I was bound and determined that I was, once more, going to take part in 'Vase on Monday', hosted by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden. Although I tried last week, I really only stuffed some of my favorite roses into a pretty little pot. This week I tried to exercise a little more care with my arrangement. And now I understand the challenge - not just creating a satisfying flower arrangement, but also finding the right light for the photography.I'm not displeased with the result, but I think that next time I'll try to use fewer different sorts of flowers so that the whole hangs together better. I'm also more aware than ever of the shortage of vases/containers in my house!
This vase has been everywhere in my house and garden (in the rain!) in an attempt to find the right light levels to show off the colours well.
It sat briefly on the kitchen table - which I failed to declutter first - and was flashed too much for its own good. 
Then it moved down to the Iris Garden. I loved it there, since the colours were most true to the borage and the verbena and the effect they all create together in the garden. And it enjoyed some gentle autumn rain before ... 
... it was nibbled by my favorite garden pest! 
Finally it came to rest in the Vine Garden where I thought the light and surroundings showed off the colours I was using to best advantage. The balance of red and blue was not really true enough in my other experiments. But yes, I did use flash here, so maybe not really true to life? 
I used purple berberis, spent Sedum spectabile flowers, Verbena bonariensis, late-flowering Salvia sclarea, borage, Cerinthe major 'Atropurpurea', Pennisetum alopecuroides and Miscanthus sinensis 'Zebrinus' 
I'm getting a lot of pleasure from my self-sown Cerinthe major 'Atropurpurea'. I had it from Hardy Plant Society seed and It seems to be enjoying the heavy soil here much more than it has the soil of my previous gardens. The habits of the borage have, however, become a bit threatening. My fault, because the lure of those blue flowers means I don't weed it out enough. 
Normally I wouldn't pick the Pennisetum seed heads, but my original two plants are quite badly placed and due for a move in the spring, so I'd rather pay a bit of attention to them in their vase this week than miss out them altogether ... 
Salvia sclarea is another Hardy Plant Society seedlist addition, one that threatened my young roses last year. Perhaps when the roses are stronger and bigger, it could go back and keep them company, since they look so pretty together? Apart from rising to the challenge of creating something lovely for the house, and learning a bit about photography/backgrounds, etc., what I really like about my vase is that I've managed to bring some of my favorite November garden colours indoors! (The kitchen table may not be great for photography, but it's a wonderful spot to enjoy my garden as I cook. Otherwise, at the moment, I'd have to negotiate many steps in the pouring rain to gete a fix. So thanks on many counts, Cathy
