sunday flowers

by Sharon Santoni

roses and foxgloves arranged in antique vases

I found these two 1930’s ‘barbotine’ vases in a fair near here last April.   They are both slightly chipped and each has a couple of hairline cracks, but I really don’t mind.

The shape of a vase is often what define the shape of a bouquet.  As soon as I saw these two, with their tall cylindrical form, and soft happy colours, I knew that they would be ideal for foxgloves and roses in June.

roses and foxgloves arranged in antique vases

Some of my foxgloves get blown over in the garden; a strong gust of wind and they bend at the base and simply lie down.  I used to straighten them and tie them to a bamboo support, but now, if they are not about to be walked over, I leave them lying and within a few days, they point back to the sky, diverting their flower spears from horizontal back to vertical, giving me  some lovely curved foxgloves that are ideal for adding a little volume to a bouquet.

roses and foxgloves arranged in antique vases

So today, as the foxgloves are nearly over, I picked a few curved branches, along with roses, a peony, some lady’s mantle, a few sprigs of cerinthe and some of the secondary blooms from my lupins.  Its the sort of bouquet I like best, the one that just comes together as you wander around the garden with a secateurs and a basket.

Sunday flowers, from me to you.

roses and foxgloves arranged in antique vases

34 comments

Veronica Roth June 21, 2015 - 5:01 pm

Lovely! At the moment I’ve got foxgloves and bluebells in vases here at home. (ours are almost over too) The other day I drove to my cabin and saw hundreds of foxgloves growing by the side of the road for miles and miles. They’re such grateful flowers, aren’t they? All one has to do is shake a few seed heads somewhere. Insta garden. 😀

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Deborah June 21, 2015 - 5:04 pm

The colors in the bouquets are gorgeous and it’s so full and have lovely shapes. The vases are really pretty and such a neat find. Despite the cracks…just hope they’re water tight! 🙂 Happy Sunday to you too!

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Norma June 21, 2015 - 5:11 pm

So simple, yet so beautiful. That does it, I’m planting foxgloves!

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Jackie June 21, 2015 - 5:14 pm

Beautiful and very elegant. I love the colors.

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Jill June 21, 2015 - 5:17 pm

Thank you ,Sharon, for the beautiful Fathers Day bouquets. I shared them with my husband, celebrating him!

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Sally June 21, 2015 - 5:17 pm

Really beautiful! Love the colors…

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Suzanne June 21, 2015 - 5:18 pm

I so envy you for being able to grow these gorgeous flowers. Our extreme heat here in the central valley of California (not to mention our drought for the past two years) makes it impossible to do so here. And your arrangements could not be prettier than they are in your vase “finds”. Gorgeous, and so cheery.

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Vicky from Athens June 21, 2015 - 5:25 pm

Just beautiful! I’ll be planting foxgloves in my garden next year!

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Connie Melton June 21, 2015 - 5:33 pm

I love the beautiful flowers and the vases! I don’t know if we have some of the flowers here in the states that you mentioned, but they certainly are beautiful. can only imagine how wonderful they smell.

Always enjoy your pictures and antique finds. 🙂

have a wonderful day.

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Ann Damiano June 21, 2015 - 5:38 pm

Sharon, absolutely beautiful, as are all your lovely blogs,

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Colleen Taylor June 21, 2015 - 6:10 pm

Oh my Sharon, these are so gorgeous! Right now we are in the heat of the summer in Arizona & flowers like this wouldn’t make it but a girl can dream right! X

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Renee O'Callaghan June 21, 2015 - 6:16 pm

Lovely!
Thank you!

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Madonna/aka/Ms. Lemon June 21, 2015 - 6:23 pm

Lovely vases and lovely flowers.

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jill June 21, 2015 - 6:47 pm

this kind of bouquet is my favourite! kind of frilly, loose, romantic through and through. gorgeous 🙂

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mary stewart June 21, 2015 - 7:28 pm

i just love all the beautiful posts you have and follow you every day….these vases are exquisite! also the foxglove and roses….hopefully some day i’ll be able to visit france, mostly the country…who knows!
mary in cape may, nj

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Pamela June 21, 2015 - 8:20 pm

The flowers are beautiful and so are the vases.
Have a great day

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Gretchen Bertman June 21, 2015 - 8:27 pm

MERCI!

