In a Vase on Monday: A Little Bit Tropical

I have been suffering from a strange lack of inspiration lately, which explains why I haven't participated in IAVOM for a few weeks. But I really wanted to do something this week, so I headed out to the garden with a pair of scissors and a vase, but still with no clear ideas of what I was going to do! 

My Castor Bean plants have really taken off since I harvested the dried seed pods. I know they won't have time to ripen any more seed, so now I feel more at liberty to cut some of the flowers. I decided to use them and some of the Love-lies-bleeding, and see if I could get a tropical look (as tropical as an arrangement from a Maine garden can possibly be, anyway!). ​

There is no shortage of Cosmos flowers in my garden right now either, so I used some of them...

But it still needed a little something more, so I gathered a few stems of purple Basil and stuck them in. I also added some foliage from the Castor Beans. It looks wonderful, but it wilted fast. But I'm leaving it in for now, because I've seen some flowers (wildflowers in particular) wilt for several hours after being picked, only to perk up again the next day! 

​*Note: I actually prepared this on Saturday morning. A few hours later, the Castor Bean foliage had revived!

So that's that! Flower arranging is always a pleasure and I'm glad I finally just got out there and did it. Sometimes the inspiration comes as we try! Thanks to Cathy at Rambling in the Garden. You'll be able to see lots of beautiful arrangements from around the world on her blog today.