Fall Floral Arrangement

"I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers."

~Claude Monet

I loved the pumpkin planted with roses, spires of Mexican sage and an asymmetrical conifer collar. Staged on a bronzed mirror- it was the centerpiece that 3 years later still enchants my memory of what a wonderful time was had at the 2008 Garden Writers Association Awards Banquet.

'Hot cocoa roses' image by Gene Sasse

 
  As Monet believed flowers uplifted his senses as an artist, it is also true that gardening offers the opportunity to romanticize dining at home. I am loving the idea of replicating the centerpiece by setting a water-filled jar in the center of a hollowed out pumpkin, then arranging hot cocoa roses, Mexican Sage and perhaps leaves of scented geranium. The lacier leaf of a citronella variety was my first thought for greenery.

On the patio, the citronella scented variety silently shoos away unwanted flying critters  away from the evening's courses.  However- men like variety, and changing the setting might prompt a more romantic response from my husband ):-  In autumn, there will be a few evenings where it will be preferable to move some furniture, turn on some Frank Sinatra classics and set the table square with glowing embers in the fireplace.  Maybe the puppies will even spend the night at a pet hotel... 

Garden Harvest Supply Catalog image

In this setting- the rich tones of Chocolate Mint Geranium are better suited to stage a seriously romantic dinner. If shopping local for this horticultural gem isn't fruitful- - go to  Garden Harvest Supply.  My plant stared as a 4' Slip. It now regularly comes in the house- either in flower arrangements or with the leaves set as a ruffled doily beneath a cake.