This week’s bunch of flowers reminds me of a childhood sweet called ‘Dolly mixture’.
‘Dolly mixture is a British confection, consisting of a variety of multi-coloured fondant shapes, such as cubes and cylinders, with subtle flavourings.‘ – Wikipedia
Here’s a picture of some of the sweets:
Comparison image taken from the Amazon website
Maybe you don’t see it, but I think it is the round Erigeron annuus flowers
and the burnt sienna colouring of Tagetes ‘Cinnabar’
that trigger those memories.
Oh, and those pink salvias of course, especially the little fluted Salvia greggii ‘Pink’
I didn’t like Dolly mixtures much as I recall, but in the interests of fairness would count out bags of individual candies, sharing them between myself, my brother and my sister. I can’t imagine eating them now, but when I was looking for a birthday cake the other day, what should I see but a Victoria sandwich … covered in buttercream and Dolly mixture sweets. I chose a much more grown-up rainbow cake instead!!!
So my vase for Cathy’s (@ramblinginthegarden) IAVOM meme today is a simple Dolly mixture of Pennisetum macrourum, Tagetes ‘Cinnabar’, Salvia greggii ‘Pink’, Salvia ‘Amistad’ and S. ‘Love and Wishes’ and S. ‘Wishes and Kisses’ and Erigeron annuus displayed in a dark brown glazed ceramic jug.
Nothing childish about that.
Don’t forget to take a look at Cathy’s post and the selection of beautiful vases to be found through the links in the comment section
Frogend dweller's Blog 
Beautiful flowers and an elegant interpretation of the candies. I’ve have similar sweets but not by that name.
Thank you. I think that Haribo make a number of similar sweets for instance. These days I tend to stick to chocolates. Far less colourful of course!
Ooh, lovely arrangement, Allison! I adore daisy fleabane– tiny, cheery bits of yellow and white that add so much to a vase, IMO. I like the way you staged it with the pond and yard in the background – beautiful scene!
You are very kind, Eliza. Yes, this kind of erigeron was new to me this year, but it has been flowering for months and I love it. I hope it seeds around like its cousins.
It certainly will – as it is wind borne you will find them everywhere. 😉
The arrangement came together well. The fleabane and the grass plumes are my favorite elements. The pond in the background looks heavenly.
Thank you Kris. The pond is a couple of years old now and we are so please with it. There’s plenty of wildlife to enjoy watching from the decking.
Yes, I could see the Dolly mixture connection straight away from that first picture – it’s the spots of colour that did it! Mind you, looking at the Amazon picture I wouldn’t say I remember those vivid orange and green ones, but perhaps modern ones are just pastel colours – or perhaps my memory is just a bit fuzzy! Great idea, Allison! If you were counting out the sweets, were you the eldest? That reminded me of when my brother and sisters were at the cinema and had been given money for sweets but the only things it would stretch to were Opal Fruits – we must have had a couple of big bags but between us we were still heartily sick of Opal Fruits by the end of the film, and I don’t think I ever touched them again after that!
Lol, that picture was a bit bright wasn’t it? Yes, I think they were considerably muted in reality. I am the eldest, well spotted, but I am not especially bossy or anything! I could probably still eat Opal fruits to be honest. Easier to share out, but flavour preferences are a complication.
I don’t remember if the flavours were distinctive or not – just the cloying texture in my mouth!
I love your floral dolly mixtures and nice to get a glimpse of your garden.
Cheers Liz. Maybe it’s time for a garden overview. I tried a video like yours, but I am useless at panning and zooming without making the watcher feel sick!
Oh yes, I can see the Dolly Mixture likeness too! I seem to remember the jelly ones and the pink ones best… the Salvia is the perfect shade! Funny, I just saw that Tagetes on another blog for the first time and must say I am surprised I like it as I always thought I don’t like Marigolds. The grasses make the whole arrangement even more striking. Love it!
I’ve not grown marigolds before this variety, because I agree with your feelings on the species. ‘Cinnabar’ is a really lovely shade though and I like its airy habit which combines well with verbena and salvias. I tend to trust Dixter selections like this one.
Just like dolly mixtures ! Better than those overly sweet sweeties
Absolutely!