My Love of Zinnias, the Beginning
I am so excited to share my August Tablescape with you! I love Zinnias, but that should be in upper case now, I LOVE ZINNIAS! Can you hear it echo through the countryside? These simple annual flowers have always been exceptional.
When I was young, my family would get Jung, Burpee, and Gurney’s seed catalogs. We would read them over and over. We’d talk about them at mealtimes, expressing our favorites of the new varieties of seeds they were offering. We list our old tried and true favorites for vegetables, herbs, and sunflowers. But then, we’d try a new variety of zinnia, gladiolus, and dahlia every year. Saving seed from the previous year’s zinnias was easy. We dug up our Gladiolus and Dahlias in the fall and saved them for the following year. Therefore, we would save the flower seed heads for the love of Zinnias. I share more of my Gardening Recollections from my Grandmothers in this blog.
New Favorites, an Inspiration
Now, back to zinnias. My new favorite is a variety called Queen Lime Zinnias. They are the colors of rainbow sherbet. They have these limey green accents; each flower can be cherry, raspberry, apricot, yellow, or fully lime. I purchased some plants last year at the farmers’ market. If you remember, we had just moved, and I didn’t have time to order seeds. I loved these flowers! So I ordered a packet of the Queen Lime-mix Zinnias this spring and planted them in front of the red Easy Elegance rose, a re-blooming rose requiring very little care. I am guessing mine is the Mystic Fairy. It is one of the older re-blooming roses. Well, the bunnies enjoyed the zinnia plants. They came on beautifully, then nibbled to just above the ground one day. I was heartbroken.
(As a side note, I have a retired greyhound, Rosie. Well, we’ve discovered Rosie is genuinely retired. She looks at the rabbits hopping around the garden, nods to them, and then, if she catches us watching her, she points her nose in their direction to say, “They are over there. You may want to chase them away from your flowers.” Yes, they love to munch on flowers. And she enjoys watching them.)
Using Vintage Containers for Zinnias
Fast-forward to now. I found these same zinnias at the farmer’s market. A flower farmer was coming to the market, and she brought these wonderful Queen Lime Zinnias. I purchased over two dozen of them! Immediately, I knew what I wanted to do with them: my vintage milk carrier and blue glass mason jars. I didn’t have eight jars, but I liked the look of the six jars I had. So here is how I arranged them.
Quick note: You can do this arrangement without the carrier in a few different ways. One, line the jars down the center of the table. Two, mass the jars together and wrap them with ribbon and twine around all the jars. Finally, set the jars in a tray. It works as a “carrier.” Now proceed as follows.
How-to Create an Arrangement with Zinnias You’ll Love
I placed the water-filled jars in the carrier first. I planned on cutting and arranging the flowers to work with the empty slots—it would be easier to organize this way. As usual, I removed any foliage below the water level. I do this as I work since I am never sure what height each flower will be. In addition, the leaves help fill in space without having to add another type of flower/leaf to the arrangement. My plan here was to only have zinnias in this bouquet.
Cut the zinnias and start filling the jars with the flowers. I use the extra stems and leaves I cut off to help fill the jars. Work around the carrier as you put the flowers in the jars. Don’t fill each jar, then go on to the next, work jar to jar, going around them circularly. You can use the methods shared in our floral classes: the tape method of holding your flowers if you have wide-mouth jars or the angled stem tripod method. I used the angled tripod here. This technique means the stems were inserted into the container at an angle, with the first three creating a tripod or teepee, as this helps each stem support the other. New classes will start this fall, just in time for the holidays.
To clarify, work around the arrangement, varying the heights and sizes of blooms and distributing the colors as you go. In short, this arrangement is to have a carefree ‘just-picked-these-in-the-garden-and-brought-it-straight-to-the-table’ look. See my finished picture for reference.
Ta-da! Here is the final ‘For the Love of Zinnia’ Arrangement.
After that, I created my tablescape using a tablecloth in a color similar to the zinnias. In addition, I placed a linen monogrammed table runner on top. I like my casual tables not starched or pressed, with a little wrinkle and gathered up. Likewise, I created the sideboard with colors similar to a buffet setup. I brought out my Grandmother’s Florida seashell shakers. She loved a 100% tourist keepsake! I added vintage finds of floral napkins, hand-crocheted hot pads, and majolica candlesticks to continue the color scheme. Lastly, my other Grandmother’s crystal flatware holder, filled with iced tea spoons, is on the sideboard.
I shared a picture of how I used packing foam to hold the candles in the candlesticks. It seemed perfect for some lazy summer dinners, so they were created around these beautiful Queen Lime Zinnias. By the way, did I tell you I love zinnias?
Did you know this blog is part of our 100 Days of Summer Adventure? To clarify, I have been sharing ideas, journal prompts, summer activity worksheets, and free classes as part of our 100-Day Summer Adventure in our weekly newsletter. You can sign up here for the weekly newsletter, which includes DIYs and helpful information to create and curate your home, garden, and life. It’s not too late; there is more summer coming. In addition, some awesome free classes are coming in the fall.
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