In a Vase on Monday: Ninth Anniversary!

It is now nine years since Cathy at Rambling in the Garden first invited fellow bloggers to join her and share a vase every Monday with materials from their gardens. What a great idea that was! Even though this was November – the onset of winter in the UK – it struck a chord with gardeners around the world and soon created a wonderful little community in the blogging world. And yesterday some of us even met up on zoom for the first time, which was lovely!

Cathy has set us a challenge to celebrate this anniversary: create a hand-tied posy.

I love a challenge. So I made my posy a few days early, as frosts had been forecast.

At the centre I used some Miscanthus ‘Red Chief’, my last red Gaillardia, some Persicaria ‘Blackfield’, a few deep red Cornus stems and the very last of the small sunflowers.

Around the edges are some common spurge, some geranium leaves turning lovely autumn colours, and a large hellebore leaf.

A couple of sprigs of Queen Anne’s Lace and the deep red Leucothoe add highlights.

I tied the posy with a piece of string, and then added a green ribbon, although it is hard to see on my photos, and got a bit soggy when I put the posy in a glass of water!

Saturday night/Sunday morning we had our first frost – it was only just below freezing, but was accompanied by a cold north-east wind. And yet Geranium ‘Rozanne’ was still flowering. Such an amazing plant. So I decided to make a second posy to celebrate that as well!

More Miscanthus ‘Red Chief’, red cornus stems and Chrysanthemum ‘Anastasia’ at the centre, with silvery Anaphalis triplinervis and the blue Rozanne flowers. Then four bronze Heuchera leaves around the edges, and a purple ribbon.

(By the way, I used Rozanne in last week’s vase, and it lasted extremely well.)

A huge thank you to Cathy, and to all the others who join in every Monday as well as all those who write comments. This meme has made Mondays so much more enjoyable and I look forward to visiting everyone’s posts, even if it is sometimes a day or two later. You and your gardens are all wonderful!

💕

Piet Oudolf as Inspiration

I watched an absolutely wonderful film about Piet Oudolf earlier this week and want to share it with you!

Five Seasons: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf

The film takes a look at some of the gardens he has designed, such as the Lurie Garden in Chicago, the High Line in New York, or the Hauser and Wirth garden in the south of England. It also focuses on the changing of seasons in these and in his own garden, Hummelo.

A very big thank you to Angie at North Trail Living for sharing this film and for posting links to several other documentaries on famous gardeners too. Do take a look at her post!

My Man of Many Talents gave me two more of Piet Oudolf’s books for Christmas. I haven’t started reading this one yet, which is a German version, describing how his garden ‘Hummelo’ evolved.

But I completely devoured this one on Christmas and Boxing Day…

… reading it from cover to cover! It is actually a list of plants, with photos, descriptions and useful planting information…

This picture has been open on my desk for several weeks now and is providing inspiration for my next spring project.

It is from another German version of one of Oudolf’s books, written with Noël Kingsbury. I am afraid I don’t know the English title…

 

Have you visited any of Piet Oudolf’s gardens? Read any of bis books? If you know of him, what do you think about his planting style? Would love to hear anything you know about him or his gardens!

Thanks for reading!

In a Vase on Monday: Friends

Cathy at Rambling in the Garden invites us to share a vase every Monday. Via her meme I have met some wonderful people and made friends with many fellow bloggers over the past few years. Once again I am joining Cathy with a vase, today dedicating it to all my friends.

☀️👩🏼‍🌾☀️

A friend came to visit today and it felt like years since we had been able to sit and chat and drink tea together. It was wonderful. 😃

 

A friend gave me some Lemon Balm several years ago. It did well in my old garden and I brought some with me to put in the Herb Bed, which is the backdrop for my photos today. (See a garden ornament in the background? – A gift from a friend!)

A blogging friend sent me some seeds of purple Linaria many years ago and it spread, with some reverting to the pale pink seen here. Now I have both pink and purple in my Butterfly Bed. 😃

I have been a friend of Alchemilla and Heuchera for many years. Then blogging friends taught me about Knautia, Calamagrostis and Artemisia.

All in a vase given to me by a very dear friend. 😃

Thank you all and have a wonderful week!

