The art? The vase – built by me in high school art class, many years ago. The dark ages when Aerosmith first appeared on the rock scene, something much discussed over making coils for clay pots. I think this was called hand building and is the last surviving artifact of my foray into clay. The bottom of the vase is not glazed, it doesn’t leak or hold water – it sort of sweats.
The arrangement has an Ikebana feel to me. I did not start out with that in mind – as my vases usually go, this one evolved from ‘looking for a brown vase to put the cafe au lait zinnias in’ to ‘needs brown twigs for zen balance’. I found an old brass trivet to put under the vase and it is not sweating too badly.
Another vase view:
Time for the close up:
Cafe au lait Zinnias from a Cactus seed mix are the stars of this show. The peachy flowers are non red Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea). This Salvia is a perennial (reseeding) favorite in my garden and I love the color surprises left by pollinating bees.
Another view:
The ‘zen’ brown sticks are from the native Muscadines (Vitis rotundafolia) that run rampant through the wilder parts of my garden. The greenery, Asparagus Ferns, run the same course with the Muscadines, with a much smaller stature.
Thank you to Cathy at http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for hosting this weekly garden meme. Follow the link to see more vases.
Happy Gardening!!
The Shrub Queen 
That vase got my full attention Queen.
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The greyhounds had nothing to do with it
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Ha.
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This is the second post today with a vase made in high school. Your flowers look great, especially the salvia. All my plants froze.
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Interesting!? high school art popping up..I guess you have a lot of Salvia seed in the garden? Let me know if you need some.
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My Salvia should come back. It is hard to see them all frozen.
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What an intriguing vase – and how lovely to have one you made yourself! Have you seen a UK TV show called the Great Pottery Throwdown? It has certainly made me want to try pottery and at least get the feel of the clay between my hands, but I fear I would be rubbish! AS you say, your vase today does have an ikebana look to it, and the ‘sticks’ are an integral part of it, balancing the overall effect of the zinnia and salvia – lovely!
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Thank you, Cathy. I haven’t seen the show, though I have been wishing to take pottery wheel classes.
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I attempted pottery as a freshman in college but I’m not sure anything I made even made it to the firing stage. In any case, I have no relics of that experience. Did you place the flowers in another vessel that holds water or are you allowing them to die gracefully as your vase sweats?
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Oh well, the zinnias are glowing like old southern ladies (they don’t sweat, they glow) probably not going to be a long lived vase.
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Weren’t high school art classes fun? It was like playtime/recess to me. 🙂
I love the peachy salvia. I really need to buy some for the garden this spring, as the hummers love them. Is it starting to warm up there? I seem to recall Feb. has some really nice days in FL. 🙂
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Yes, fun days. I loved batik too. It is currently 73 degrees with a light breeze, much better. Can you grow the Tropical Salvia? I have a boatload.
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Yes, I see them offered for sale every year. Of course, they go with the frost, but from June to Oct. they are happy.
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do you want some seed..I will look.
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Yes, thank you! I loved that coral pink one.
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I think there is some seed, it forms at odd times, to me. The seed is not true and flowers may be red, neon orange, salmon, pink or pure white. It should be called surprise salvia.
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Bee surprised! 😉
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Exactly, will see what shakes out!
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Although the flowers are interesting, the vase is the best component of this one. That is cool that it is still around.
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Thanks, Tony.
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Nice mix of flowers, foliage and ‘twigs’, which are an excellent idea for added height. 😃
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Thanks, Cathy – I enjoy the occassional twig..
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Sorry I didn’t see this last week–finally catching up. Your handmade vase has a nice organic form. The sticks work well to balance the design. I took ceramics in college and loved it.
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Hi Susie, HVD. thank you. There is a ceramics place here I am dying to take classes….
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Working with clay is so therapeutic. Hope you get a chance to get in there!
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I like the vase – especially combined with those beautiful flowers. 💐
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