In a Vase: A Smile From Brittlebrush

With today’s vase, I’m back to foraging from the wild things in the yard. I discovered a bloom stalk on one of the volunteer Encelia plants that sprung up with the monsoon rains. So I used that as the inspiration for the vase, which quickly became another gold and silver arrangement. That is what Nature is mostly supplying right now!

I love the cheerful yellow daisies of brittlebrush. They can be slightly ruffled or downright dishevelled. It would be valuable as a foliage plant alone, but the daisies do make it irresistible.

Sadly, the Encelia’s silky, silver foliage collapses when cut, so I pulled it all off when I picked the blooms; then I looked around for something appropriate to add with the flowers. I didn’t have to look far to find the still-unidentified groundcover I used several weeks ago. It has lasted well; its silver leaves are much smaller than those of the brittlebrush and slightly fuzzy, while the Encelia foliage is satiny.

The stems I cut have minuscule and nearly invisible yellow blooms in the leaf clusters, and the plant grows in angular, though succulent, sprays of stems and leaves. In some of the photos it looks a bit wilted, but it wasn’t wilted at all. In fact, it lasts nicely when cut.

I used my handbuilt, dark-glazed stoneware vase again. Many of my vases are still packed away; and as I gave the boxes very generic labels like “ceramics”, I can only guess which is which till they are all opened up.

This is a first October IaVoM, so I’m looking forward to seeing what everyone else is doing as autumn sets in. Do check the other vases at Rambling in the Garden.

Happy Monday!