A few weeks ago in this space I showed off a new vase – a milk vase circa 1930 – filled with purple dahlias. I thought I’d give the single colour design another go, this time with a white flower. Almost. I’ve had great success growing ‘Silvery Rose’ strawflowers (Xerochrysum bracteatum) this year – they’ve featured in almost every vase of cut flowers I’ve brought inside since mid-summer. With the help of a small metal frog at the bottom of the cup I was quite happy with this version as well. The flowers were cut and photographed around 8 a.m. on October 17, and held on for about three weeks in our cool dining room.
Many thanks to Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for hosting IAVOM, a blogger meme now in its ninth year, and giving gardeners around the world an opportunity to share their flower designs.


Nicely arranged and photographed. Your strawflowers have been amazing and these look perfect in the special milk glass.
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Thanks! I’m looking forward to different colours next year.
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Such as . . . straight white perhaps? Hey, these are awesome! I am just asking. I remember that there were only a few in the cut flower fields that were straight white. It still seems odd to me that they were mixed in a cut flower field rather than separated by color. When I grew cut flowers, each crop was homogeneous. Anyway, the white flowers were actually not my favorite. After all, they had those big yellow centers, with white only around the perimeter. I did not have a favorite. There were all so nice.
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I wonder if they all have the yellow centre….we shall see! I’ve seen so many photos of the tulip fields in Holland – and they are all separated by colour. I would have thought that’s the norm for all flower crops.
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I have seen many cut flower crops, but do not remember every seeing any other that were not separated. Florists purchase them by color, not ‘mixed’. I do not know if any varieties lack the big yellow center, but I remember that some have smaller centers, and that if we picked them before they opened, they stayed that way, with the yellow centers obscured by unfurled bracts.
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Very cheerful and pretty. Love ’em!
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😁😁😁
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I’m rather proud of myself for recognizing the strawflowers before I read your text. They fit perfectly in that vase; the arrangement is charming as can be.
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Thank you and congratulations! 😆😆
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The two suit each other well!
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Thanks!
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How lovely they look in the pretty vase. I used to grow loads of straw flowers in different colours , i don’t know why I stopped, they keep you going throughout the winter.
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I’m hoping to grow multi coloured ones next year for the same reason!
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Very pretty, and especially so in that vase. I want to grow more of these next year too, and dry them before they open too far this time!
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We can compare notes thus time next year!
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Love the arrangement and the turf backdrop. I am actually trying strawflower seed here this winter, though not holding my breath for success!
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Oooh – I hope they grow for you! I really like that one photo as well, more and more each time I look at it. The POV keeps asking questions, it seems,…
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