Fertilizer Friday Blooms and a Bud Vase Collection

It's Fertilizer Friday! Please join me and our host Tootsie over at Tootsie Time to see what's blooming on a mid-summer's day.

I like to take my photos for Fertilizer Friday towards the end of the week so you can see what is really happening in my garden for that week. However, for the past few days we've gotten quite a bit of rain and yesterday when we had a brief respite I was so excited by the baby robins hatching that I only photographed a few blooms.

Here's Pentas Butterfly Sparkle. This one is in a container but I usually plant these in the ground and they seem to really take off late summer. Of course the monarch butterflies love them.




I love the color of this red zinnia. Wouldn't that make the perfect toe nail polish color?!



I purchased some daylilies from Brecks in June. They arrived very healthy but really small. I didn't expect any to bloom this year but they are (they are not putting on a big show yet, but just wait until next year when they are more established). I have them in all different colors and varieties, but all are rebloomers. I'll tell you in another post what I have planted, but for now here's the first bloom I got.



Here's a proven winner wave petunia. I know I've shown this before, but I love the color. I have these in my containers.


I love my coral bells heuchera. It's huge and does so well in my island bed. The deep green and purple foliage is stunning.


A close-up of a coleus. I hope these stick around until Fall because they'll look fabulous next to some pumpkins.


Since I don't have much more to show you this week I thought I'd share with you my bud vase and miniature container collection. I'm always scouring thrift shops and antique stores looking for the next one to fall in love with.

Here are some glass vases I have.


I love the way they look with a single leaf from the garden - such as a hosta leaf. The glass vase in the back of the display with the burgundy coleus in it is actually a candle stick holder. It's deep enough to put a little water in it and some colorful leaves (after all who says a candlestick holder has to actually hold a candle). There's also a milk pitcher that I've filled with cut licorice plant. The metal butterfly in the lower right corner of the picture is made of copper and then oxidized. I made it myself.... in another life I used to do quite a bit of metalsmithing but don't have much time now.


Blue is my favorite color and I'm always looking for small blue vases. These are tiny and sit atop a vintage luncheon tablecloth circa 1950s. I'll have to show you my vintage tablecloths another time - I've got tons of these too.



For a colorful, contemporary graphic statement why not put red, black, and white vases together on top of a cake plate.



The cake plate is made by Mikasa (purchased from Home Goods...one of my favorite stores). The white vase is vintage milk glass - I have 2 others like this one. They look lovely running down the center of table or perched on the mantel. The black vase is Murano glass and is vintage. The small red vase was purchased new last year from Micheal's. It's a great color and I have several of them in all different sizes. I've use them to decorate during Christmas, Valentine's Day, and Fourth of July so I've gotten a lot of milage out of them for not much money spent.

I love vintage silver. I don't usually polish it because the patina is so gorgeous.




Don't these little petunias look cute spilling out of the sugar holder?



These remind me of my grandmother. She had bud vases like these in her bedroom. The ivory ones are made by Lefton and the blue one is Wedgewood. These are all vintage and look sweet in our guestroom.





I think this pottery bud vase was hand-made - maybe in the 1970s.


An amber Murano glass pitcher. It's tiny only a few inches high. I've put mum blooms in this one during the Fall season.




Another tiny vase.... vintage, but no name on the bottom. Asian inspired. I'm thinking an orchid would be pretty in here.


Well that's a small bit of my collection. I hope it inspires you to look for some yourself next time you go thrifting.

Happy Friday!!!