The Frugal Bouquet

Everybody likes getting flowers, and I am always giddy with excitement when my garden produces enough flowers that I can have a vase full for me, and one to give away. I have been cutting random flowers here and there all summer, and figured there would be just enough rudbeckias in bloom that I could take some to a friend for her birthday. I went out with my clippers and my flower basket, and to my dismay, discovered that I only had 2 fully formed flowers and about 6 sick looking ones. Not really a great bouquet.
I figured I could look around and see what else I could fill the vase out with. I clipped a few purple butterfly bush branches, some nasturtiums, marigolds, a geranium branch, peach bean blossoms, chive flowers(!) and mint. I never realized that I had such a variety of flowers in the yard! By the time I got all of them into the vase, I was really struggling to find room.
So, in honor of having watched a few too many public television cooking shows this weekend and the fact that I don't think many people truly appreciate the idea of being frugal (according to Merriam-Webster dictionary: characterized by or reflecting economy in the use of resources), I present to you, the Frugal Bouquet...

(should I admit that the vase is really a neat looking hexagonal mustard jar?...)