Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes

Trying to feature more of my vase collection, I’m showing two vases this week, one bold and one demure.

The first is a blue, stoneware jug filled with bold, bright Zinnias (Z. elegans ‘Sprite’ mix and the only gold cactus-flowering type that survived the slugs).

The second is a more delicate, pastel arrangement in a 1940s hobnail milk-glass perfume decanter (it has a glass stopper). My mother had a similar one when I was growing up. I found this one in a vintage shop.

The highlight of the arrangement is my first Dahlia  ‘Moonstruck’ bloom, perfect in creamy-white with a touch of lemon. Above it, starry, white clusters of Garlic Chives (Allium tuberosum) have green eyes and dark stamens. Love-In-Mist (Nigella damascena) flowers in raspberry and green-tinged white, along with a few seed pods complement the dark pink Cosmos (C. ‘Sensation’). Sprigs of purple Catmint (Nepeta racemosa) finish…