Among my vases this one is not particularly exotic, though it has some tropical elements. I have been meaning to use this green cream pitcher as a vase for a while. It belonged to my mother, who got it from her mother. My mother was always miffed with me that I could not tell the difference between depression glass and pressed glass. I have an inkling this is pressed glass, though I could be remembering my mother pressing her lips together in frustration as I misidentified another piece of glass!
There is a 90 percent chance of a tropical depression forming in the Atlantic this week. Of course, it is headed my way. I am going to hope for rain and continue to enjoy the flowers, with or without depression glass.
The flowers:
Tropical Red Salvia (Salvia coccinea) in pinks; ‘White Flame’ Salvia in white, and ‘Mystic Spires’ Salvia in blue. The purple spikes are Arabian Lilac (Vitex trifolia). I like the Arabian Lilac though it is growing into an odd flat shrub. More pruning fun for me.
Brown Eyed Girl Sunflowers are still going, though they are seeking some shade by growing over the edge of the container.This seems strange, sunflowers avoiding the sun? The small yellow spikes are flowers of Java White Copperleaf (Acalypha wilkesiana ‘Java White’). More garden mysteries to contemplate.
That is all from my garden this Monday. Thank you to Cathy for hosting IAVOM. To see more vases visit Cathy at http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com.
Happy Gardening!!
The Shrub Queen 
Oh this is lovely, as always, and makes me realise that my window of providing bright and sunny blooms is far shorter than yours!! I am hoping to have some annual rudbeckia flowering soon, which will make a great addition
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Thank you, Cathy. The sunflower lasts a long time. I was thinking about your comment, most flowers last the same amount of time, like zinnias – I can grow several batches which makes it seem longer. Most other things last a similar amount of time. Rudbeckias are a moldy disaster here, though I would love to grow some.
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This late sowing of ziinias I have recently made has come on so quickly and they are ready to be potted on in barely a couple pf weeks. Perhaps I should leave sowing them at all till into June? Saying that, I do have a bloom on my earlier sowing of Z Envy, so perhaps this way I can extend their season
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I have not been able to narrow dates for sowing a consistent supply of zinnias. Some of the recent seedlings are almost as big as ones from a few months ago! I’m guessing they love the heat and rain.
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Yes it’s really strange, isn’t it, and I agree it must be linked to the weather. Last year I had to resow all mine as they just collapsed after they had been planted out, but this year it is only some of them. I did make a point of starting them later this year, but perhaps I should leave them later still?
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Your cheery arrangement looks like an August posy for the UK. So pretty. I didn’t know there was a difference between depressed glass and pressed glass. Yet one more thing I’ll never learn now.
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Thank you, Liz. I don’t know the glass thing either. It was popular for collecting by my parents generation, originally very cheap and now the opposite.
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A lovely choice for your vase. Think positive thoughts about that system not heading towards us.
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Thanks, Karen I always hope for fish storms!
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I am not familiar with the Arabian Lilac, but I see it is also a vitex. I have some vitex that get dark blue flowers. I don’t know if they are related. I don’t know how you tell the glass apart. I collect pink glass.
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I found the Vitex at a botanical garden sale. I don’t think I have seen another one. It has been sulking in the garden for years, I am liking the purple foliage and flowers this year. I am going to try and persuade it to get off the ground. You probably have a Vitex agnus castus. I am too far south for those.
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Beautiful vase and I love those sunflowers!
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Thank you.
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And forgot I wanted to comment on the depression. So they think it’s going your way? I’ve been watching, but you never know if they will jog.
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It is going towards Puerto Rico now. You never know is right on target. I just finished reading the annual forecasting propaganda..now they do 7 days instead of 5. OK..
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I noticed the little yellow flowers of the Acalypha immediately – they’re so cute. A ninety percent chance of a tropical depression makes that rain very likely, doesn’t it? Are hurricane force winds also a possibility? In any case, stay safe and enjoy your flowers!
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I like the Acalphya flowers too, a nice bright yellow. Well, the system is a long way off and sometimes they go into the Gulf so it is hard to say at this point.
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Very pretty, I need that rain sent upwards to England!
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Thanks, Rosie, the tropical depression has formed – probably closer to the Canary Islands than you. Thinking northern thoughts!
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It arrived! We have wonderful rain! I am a happy gardener.
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Lovely flowers, bright and cheerful. First thing I noticed was the beautiful green cream pitcher.
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I wouldn’t be able to tell the two glass types either! We can’t know everything, right?
You do know how to make a beautiful arrangement and that counts for a lot in my book. 😉
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Mystic Spires is really lovely Amelia. And the little white spikes that aren’t white are pretty too. 😀 I tried growing Vitex once, but it just didn’t like our climate at all. I wonder how that storm is progressing. Hope you get spared.
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Thanks, Cathy. storm is going way south but there is another behind it!
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Arabian lilac is related to chaste tree? Is it fragrant like a lilac?
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Yes, related, not really fragrant, the backs of the leaves are lilac colored I guess that is the reason for the name.
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Gee, that is not much to go on. I figured that the bloom ‘sort of’ resembles some sort of lilac.
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