I thought I didn’t have much available, that I hadn’t used already this summer, for a vase this week. The Joe Pye Weed is blooming, but to fill a vase with just that would use nearly every blooming stalk! Nonetheless, I cut one stalk of it, and then I noticed a that the goldenrod right next to it was just beginning to open. I clipped a stem of that, and then looked down to see a mess of blooming oregano at my feet. Most of it was nearly spent, but I found couple of freshly opened sprigs. Next I decided to go check on the goldenrod that surrounds the cul de sac. As I was walking across the deck to get there, the stand of Monarda below my kitchen window called to me, and I managed to find a few stems with newly opened scarlet flowers. A dark purple spire on the Butterfly Bush buried among the Monarda caught my attention next. I finally made it down my driveway into the cul de sac, and found plenty of goldenrod, and some Queen Ann’s Lace, too!
Thus, this week’s vase was born!
A vase seemed too formal for this arrangement, so I pulled a Mason jar out of the cupboard to hold it. I also went back outside, to my neighbor’s garden, and cut one of her Butterfly Bush flowers, and another stalk of Joe Pye Weed from my own patch. The lighting in my dining room makes it tricky for photographs, so I took the photos outside, then moved the arrangement to the dining room table.
Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium ‘Little Joe’):
Bee Balm (Monarda ‘Jacob Cline’):
Oregano:
Queen Ann’s Lace:
And two different kinds of Goldenrod:
I am linking to Cathy’s weekly meme at Rambling in the Garden, wherein she invites bloggers the world over to create an arrangement and share it each week. It’s always fun to see what other gardeners do with what they have!
Update:–Last week I used tall Balloon Flowers in my arrangement, and wrote that I wasn’t sure how well they would do. The individual flowers each seemed to last two days before starting to wilt, and all but the most tightly closed buds opened. I will use them again in a vase!
Cosmos and Cleome 
This is my favorite type of arrangement–a little of this, a little of that. It has a very natural appearance. Nicely done!
Nice! I do like the wildflower look and with the bright red in there it really gives your eyes something to focus on.
Beautiful arrangement. The colour of bee balm is hot!
Yes, as Beth says, a bit of this and a bit of that approach really works – and itmakes us look more closely at our gardens and what is growing there. Thanks for sharing, Kimberley
Lovely mix of summer blooms Kimberley. I know how it is when you are walking around the garden with the shears in your hand and see one thing after another that you could use. 😉 My Golden Rod is also starting to open. And today I even saw an Aster open too… summer is going way too fast!