Monday Morning Blooms ~ Welcome October

Welcome,  October!

Can you believe it is already the second Monday in October?

 That means we get to celebrate Monday Morning Bloomswith our friends, Mary @ Home Is Where the Boat IsPam @ Everyday LivingLidy @ French Garden House

Today I have the honor of joining as guest "bloomer" to share a little flower therapy of my own.

A friend recently stopped by with a huge bouquet of gorgeous mop-head hydrangeas.

I don't think I've ever seen any hydrangea blooms this full and long.  Seriously I cut off much of the long stems, yet some of the heads are still a foot long.

Image by Linda Walker, MacKenzie-Childs Used With Permission

Recently inspired by the above image created and posted by Linda Walker, MacKenzie-Childs' resident florist and visual designer,  I decided to pull my own MKC pumpkins gathered over the yearsand group them with flowers down the center of my own table.

I wasn't sure how to style these giant beauties!My first thought was to use a tall container becauseof their enormously tall and full blooms.

It seemed a bit awkward among the pumpkins, so I grabbed my large Tartan Spice Pumpkin punch bowl and pulled it into service as a vase.

To add some interest among these large blooms,I found some interesting ruscus stems that had been painted with two shades of metallic paint.

I bought two bouquets of each shade to add to the hyacinths  and think the glistening of the metallic leaves adds a nice touch.

I recently saw this clever comment that made me

think of my growing MacKenzie-Childs pumpkin patch.

The first rule of the pumpkin budget is.  .   .   .

We do not talk about the pumpkin budget.   ~ @prairiegardens

~ Courtly Stripe Pumpkins ~ 

~ Orange Flower Market ~

~ White Flower Market ~

~ Royal Toile ~

~ Courtly Check w/ Gold Leaves ~

~ Courtly Stripe with Falling Gold Leaves ~

This year MKC introduced  

Rosy Check pumpkins.

I like the way the 

orange and pink play together.  

The large plaid pumpkin shaped container filled with the huge 

blooms certainly commands attention and has been a 

boost to adding autumn vibes to our home.

Anyone who knows me, 

knows I'm a flower loving girl.

I grew up in a home with a mother who gardened and who

kept fresh cut flower blooms throughout our home.

When I married the love of my life, 

he would bring me bouquets of fresh flowers and

frequently had fresh flowers delivered to my classroom.

Without a cutting garden, I depend on shopping at

Trader Joe's each week for very affordable fresh blooms.

If you are lucky to have a Trader Joe's in your area, 

you'll find a wonderful variety of seasonal fresh 

cut flowers at very reasonable prices.

I bought a single bouquet of these fall Gazania, 

and as you can see I filled several small vases.

Magnolia leaves fill my MKC Wittika Peanuts pitcher.

The leathery underside of these leaves is perfect for autumn.

Orange Alstroemeria are also the

perfect blooms for fall and last for weeks.

A couple of the mop-head hydrangea blooms broke off, 

so I simply added them to this metal Mud Pie gravy boat. 

With the wooden acorns, it is quintessentially fall.

It should be no surprise to see that fresh flowers 

fill containers here and there inside our home.

With the onset of autumn, I also begin to enjoy our terrace, 

filling containers with blooming color and pumpkins.

Petunias in mixed colors are happy blooms, 

but won't last past the first freeze.

I filled this French piece with 4" pots of mini roses.

It easily moves from indoors to a table outside.

It's fun to mix faux and real pumpkins in among these vivid, blooming, narrow leaf zinnias.

What can I say?   I'm truly a fan of orange.Especially in autumn!

My cutie topiary kitty, sports a seasonal bow

to welcome autumn to our garden.

Please return tomorrow to see how I've tweaked the pumpkin patch to accommodate a Halloween tablescape as I join 16 tablescape stylist offering up inspiration for Halloween.

Hop on over to visit my friends at the links below.

Mary @ Home Is Where The Boat Is

Pam @ Everyday Living

Lidy @ French Garden Home

Caw, Caw ~ Happy October

Also Joining

Love Your Creativity @ Life and Linda  Sundays on Silverado @ House on Silverado 

You're the Star @ Electric Red Barn
 Slice of Suburbia     Over the Moon @ Marilyn's Treats 

All About Home @ Common Ground    Vintage Charm @ Our Hopeful Home 

Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop @ Electric Red Barn
Share Your Style @ French Ethereal  Tablescape Thursday @ Between Naps on the Porch
Thursday Favorite Things @ Katherine's Corner      Farmhouse Friday @ Country Road 407

Saturday Sparks @ Pieced Pastimes