Monday is the day I join Cathy at Rambling in the Garden with a vase of bits and bobs from my garden.
My funny little bird is looking up into the middle of a pink hellebore… I wish hellebores didn’t droop so much that you have to crawl on your hands and knees to see them properly! Still, in a vase (on Monday) they are much easier to see. So I picked another one – one that actually still has a label attached to it. (Where do all those plant labels disappear to???) It is called ‘Moondance’, which is such a lovely name reflecting its pearly cream colour. It was one of the few rather sad looking specimens at my local garden centre last week, completely pot-bound, but now happily stretching its toes into the cold moist soil in my Moon Bed and hopefully feeling at home there.
Talking of moons, have you been able to see the full moon the past few nights? It has been crystal clear (and frosty) here and the night sky has been extremely light. 🌝
The tiny little jug also contains some silvery Curry Plant (about the only foliage my garden can offer at the moment) and a couple of snowdrops.
In the background are some of the Forsythia and Pussy Willow branches I cut last week – both opened within a few days indoors. I should cut some more, as they will then flower as soon as these branches go over.
He has been named ‘Erdbeervogel’, which means strawberry bird. No, not a native here, but look at his markings more carefully and you will understand why! LOL!
So, the garden is slowly awakening and things are ‘looking up’… there is no rain in our forecast for the next ten days! (Like so many gardeners in northern Europe I have been lamenting the amount of rain we have had this winter. I just hope there’s a drop left for the summer.😉)
Thanks for visiting, and do go and see Cathy’s post here where other vase creators have once again linked in from around the world. 😄
Words and Herbs 
Thanks for sharing this Vase. Anita
Hi Anita. Glad you liked it. 😃
I like the idea of a Moondance in your Moon Bed, Cathy. We have had a couple of clear nights and frosty mornings but we have scaffolding up at the front of our house (we are having external insulation) which sadly blocks my evening view of the moon! The forsythia introduces some spring sunshine to your hellebores, perfectly completing your little vase alongside the inqusitive little bird. Sorry to hear you have little foliage to enjoy at this time of year – do you plan to rectify that?
I am not sure it can be rectified in our climate Cathy! I do have a Mahonia, but they are huge prickly leaves. And my Photinia kept its old leaves this winter too but like the Heuchera they are looking very shabby. Likewise an Itea in a pot has pretty red leaves, but at this time of year they are rather crispy and blackened by frost!
I hadn’t occurred to me that this would be the case for you, Cathy, and can now see what an impact it would have on any garden plans – the bigger and more leathery leaves are generally not what we’d be looking for to put in a vase!
Your strawberry bird is cute. I agree on hellebores always nodding down, I guess we need to plant them up high. Love the forsythia!
Oops tzgarden.blogspot.com
That would be a great idea … a raised bed full of them! 😄
A berry-cute, whimsical new birdie, Cathy! I can see that spring is stirring in your garden. 👏🏼
I almost picked up a pot of hellebores myself last week on offer at the market, but passed. I’m still thinking about it though!
Life is too short to pass on a pretty Hellebore! 🤣 I hesitated in planting this one out so early, but it desperately needed some more soil, the poor thing.
Your cup makes I very good vase. Forsythia and Pussy Willows always remind me of spring. Sadly, neither grows here.
It’s great when the pussy willow opens as the bees absolutely adore it!
So full of that feeling of spring.
It is within sight at last!
Thankfully we get a warm day now and then it makes mud bud hey I don’t shovel it 🙂
LOL!
Beautiful hellebores and lovely to see forsythia flowers.
Yes, I am looking forward to the Forsythia opening in the garden.
That little bird is very cute, Cathy – I expect he elicits a smile from everyone who sees him. He also complements your pretty hellebores very well. I finally have some blooms on my hellebores too!
Oh good – hope you get some flowers as well Kris! They don’t always last well in a vase, but I love to float them once I have a good selection open.
That is a gathering of early spring under the watchful eye of a great bird. I like your new hellebore, the moon has been fantastic here for the past couple of nights.
Maybe late winter still, but with signs spring is getting much nearer!
Charming little bird has a great view! I envy him these days–I must walk around with a hand mirror and lay it on the ground to get the same view of the Hellebores. Happy “almost spring”!
Apparently there are some hybrids with more upright flowers, but I haven’t seen any yet.
