In a Vase on Monday: A Midsummer Day’s Dream

Early on Sunday morning, while the sun was still low and the world was quiet, I gathered some flowers for a midsummer vase.

The Hypericum – St John’s Wort – has, as always, opened right on time for the summer solstice. I find it fascinating that it is so accurate, whatever the weather has been doing, taking its cue from the amount of daylight hours alone. I hated to disturb the bees on it, but there is plenty more in the meadow.

The centre piece had to be my last Itoh Peony ‘Shining Light’ – the other flowers on it are long gone, but this bud was also waiting for midsummer it seems.

With a yellow colour scheme evolving I cut an Echinacea paradoxa from the Herb Bed. Another bee magnet.

To fill the large vase I then added some meadow grasses (and a couple of tame ones too), along with Chamomile, Silene vulgaris, Scabiosa, wild Achillea, the first of the Centaurea jacea (knapweed) and a sprig of Crepis capillaris (hawksbeard).

Many thanks to Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for hosting this meme. Do visit her today for more vases.

With temperatures in the thirties this week I think gardening activity will be minimal. Watering takes place in the evenings, and pinching out and tying in  tomatoes in the early hours before the greenhouse heats up. Are you already getting summer heat? How do you cope with it?!

Stay cool and happy gardening!

😎



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