I promise the flowers were gathered and in a vase yesterday and photos taken – it was getting into a blog post that caused the delay.

There haven’t been many vases this year. Two main factors; the heat caused the arranger to stay in the shade and there has been a dahlia disaster.

The arranger and the flowers are much happier now the skies are cloudier and there are rain showers.

The surviving dahlias (there will be a post detailing the disaster drama) are finally flowering. I’ve been surprised by the bright orange and bronze blooms – fairly sure I was expecting something else but labelling has also been an issue this year…

Although not my first choices I’m pleased with this eclectic arrangement.

Back to my usual and generally preferred colour palette is a collection of three vases.

I grew annual asters for the first time this year. I like the colour and shape but they are short-stemmed. It may be down to the hot and dry weather, or I’ll need to invest in more bud vases.

Next up is a pastel vase with my favourite surviving dahlias; Henriette and Blanc y verde along with white Perfumella rose and some fennel and gaura.

Then moving along the colour spectrum to the pinks and magentas although I’m certain in previous years the magenta purple was a chocolatey maroon, This year’s shade works well with zinnia green envy and a bit more fennel.

I staged these three vases together. I’m still working on ‘less is more’ 🙂

If you haven’t already, do visit Cathy where you can see some fabulous vases. http://ramblinginthegarden