Oh I adore your strawberry bird….and such a perfect spring vase with forced flowers in the background and early emerging flowers in the foreground. Spring is slowly emerging just the way I like it so I can savor each day.
Yes, it is nice when things happen slowly and we. an enjoy each flower unfurling. I am still hesitant to say spring has come though as it is still very cold!
‘Erdbeervogel’ looks nervous or uncertain looking up into the hellebore! I love the little birds on the cup. You have a sweet collection of early spring items. The new ‘Moondance’ is lovely. Glad it found a good home in the moonscape.
I think it was that expression that made me put him in my shopping trolley at the garden centre Susie… a kind of confused wonder! LOL!
Isn’t it exciting watching our gardens slowly showing signs of waking up? And your lovely little arrangement is quite charming. I love the container, as well as your little “strawberry” bird. The few Hellebores I do have in my garden haven’t a bloom on them! I hope they have overwintered well, but I take pleasure in seeing yours.
And yes! The moon has been gorgeous. So many delights! ❤️
I am hoping to have enough hellebore flowers to float in a bowl soon. That is always something I look forward to! And the pace at which the garden is awakening is lovely. Sometimes it all happens at once but this year the earliest flowers have been appearing one by one. 😃
Ah, the forsythia has been waking up! Love your posy and the little bird whose expression mirrors the state of the world (at least to my eye 😉). Another gorgeous jug which I haven’t seen before. We didn’t see the moon with all the rain. It’s virtually “land under” at present but we’ll hopefully get some dry days now. Glad you managed to rescue Moondance! Must send you a pic of the daffodil you sent me for xmas – hope I still have the label somewhere. They have a gorgeous scent. I shall plant them out after flowering.
I look forward to the Forsythia outside waking up soon too! I see what you mean about the bird’s expression! 🤪 Our rain has finally stopped and it should dry up a bit at last… it has been soooo soggy out there! Wishing you some warm sunshine Annette. (Will write soon!) 😘
soggy here too and chilly but sunny so must continue chopping away at my roses later
Your little hellebore posy is very pretty with the snowdrop between the flowers. Little strawberry bird made me smile – what an expression! I love it. I hope H. ‘Moonbeam’ thrives in your garden.
I did see the moon a couple of nights ago and mentioned it to my husband as it was coming up, just above the garden trees. I was then awake during the night and my back garden was lit up with its light. Beautiful.
Thank you Catherine. I love the fact that we all see and admire the moon from our different spots on the planet. It makes me feel connected to all my blogging friends! 🤗 And family in the UK too - my Dad says he always thinks of me when he looks at the moon before he goes to bed.
That’s sweet of him. 😊
Fun arrangement! On birds and Hellebores, and other fun stuff. 🙂
Thanks Beth! 🌸
Very creative!
😃 Inspiration from a little bird!
I keep seeing descriptions of new Hellebores with words like Upwards Facing and Tall Stems…. I wonder though, if half the joy of a Hellebore is searching out the bloom, and discovering it…
A good point. You may be right… 😃
Cathy, your strawberry bird is a delight, and so is that pretty jug. I smiled at the image of you crawling on hands and knees to see the hellebore.
Luckily most of the flower beds still have some woodchip mulch on them or I would be rather muddy! 😂
Forsythia is so pretty. Only two live here, and both are not happy this year. I needed to move one, and now, the buds look rather runty, as if they will not bloom well. They should be blooming already. The other is not better, I do not know what the problem is. Anyway, yours are very pretty, along with the other components of the vase.
They love our climate and thrive almost anywhere in Germany. They are even escaping into the wild in places….
Oh yes, I read that they have done that to some degree in New England also.
He’s a very cute little bird, Cathy. And the hellebores are definitely a bright addition to your home and garden! I love hearing stories of northern hemisphere gardens slowly awakening from their winter hibernation. 💕
It is usually a very slow awakening here, but just one sunny day will bring out several new spring flowers at once, and I am always glad if spring doesn’t get too warm too quickly as everything lasts longer then! 😃
A lovely little vase Cathy and your bird made me smile. The new moon here was so bright that I thought that our outdoor light had come on and was illuminating the bedroom 😂
😄 Yes, as far as I know it was not a supermoon or anything special, but it seemed brighter than usual.