In a Vase on Monday: Ice Blue

Last year I planted a few grape hyacinths in pots to bring indoors for forcing. On the one hand the experiment was not terribly successful, as the leaves and flower stems got leggy very quickly. But on the other hand I do now have nice long stems for a vase!

As you can see, I have bought myself ‘The Almanac’ for 2023 by Lia Leendertz and am enjoying dipping into it. Annette sent me a link a few weeks ago to the monthly podcast Lia does in cooperation with a perfume company: ‘As the Season Turns‘. It is a lovely way to spend half an hour with a cuppa and I definitely recommend it. The new episode for March should be available on March 1st. 😃

My hyacinths (Muscari armeniacum) smell wonderful and although we have another dusting of snow at the moment (and an icy cold wind!), spring doesn’t seem quite so far away now.

Many thanks to Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for hosting this meme every week, rain or shine. I look forward to seeing what she and the other contributors have found to share today. 😃

Hope you all have some warm sunshine this week!

🌷☀️🌷

 

 

In a Vase on Monday: Mini Spring Mix

It was gardening weather today: 11°C and hazy sunshine. At last! I could not only inspect the garden but also finally get some tidying up done. I cut back the last of the perennials still standing, and all the grasses. I usually feel sad to see them go, but this year they had been squashed and broken by the heavy snowfall we had a couple of weeks ago. Looks much better now!

The first crocuses opened while I was working. 😁

And I even saw a bee on one.

The early Hellebores have perked up while the later ones are just about to start flowering. So I picked one of the paler pink ones (incorrectly labelled so I don’t know what it is), for my vase today.

The tiny Narcissus is from a pot of spring flowers I received on Valentine’s Day, but the other items are from the garden.

The darker pink Hellebores are from last week’s vase – didn’t they last well! There is a sprig of Wintersweet in the tiny blue ceramic vase too. (The shrub is still looking lovely but is slowly going over now.)

So nice to have some sunshine – it makes taking vase photos much easier. 😉

I hope to have another day outside this week, before temperatures dip again. I can at least do a bit of weeding and tidy my pots and raised beds. I wonder if you have been able to do any gardening jobs this week?

Thanks to our host, Cathy at Rambling in the Garden, who encourages us every week to go out into our gardens (whatever the weather!) and find something to share in a vase.

Have a great week! 🌷

In a Vase on Monday: Thawing Out

The temperatures finally rose above freezing at the weekend after a week of snowy and icy weather. My garden looks terrible, with flattened grasses and muddy patches everywhere! Looking out of my window I can enjoy the view from a distance, but closer inspection is a little disheartening.

As the ground thaws my hellebores will perk up though, I hope. I managed to find some half decent ones for a vase today, along with some Cornus twigs and some Leucothoe which I have been protecting in my cold frame.

 

The grey winter skies have been pretty the last couple of days too.

And it is good to smell the earth and the scent of the pine trees again. We only need a little sunshine and warm breezes to dry things up and I will be able to do some tidying up before any spring bulbs start sprouting. I am itching to get out there!

In the meantime I will admire this sturdy little flower which has stood up to a heavy load of very wet snow and a week of permafrost. And yet it looks almost unscathed. 😃

 

Thanks to the host of this Monday meme, Cathy at Rambling in the Garden, whose garden is currently looking gorgeous with snowdrops, hellebores, witch hazel and more. Do go and visit her! 😃

And have a great week!

In a Vase on Monday: Winter Dreams

It’s cold and icy outside, so in order to join Cathy at Rambling in the Garden with a vase this week I am using some dried flowers again.

These Echinops were picked last summer while still in their prime and have stood in this old maple syrup bottle ever since.
In the search for good (well, still not brilliant!) lighting I stood the jar in front of the book rest I have on my desk. I always have a page of one of my garden books open here, for inspiration. This picture is of a Piet Oudolf garden – I love the choice of plants and the focus on late summer flowers and grasses.

This week I have been reading about one of Oudolf’s most recent gardens, created just within Germany at the Vitra Campus, on the border to Switzerland and France. You can read about it here. It would be a 5 or 6 hour car drive for me, but one day I will have to visit.

In the meantime, I can dream!

Have a great week (and sweet gardening dreams). 😉