Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes

Summer Sweet (Clethra alnifolia) lives up to its name by filling the air with its sweet perfume. A small shrub native to eastern US, it will flower in sun or light shade, growing 3-6′ tall and 4-8′ wide. Mine hovers around 4-5′ tall in a 6-8′ oval and is covered with racemes of pink-tipped buds opening to white blooms attracting pollinators.

To the vase, I added white and pink phlox (P. paniculata), purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), the grass-like flowers of Plume Poppy (Macleaya cordata) and a few blades of Maiden Grass (Miscanthus sinensis ‘Gracillimus’).

Thanks to Cathy at Rambling In the Garden, who hosts a weekly meme to showcase arrangements created from our gardens. Wander over to see what gardeners all over the world are arranging this week.