Posted on by Donna

In a Vase on Monday-Stuck Foot Flowers

DSCN2680Love is the flower of life, and blossoms unexpectedly and without law, and must be plucked where it is found, and enjoyed for the brief hour of its duration.

D.H Lawrence

 

 

I was looking for a fun theme for my vase this week, and I found it when I read a post from Lucy@Loose and Leafy; her Stuck Foot post.  As Lucy says:

A stuck foot post is where you plant your foot firmly in a roughly random place and see what you can see without moving. Best is when you plant both feet but sometimes, as in this post, where you are on a slope or some other kind of difficult ground you may need to move the other around for the sake of balance. But you mustn’t move the ‘stuck’ foot. You can bend your body this way and that. You can lean forward and twist at the waist – but you mustn’t swivel that stuck-foot.

 

So I ventured out my back door, down the stairs, on to the patio and looked around.  I decided to go to the right and down the stairs on to the grass path.  It is pretty rough looking, overgrown and weedy right now.

 

 

 stuck ft garden1

I stopped in front of the echinacea, monarda and elderberry bush.  This would be my area.  What I see here would be used in the vase.  Next to this area is a great stand of rudbeckia.  Behind me on this side of the path is my Clethra bush just off the patio and on the other side of the gate.

 

 

 stuck ft garden2

As I twist I look toward the veg garden.  Twisting more I see the common milkweed on the hill down from the pond.  Still twisting we look at the weed-ridden herb garden and the waterfall of the pond as we look almost back to the patio.

 

 

Now on to the vase.  I am linking with Cathy@Rambling in the Garden for her meme, In a Vase on Monday.  I am also linking in with Today’s Flowers hosted by Denise@An English Girl Rambles. 

I began cutting some rudbeckia, echinacea, Clethra and some volunteer Joe Pye.  Then I found a unique open flowering goldenrod near the milkweed.  Also growing on the pond garden hill is Scouring rush or Equisetum hyemale.  I thought it would look great in the vase too.  And lastly I wanted to incorporate some of the pink flowering Clethra bush.  All these flowers visible from my Stuck Foot in the garden.

 

DSCN2694

So here is the vase…..

I also decided to give you several views of this vase as I walked around it…a bit of a 360 degree vase view.  And since I made some collages I am also linking this post to Judith@Lavender Cottage who is now hosting Mosaic Monday. 

 

 

stuck ft vase1

I have to say this vase was easy to make and lots of fun.  I had one large echinacea flower left and decided to go back out for a few more flowers to my Stuck Foot area to make another vase.

A couple of Joe Pye and my go to Queen Anne’s Lace plant that lasts forever in a vase and voilà, another vase….

 

 

stuck ft vase2

I left the leaves on the Joe Pye in each vase and it provided great greenery.  I love the way the colors of the echinacea and Joe Pye worked well together.

 

So there are more two Stuck Foot Vases.  I will be linking in with Lucy on August 21st for her Stuck Foot post.unnamed

I am also joining in with Brooke@Creative Country Mom for her Tuesday Garden Party where Brooke joins 5 other bloggers and shares the garden link love.  

 

 

Have you ever stuck your foot in your garden and looked closely to see what is there?  Give it a try.  And join in with some of these other fun memes.

 

 

DSCN2704 

 

 

Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature.
Gerard de Nerval

 

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Next up on the blog:  Wednesday I will have another native plant to profile.  I am delaying my midsummer veg garden report as it is sparse given the late start to my garden and the chilly weather we have been having.  And next Monday, I’ll have another vase of flowers from my garden.

I am also joining in I Heart Macro with Laura@Shine The Divine that happens every Saturday.

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All original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Gardens Eye View, 2010-2014.  Any reprints or use of content or photos is by permission only.

 

 

 

97 Replies to “In a Vase on Monday-Stuck Foot Flowers”

    1. Thank you. When I put the vase together I realized just how well they did go together. The echinacea was aged and fading which gave it an even prettier color.

  3. Your vases of flowers look beautiful Donna. I rarely cut flowers for inside due to numerous allergies but from time to time do one for the gazebo. Lucy does some fun posts, I’ll check out her stuck foot one. I’ve been following a tree with her and for some reason or other I missed doing that this month. Have a great day.

  4. I love both vases Donna. Isn’t it funny that before we wouldn’t pick flowers for a vase and now we do two, although I only showed one this week. the second vase has a lovely delicate feel about it.

    1. Welcome home Christina….so happy you enjoyed the vases. I know before I couldn’t think of snipping one flower, now there are just thousands of millions to choose from. I am finding it really getting my creative juices flowing. I wonder how long I will have flowers and foliage to choose from here. Hoping through October. We shall see.

  5. Now isn’t that just genius to stick your feet down and swivel to see what you see! Your arrangement is gorgeous! My goodness! I love the Joe Pye Weed in there for that extra whimsy…it adds such a lovely texture! Beautiful job and a wonderful week to you!!!! Nicole xoxo

    1. Thanks so much Nicole. I thought it was a really wonderful idea and hope to do it again. I love Joe Pye and it really is a must in my late summer garden so why not in a vase too. 🙂 Have a lovely week too!

    1. I love doing the collages so it was great to join in the fun. The Ruby Spice is a stand out for sure Kathy. With the cool down, I have had my windows open in the family room at the back of the house and the clethra is right there so its incredible scent comes in with the breeze…pure bliss!

