In a Vase on Monday: Late Winter Flowers

Some recent sunshine has helped along the Hellebores and most of them are starting to open now. The first ones I picked two weeks ago are, AMAZINGLY, still presentable! (Possibly because they each had their own little vase and did not have to share with any other plants?)

Photographed last Friday, day 12 😃

But for today’s vase I picked some fresh ones and continued the experimentation with how best to make them last. Today they are all in one vase, with nothing else added.

As with the last ones, these have not been conditioned. That will be the next experiment, as I have never tried it. (Any tips would be welcome!)

Very cold nights are forecast, but my hellebores don’t mind a bit of frost and perk up as soon as the morning sun shines on them. So hopefully I will have more to pick soon. 😃

I am linking in Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for her weekly meme. Why not visit her and see what everyone has found to put in a vase this Monday. 😃

Happy gardening!

🌷❄️🌷

 

The First Garden Projects of 2022

We have finally had some sunshine and milder days recently, albeit with a chilly wind and snow flurries in between. But the blue sky has enticed me outdoors to start my first gardening project of the year: widening the Herb Bed.

Well, actually two projects: the grass that I am removing is going into the bottom of the two new raised planters which were assembled last week. 👍

These will be permanent fixtures on the patio for salad crops and vegetables, safe from the hares. (And slugs!)😃

I put some larger garden debris right at the base, then a layer of sods, and next week I shall find some twiggy stuff before another layer of soil and then compost finishes it off. Some of the soil I need has kindly been provided by my industrious little garden helpers. 😂😂😂

Each morning we awaken to a few more molehills, and it has been too wet to remove them yet. The (mostly) nocturnal culprits are advancing towards my flower beds…. 😯

Back to the Herb Bed. Nearly done in this photo, where you can see some large pieces of old paving slabs I had to dig out. A sprinkling of snow delayed progress today, but work will be resumed in a day or two.

 Can’t wait to get sowing. The new space will be filled with dill, parsley, chives, artemisia annua, nigella sativa, borage, coriander, and perhaps a few decorative salvias. 😃

Have you got any new projects coming up? Do share!

Happy gardening!

🌷🌷🌷

22:22, 22/2/22

I just could not resist posting something at this time on this date, for posterity’s sake. 😉

A frozen hellebore bud…

It is still very windy here after all the storms that have gone over, but no damage done and milder days ahead. Hopefully that will mean more garden time and more blogging subject matter soon! 😃

Wordless Wednesday: First Daisies 💛

My Man of Many Talents picked me these early daisies and floated them in a saucer. 💕

In a Vase on Monday: Valentine’s Day Flowers

To celebrate Valentine’s Day I made an apple strudel….

😉 …. and cut my first Hellebores. I was also able to use a new vase – or should I say ‘set of vases’ – for the first time. 😃

The three glass vases are suspended in a wooden frame. It was a fairly cheap online purchase and I am rather pleased with it.

The Hellebores are unknown as the labels turned out to be incorrect, except for the middle one, which is ‘Early Red’ – one of the ‘Ice ‘n’ Roses’ collection. It actually looks more pink in this photo.

A few slightly warmer days recently have encouraged some plants to start sending up tentative shoots. But the nights are still frosty and the wind very chilly, so these hellebores are the only thing flowering to date, apart from the Witch Hazel I planted last spring:

Hamamelis ‘Diane’

The weak sun hasn’t managed to bring out the scent yet, but it looks pretty anyway.

Why not visit our host Cathy at Rambling in the Garden to see what she has found for a vase today.

Have a good week!