtheundergardener.wordpress.com/2023/10/09/in-a-vase-on-monday-9th-october-2023/
How much have you had to water, Arwen? I must confess to having neglected to water the two baskets at the front in recent weeks, and sadly they have both had it now…
Not too much actually, it’s just that our patio is a bit of a sun trap and things in pots, plus the late sown annuals in modules in my mini greenhouse, were all a bit parched with the weekend’s unexpected high temps. Nothing lost though and we were certainly glad of that hot weather while we were away! I never bother with hanging baskets any more precisely because I fail to water them!
Glad things survived OK though, despite being parched. We park front-on to the house, so I am reminded about the baskets every I go out in the car or return – but of course watering them is forgotten once I drive away or get through the front door on my return! 🤣
I do so love wood aster another beautiful native covering the meadows around here is drifts of white. White vases are so beautiful. Here the whites are mostly gone, but I am featuring a vase that had been white in spring. Now a deep rose pink in fall with a few white cosmos. https://gardenseyeview.com/2023/10/09/in-a-vase-on-monday-proven-winner/
Ooh, native for you – how lovely they must be, Donna!
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What a lot of white flowers you have! Love the sanguisorba. Hope it settles happily in it’s new location. ‘Twynings After Eight’ looks lovely and fresh still. In fact, the whole vase looks sparkling!
I actually managed a vase today: https://frogenddweller.wordpress.com/2023/10/09/in-a-vase-on-monday-a-bit-of-this-a-little-bit-of-that/
Hi Allison, I admit I was surprised at the number of differet blooms I could add, although 2 or 3 of each was barely doable for some!
A beautiful arrangement, as usual! I will try to join in more in the weeks ahead. Our dormant period is about to begin, but dried and evergreen plants can be great fodder for arrangements, too. Thanks for hosting!
Yes, lots of options with dried and evergreen material, which should not to be underestimated
And the green leaves just makes the white POP! Very nice.
Yes, that must be why the arum always looks especially good with white blooms
Very striking white selection Cathy! I never used to like white flowers but I’m a total convert now, they really lift and brighten, both in the border and the vase.
Yes, It’s intriguing how our tastes change over time, not just with things in the garden but other things too
Absolutely!
Ah! WHITE!