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Cindy McCarty June 21, 2015 - 9:13 pm

Breathtakingly beautiful!

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lucy June 21, 2015 - 9:15 pm

These beautiful flowers & the gorgeous antique vases are the perfect combination!
I always enjoy your posts because I love antiques & flowers as well: my house is full of old things, which remind me of my beloved mother & grandmother, and my garden is always a real pleasure for me or my friends! Thank u!!!

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Emm June 21, 2015 - 11:32 pm

Thank you for such lovely pictures, badly needed pure beauty after a week of a nasty world.

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Joanne Day June 22, 2015 - 12:48 am

Thank you Sharon – so lovely! I too am planting foxgloves!

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Cherry June 22, 2015 - 1:35 am

Beautiful thoughts,beautiful flowers. Thank you for a peek into your garden and Sunday morning!

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jk June 22, 2015 - 1:47 am

Absolutely fabulous…flowers and the antique vases…..

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Susan (une femme) June 22, 2015 - 4:13 am

Sharon, those bouquets are gorgeous! And those vases are such a great find.

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Iris June 22, 2015 - 4:52 am

Hi Sharon
Funny, as I read your blog this evening I happily admit to also being in my garden cutting a few flowers for my dresser earlier in the day. My foxgloves are just starting to bloom but the wait is well worth it. The Ladies Mantle adds wonderful colour and texture. Enjoy your arrangements. I know I will.
Iris

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Jeanne McKay Hartmann June 22, 2015 - 2:53 pm

Sharon, I never tire of seeing what comes out of your garden. Gorgeous. And those vases, what a find! I think there must be some sort of life lesson about patience or resilience in your discovery that the foxgloves would pick themselves up on their own.

Hope that it’s a beautiful summer so far in Normandy! XO

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Kim St. Clair - Melbourne June 22, 2015 - 3:12 pm

Hello Everyone, it’s Monday evening here in Melbourne, freezing cold and blowing a gale outside so to see your beautiful flowers has brightened my day.
Fox gloves just fab, they grow here in Australia too like weeds if they get a chance but when they flower on mass they are breath taking the same with the Russell lupins’ you have in your vase.
As a cautionary note if my memory serves me correctly they belong to the digitalis family, so when harvesting always wear your garden gloves, more so if you take any heart Meds. My mum always warned me when I started gardening that they are a plant that has a bit of a mixed history, medicine or poison.
Kind Regards Kim.

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Karena June 22, 2015 - 4:05 pm

Sharon
Thank you! These are glorious bouquets of flowers and the vases are marvelous!!

xoxo
Karena
The Arts by Karena

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May June 22, 2015 - 5:11 pm

Your flower arrangements are always stunning!
I love the vases. They give me an idea to gesso and paint fabric flowers onto a vase.

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Sandra T. June 23, 2015 - 7:13 am

What a beautiful double bouquet of gorgeous flowers! Those vases are incredible!

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Pride June 23, 2015 - 9:48 am

Hi Sharon
What a beautiful sight in June. It really is beautiful, especially for someone like me who resides in South Africa, and is experiencing the bitter cold of winter at the moment. As you can imagine, almost all our plants have gone to sleep – so, seeing your beautiful blog just made me look forward to Spring in September. Mhh, feeling so jealous!!

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Kimberly June 23, 2015 - 1:22 pm

I’ve always liked foxgloves but never knew that was their name. Thanks for teaching me something new!

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FrenchGardenHouse June 23, 2015 - 9:23 pm

Gorgeous! The barbotine vases are stunning, so are the bouquets, such lovely colors. It’s always a treat to visit your beautiful part of the world, Sharon. Foxgloves? delicious!

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Doré June 24, 2015 - 5:13 am

Love the vases and the porceiling floral embellishments, they add all the right kind of beauty to your florals.

Love the rich vivid colours here, always leave inspired to fill my containers with flowers.

Xx
Bisous

Doré

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