  10. Your selection of flowers is so pretty all gathered into a vase. I often use wildflowers at this time of year for my arrangements too. Last year I posted on them, but rarely take photos once the flowers are in the vase. I cut flowers every few days for inside. It makes the indoors feel so refreshing and joyful.

    1. The wildflowers growing in the garden are the prettiest now…and plentiful! It does make the indoors so much more joyful! 🙂

  13. Excellent work Donna. Love the Clethra with the echinacea and Joe Pye. Your mosaics really show off the arrangements quite well.

    1. I liked using the collages to show the many faces of the arrangements Susie. That Clethra was just screaming, “Pick me!”

    1. Oh I am so pleased with how many people enjoyed the method I chose for the post. It really was so much fun. And thank you Judith for hosting this wonderful MM party.

  16. Great post. Love all the flowers. I work at not missing my garden we moved from last fall. Not missing the weeding but do miss the bouquets. Your’s are lovely!

    1. So true Jason but they should be used more. QAL is especially long lasting both in bloom and as it curls up going to seed.

  18. Love your next to the last mosaic! Gorgeous! I really like the clethra – I’m not familiar with it but perhaps it’d be happy at my place too. 🙂

    1. Clethra is a native here and will easily grow in sun to part shade in moist soil. Smells heavenly. It is also known as Summersweet.

  21. The first vase really reflects the colours I can see in your garden photos, but the second one bowls me over Donna! I really love the combination of Joe Pye and pink Echinacea with Queen Anne’s Lace!

    1. I was surprised too Cathy. When I put it together and stepped back, I really loved it too. Funny how our eye will just create perfection without overthinking it.

  22. What a great idea that was – and didn’t it work well? I love the first vase in particular and the collage shows it off even better – blogging is such fun and we get to share some lovely ideas, so thanks for joining in with such enthusiasm, as always.

    1. Cathy every week I think “what will I do this week” and then those creative juices kick in. So glad you really enjoyed this post as much as I did!

  24. Your flowers and gardens always just amaze me..GORGEOUS! I especially love the colors in the last mosaic.. Beautiful post. Have a happy new week!

    1. Thanks so very much Eileen. It means so much when folks really like what you are doing. That last vase came to together perfectly…I really like it too!

  25. Two beautiful vases and I love the idea of the stuck foot – will be trying that for sure. So nice to see your Joe Pye weed – mine is looking incredibly bedraggled and sickly after what was left of Hurricane Bertha did it’s worst. I’m hoping that with a little bit of tender care it will recover. Thanks for sharing.

  27. So pretty! I have Joe Pye weed too – can’t wait to get home to pair it with Queen Anne’s Lace from the roadside.

  29. I love the combinations of flowers you have chosen for the vases. I really should do vases more, I just never seem to think about it. I also enjoyed your ‘stuck foot’ tour. You have a beautiful garden!

    1. Thanks, it is looking pretty good even with all the overgrowth and weeds. Sometimes nature does make better designs than I do. You should go out and grab a few flowers and make a little vase. You have so many beautiful flowers Brenda.

  30. Your stuck foot vases turned out to be very nice. You have such a great garden. Thanks for sharing it with us on the Tuesday Garden Party!

    1. Shelly how nice to have you stop by. I am enjoying linking in to the party. Happy that you had a nice visit and enjoyed the vases.

  32. What a fun challenge! You have so many beautiful plants in your garden. I love the Clethra! The bouquets are so pretty and cheerful!

    1. Thanks Indie. Clethra is a wonderful late summer shrub as it blooms when others are finished. And it is native to MA too.

  34. Queen of the quotes as usual Donna -many of them new to this quotaphile! Both vases are charmingly eye-catching – first the bold and then the more demure p.s. see you’ve got the hang of mosacis 😉 pps. brilliant idea combining with Lucy’s stuckfoot

    1. Oh my Laura I am humbled. I think I enjoyed making the mosaics as much as the vases. I really do like Lucy’s the idea of Stuck Foot.

  35. Sorry, I’m so far behind in paying you a visit from last week. For that I apologize.

    Your flower collection is outstanding. Such a beautiful array of wonderful colors. A gorgeous idea of making your photos into a collage like these.

  41. I think they should pass a law that every body should have at least one vase of real flowers all the time. Nothing in the world makes one feel better than looking at pretty flowers.

    1. That’s Pat. Making up a vase or 2 weekly has certainly helped kick in my creativity. So glad you enjoyed them and thanks for visiting.

    1. Thank you Alexa for your visit and your lovely comment. I do love growing flowers and vegetables. It is great fun. You have a fantastic week as well!

  45. I’m so pleased you took this approach Donna. It’s a treat to see a panorama view of your garden. To see how you then bring it into your home makes it extra special. Such prettiness!

    The link box for Stuck Foot Posts will open on Loose and Leafy tomorrow (21st August) at 7am UK time. It will stay open until the 1st of September so there will be plenty of time for others to join in too if they wish. http://looseandleafy.blogspot.co.uk/

  46. This is such a great idea! Parts of my garden are overgrown, too. At first, I thought stuckfoot was a plant I’d never heard of. 🙂 Your bouquets are beautiful!

  49. Pingback: A Stuck Foot in November | Gardens Eye View

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