The amber tones of the Geranium foliage and grasses (Red Baron, Panicum, Carex and Calamagrostis) in my vase today are fireside colours, warm and cosy. A great contrast to the chilly damp outdoors. And yet my garden keeps on going!
There are a few more Hellebore buds showing and even some in flower. This white one in the smaller vase is called Jasper. I added a sprig of mint, which is one of the few plants looking green still, some silvery buddleia foliage just about hanging on, and the very last of the Dianthus flowers from the pot near my front door. The Dianthus might survive over winter, it might not… we will see.
A large green hellebore leaf, some foraged Viburnum berries, oak leaves and evergreen make everything look a bit festive I think.
Cathy at Rambling in the Garden hosts this lovely meme, asking us to join her in finding materials to bring indoors and share each week. Do go and visit her, and why not join in!
Wishing you all a good week!
❄️🎄❄️
Words and Herbs 
It’s the little things that make us happy, isn’t it, we must cherish them. A single flower is so precious. I see that you’re already in a festive mood, Cathy. I especially love your simple display of grasses and geranium which looks like a cute, swirly petticoat. Have a good week xx
Thanks Annette. The Geranium leaves sadly curled up overnight but the grasses will last well. 😃 Hope you have a good week too. xx
A beautiful holiday vignette, Cathy! I love the blooms and the dancing leaves encircling the neck of the vase. You have quite a beautiful snow.
Hi Susie, I have to admit the header is from another year. We have only had a dusting of snow this year so far. I always hope for a white Christmas but it rarely happens!
Oh, gosh, I do recognize it now! Well, still beautiful. Hope the snows come “if” you enjoy it.
I was shocked by your header photo, thinking you’ve had all that snow, but that may be archival? Seeing you were able to pick from your garden, perhaps you’re still snow-free. The vignette is very Christmasy – love it!
Hi Eliza. Yes, that snow is from 2019! I wanted a seasonal header for winter though. 😉 We rarely have more than a sprinkling before Christmas. A white Christmas would be lovely for a change. ☃️🌨❄️
For some reason I never would have thought to use Geranium leaves, but they look wonderful with the Panicum and other grasses.
Thanks Alicia. Sadly the geranium leaves didn’t last long… I suppose that would have been asking too much in December. The grasses will last ages though. 😃
Like the title
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Thank you Shepherd Cathy.
We are definitely sharing the winter warmth about, Cathy, and your arrangement really does look cosy! The geranium foliage is such a lovely colour, isn’t it?
😃 There are a few geraniums that have lovely autumn colour, but they don’t last in a vase at this time of year I have discovered. I am glad I haven’t cut back all of them though. 🙂
I’m impressed that your hellebores are off to such an early start! Your fireside arrangement is lovely.
Thanks Kris. Some of my Hellebores do start flowering early… there are so many wonderful hybrids available now. 😃
How lovely to see the pretty little dianthus amongst your more autumnal and wintery collection! Joyful! Amanda
I nearly didn’t pick that Dianthus, but I reckoned it would last longer in a vase than outside. 😃
So frequently you give me ideas, Cathy. I haven’t previously considered using geranium leaves in an arrangement, and I have so many different varieties! I’m excited to try my own arrangement. Many of my blooms are quite unimpressive right now, but the leaves on many plants are quite pretty. Your arrangement is really attractive!
Grasses and foliage are what keep me in vases through the winter Debra. The Geranium leaves had obviously had too much frost to last long after cuttung them, but I have used them throughout the year with success, so I hope you are lucky too. 😃💕
You amaze me every Monday with the ingenuity you display with your vases! Another beautiful post, yet with so little left in your garden to choose from. 🙂
Thanks Joanne! It does get a bit tricky finding things for a vase from now on, but I try and keep going as it forces me to search my garden intensively each week when I usually wouldn’t even venture out into the cold. And it is amazing what I find sometimes! 😉
Viburnum berries are interesting. I notice various viburnums in mail order catalogues and online, and sort of wonder about them. Viburnums are rare here, and there are not many cultivars of them. I have never seen berries of any of them looking showy.
Hi Tony. This is Viburnum opulus, which is the common native one growing in hedgerows here. The berries are lovely and the foliage is absolutely wonderful in autumn too. It really glows!
Oh wow, It is actually one that I am sort of familiar with. It is rare here, but is sometimes grown for the snowball blooms and foliar color in autumn. I never saw berries like that.
They are one of the most colourful hedgerow shrubs in our part of the world, and the other bright berries which light up the hedges in autumn are the Euonymus, which also have wonderful orange foliage from late summer onwards.
Ah, that is one that I have seen only in pictures and mail order catalogues. The only Euonymus here are fruitless and unimpressively evergreen, although mostly variegated.
Lovely arrangement! Nice brighten the indoors hen it’s gloomy outdoors.
You are right Robert. I try and make a vase each week even in the depths of winter to bring the garden indoors. 😃
I love how you’ve used those geranium leaves to enclose the grasses, Cathy. Cosy indeed and they work brilliantly with the Red Baron leaf lancing through the centre. Nice collection of pretty little flowers too. That dianthus was a surprise!
I have managed to keep some Dianthus flowering in pots all winter in the past, but they do look a bit shabby by the spring and need chopping right back. 😉
I love it that the plants turn warm and cozy colors for you! And the textures are beautiful. Stay warm..
Thanks Amy. 😃