This brown vase belonged to my mother, who loved things made by hand. She enjoyed making things with her hands, sewing, embroidering, cooking and gardening. I am certain my love for plants and gardening came from her. She filled this vase with blue pansies in winter and zinnias in summer. She almost always had a vase of grocery store Alstroemeria on the kitchen counter, preferring just one kind of flower, as combining flowers in a vase kind of threw her for a loop. I was called for flower duty more than once when she was having a party. Good training for future garden blogging!
Here she is, in embroidered Christmas apron, beckoning me to come inside and arrange the flowers:
I was surprised by how many flowers I could stuff into this seemingly small vase. The zinnias reminded me of my mother, but it would surprise me to find that she had seen any of the rest of them. We both embraced pink and orange flower combinations reluctantly; but the combo tends to grow on you after a while. Numerous clients have gagged at the thought of that color combination in their own gardens.
A closer view:
The peach, orange and pink flowers in the front of the vase are Zinderella Zinnia. None look like the picture on the seed packet. I cut them all off to the stem starting side shoots in hopes of bigger flowers. The fuzzy, red flower is a Dwarf Chenille Plant (Acalypha pendula) – these are supposedly a good flowering groundcover here. This one went dormant from August til January, not my idea of good groundcover – I was surprised it came back up. Pink Star Flowers are Heirloom Pentas (Penta lanceolata); I love these for the butterflies they attract, however, I wonder how perennial they are and if I should cut them back? Blue flowers are Blue Mist flowers, I think these are some kind of native Ageratum that appeared in the front garden. White daisies are the everpresent native weed, Bidens alba. The little blue and white flowers in the back are from Varigated Flax Lily (Dianella tasmanica) – an uncommonly indestructible perennial.
Thank you to Cathy at http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting and Happy Gardening!!
The Shrub Queen 
It’s lovely to have memories of your Mum connected with her/your vase. 😃 I absolutely love pink and orange together, so your arrangement is right up my street! Strangely enough I shunned Zinnias until recent years though, so I do understand it is all a matter of taste. 😉 I like Pentas, but it is not always available here, depending on which nursery I visit or whether it is ‘in’ for summer or not.
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Thank you, Cathy. I like pink and orange too and shunned Zinnias for years..I think my younger self thought they were too common..love them now. Pentas, being native to Egypt, do really well here. I cannot recall the Heirlooms being available further north. They are tall and a bit gangly.
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It is nice to have things that bring memories. My not heirloom pentas have come back and reseeded, so you may have some luck with those. I grow what I call flat top zinnias because the butterflies like to land on them. I have no color issues, which is why I am not a garden designer.
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Yes, and I love people without color issues! My only issue, too many colors. What are the flat top zinnias?
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That is what I call them. Zinnias that look more like a daisy.
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Single or something?
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Yes, I guess that would be a better description. They seem to like a flat landing pad.
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I keep forgetting to get the Tithonia like that.. thinking it is a good butterfly plant.
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I also grow them and they bloom in late summer here. The butterflies do like them.
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There’s always this year 🙂
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Lovely colours. My mother always had flowers in the house too and I often think of her when I am picking them. Nice to use her vase too. Goodness, that apron looks far too good to work in.
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Thank you, Liz. The apron was the show apron, there was a cooking apron that was stuffed in the laundry room before anyone arrived for dinner.
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I am impressed. Fancy having a show apron. To be honest I don’t even possess a working one.
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Yes, a true Southern Belle with a organza christmas show apron, my mother.
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Aw, always nice to have a vase of memories – and to see a photo of your Mum! Those two-toned blooms are most intriguing, but in fact look perfectly at home with the others and I love the overall rounded shape of the arrangement. Thanks for shring
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Thank you , Cathy. I am keen on shapes of arrangements!
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What great memories, lovely to see your mother. When we think about it there is usually many traits that are handed down. You have a great selection of flowers to pay homage to her.
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Thanks, Noelle..nature defeats nurture sometimes I think.
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I like the summery feel to this arrangement, Amy. I think if one uses the right hues, pink and orange can work quite well together. I loved seeing the photo of your mom, you share her look! Isn’t it nice to have something tangible to evoke memories shared together?
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Thanks, Eliza we are probably in Mass. summer already here. I see pictures of my mother and have to stop and realize it is not me! I love the tangible and know that was one of her favorites.
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Beautiful momma (I love her apron), lovely flowers (zinnias are a fav), and very special brown vase. Wonderful post!
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One of the advantages of not being proficient with color is that I see no problem with pink and orange. Neither are my favorite colors of course. However, my two favorite zonal geraniums are bright pink, and orangish red. They are those big weedy sorts, perhaps straight species. I grew the pink one since I was in the seventh grade or so. I got the orangish red one in the early 1990s. I can’t stop growing them now just because, after all these year, I realize that I am none too keen on the colors.
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I like pink and orange, it is tropical! I need to look into the zonal geraniums, geraniums are popular here for winter color, the old fashioned kind, I don’t like them…not sure why.
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With all the interesting species that you grow, you should not waste your time on zonal geraniums. They are cheap and common. I just like them because they grow like weeds, . . . and I have been growing them since I was a kid. I use them as a cover crop in some areas that will not be used for a few years. They exclude weeds and condition the soil.
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I think your peach, orange and pink colors are perfect, especially here in Florida. The White daisies weeds are a nemesis to anyone who wears socks or long pants once they have gone to seed.
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