Early Saturday morning the car roof and windshield was covered in a heavy frost – a week or so earlier than usual – but it didn’t seem to settle down to the ground. Nothing in the garden appears affected, including Cannas and basil, which usually turn brown or mushy at the first hint of below zero temperatures. So I’m going to take that frost on the car as a gentle hint that it’s time to get bulbs planted and peonies cut back.
Lots of on and off rain yesterday, a welcome change that should help keep our well flowing and allow the conifers and other trees to survive the winter ahead. In between the showers I headed out to the Zinnia patch to fill a vase with the brightest thing in the October garden.
Along the way I stopped to pull out the last of the beets. Wanted the roots for dinner, and had been waiting a while to use the leaves in a vase.
Here’s the final vase – I added some spent Agastache flower stalks for height, since I was cutting them down anyway to prevent indiscriminate self seeding. Every week, Cathy at Rambling in the Garden hosts dozens of gardeners from around the world, all willing to display cut flowers from their gardens.
Very sumptuous and lovely! Rich beautiful colours. I am definitely going to grow zinnias again next year. I have seen some glorious colours IAVOM over the summer and yours are the final inspiration! Thank you. Amanda https://therunningwave.blogspot.com/2019/10/this-summers-last-hurrah-in-vases-on.html
Thank you so much!
Nicely balanced arrangement Chris. The zinnias still look gorgeous and I bet those beets were delicious.
Thank you – yes, the beets were great!
Oh that beetroot foliage works wonderfully with those bright zinnias – they are really zingy and having had a small success with zinnias this year I need to choose my varieties carefully for next year, as they were all shades of pink this time round. Thanks for sharing yours
Thanks Cathy. I bought a few packs of named Zinnia but I think I prefer my own, collected from seed any time now.
Ah, that’s interesting – I still have some zinnias flowering but it is too damp for seed collection still
A very autumnal creation! Sorry about the impending frost – weather like that is a foreign concept here.
😄
I love the finishing touch with the beets, looks great
Thank you!
The beets are worth growing for the foliage, I love the addition. You were wise to cut the Zinnias to enjoy inside. It’s raining here -but 80 degrees.
80 degrees….fond memories I have of that temperature….
So much humidity if feels like 91, too soon for fond!
Yummy looking beets – I love the greens steamed, but they look nice complementing the zinnias. Sounds like a close shave with the frost. I covered my zinnias Friday night, but they still got nailed. I’m in mourning. 😉
Oh Nooooooo…I’m so sorry…the annoying part of a first frost is inevitably there will follow two or even three weeks of glorious mild weather!
I know, right? While it is inevitable in our climate, the end is always bitter. 🙁
I love your zinnias, fabulous colours. Frost already? What an awful thought.
Yes….although post frost it’s been glorious and warm!!