Because my floral choices are seemingly becoming quite sparse, I challenged myself to create six late summer arrangements just to prove there is still a ton of beautiful flowers and foliage out there; both in my garden, and in nature.

I came up with this idea after seeing it on The BLOG at Terrain. Oh I adore this blog … did you know they’re a part of Anthropologie? So inspiring!!

The first of my late summer arrangements is The Succulent/Sedum Sensation ;)

I raided my garden and flower pots for this one …

I snipped off the top of a succulent that had gone extremely leggy and weird (the one that looks like a rose.)

It was dangling on a shoot about 7 inches from the pot … so quirky. I thought why not since I will enjoy it more indoors in a bouquet, where it looks gorgeous (not weird), and it will last for weeks! truly!

The purply flowery plant is a sedum just beginning to bloom. I will tell you right now, I’ll always have sedum either in my garden, or in pots … it gives and gives and always looks beautiful (plus it’s a late summer to autumn bloomer.)

I added a couple Heuchera (Coral Bell) leaves since I adore their dark dramatic frilly leaves. Note to self: always have Heuchera in garden.

A prickly branch in the top left, and another dangly succulent in the bottom right creates a diagonal line through the arrangement.

Then I thought … hmmm … what else could I do with this? What if I didn’t have a large succulent rosette …

Well, I could insert a sweet begonia, or even a rose (if I had one.) I also added a couple lovely Dracaena spikes from one of my pots.

To make this arrangement I chose a wabi sabi terra cotta pot and put a mason jar filled with water inside. I covered the top of the mason jar with chicken wire to help hold the stems securely. Tip: most succulents don’t even need to be in water! Some of the little ones you see are simply sitting freely on top.

This would make a wonderful autumn centrepiece for Thanksgiving!

Late Summer Arrangements Idea #2 Beautiful Bouquet Garni

Late Summer Arrangements Idea #3: Heavenly Hydrangea