🤗

 

In a Vase on Monday: Heavenly White

Philadelphus virginalis (Mock Orange or False Jasmine)

This week’s vase is in memory of our dear neighbour, Mr Barth, who passed away last week at the spectacular age of 105. I have mentioned him frequently on this blog; as a regular Sunday afternoon visitor he tested many of my cake recipes over the past few years. And I also gathered wild garlic from beneath his Magnolia tree each spring.

He will be missed.

 

This  beautiful Philadelphus is climbing into a nearby tree and several stems were drooping over the pathway, definitely an excuse to cut them!

I added a single peach miniature rose to the base of the vase, and secured the heavy branches of the Philadelphus by using my wire flower holder.

This Philadelphus is the sort that smells heavenly.

I wonder what smells good in your garden this Monday.

Do visit our host, Cathy at Rambling in the Garden, to see her beautiful irises as well as what others have found to plonk or artfully arrange in a vase today!

 

In a Vase on Monday: A Vase for Alys

Last week was grey and damp and I was feeling rather despondent about my vase contents for today.

And then magic happened, and a surprise parcel arrived all the way from sunny California from my dear blogging friend Alys, at Gardening Nirvana.

😀 😀 😀

The package contained a beautiful handmade card displaying a vase full of flowers and the calendar marking Monday…

It is so pretty, and so ‘me’.

And the icing on the cake was a pack of vase arrangers that Alys also sent along – these are soft wire discs/’nets’ that can be bent to shape for any vase and help keep individual stems in place. I have wanted one for ages after seeing them on someone’s blog, but have never seen them here.

This was the inspiration I needed for my vase, and I spent this morning happily playing around with stems and seed heads. One of my favourite vases has quite a wide top and so I was pleased I could use it for fewer stems this week.

A big thank you to you, Alys, for cheering up my week and being so thoughtful! This vase is for you! xxx (I hope you have read my mail Alys!)

The main components are red stems and foliage, with the Mahonia at the centre. The Fennel seeds are a favourite element for Advent vases, as when the seeds drop they leave behind little stars…

I included several different grasses – names forgotten for the moment.

Some Iris sibirica seedheads still look good in the garden and I found some fresh red Cotinus shoots as well…

To top it all, we had sunshine today – the first for what seems like weeks! (It was very frosty too this morning).

Thanks to Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for hosting this meme and getting me out searching for vase materials even on a cold and frosty November morning. 🙂

And thanks again to Alys. 🙂

Have a great week everyone!

Reading the Signs: Verbascum thapsus

This summer was extremely hot and dry, and I found myself scouring various weather forecasts in my hope for a few drops of rain. Our weather forecasts are usually pretty accurate here, as we are quite far inland, and not directly near any mountain ranges. But long-term weather forecasting is trickier… unless you talk to Mr Sepp Haslinger, a pensioner from the south of Bavaria, who reads the signs of the Verbascum seedheads….

Native to Europe, commonly known in the UK as Great Mullein, Verbascum thapsus can grow to up to 2 metres tall. The flowerheads start setting seed at the base, while the tops continue to grow and flower. By examining the development of these seadheads and flowers from the base upwards, Sepp Haslinger predicts the weather for the coming winter.

Mr Sepp Haslinger: “The man who knows what the winter will be like”

The Verbascum is commonly called “King’s Candle” in German (Königskerze), but another common name here in Bavaria is “Weather Candle” (Wetterkerze) as it has been used for predicting the weather for centuries. Loose infloresences apparently indicate snow-free periods, while particularly long specimens with many flowers can suggest winters with a lot of snow.

Over the past four years Mr Haslinger’s forecasts have been accurate, and local snow clearing services rely on him for deciding on whether to set on extra employees or how much salt and grit to order for spreading on roads. This year they are doubling their orders, as Mr Haslinger has predicted a “winter of the century” with more snow than we have seen in a long time… the first snowfall is “definitely in mid-October”, and “abundant”!

(I’m glad I have got most of my bulbs planted – I must tie up the Miscanthus next in preparation!)

Here he is, reading his Verbascum on the Catholic holiday – the Feast of Assumption – in early August – I’m afraid there is no translation as his dialect is rather hard to understand even for me, but do take a look to get the general idea how he does it!

The 73-year-old weather prophet, who jokingly admits he would have been burnt at the stake as a witch a few centuries ago, says that it will not only be a very snowy winter this year, but also a very long one, with snow sticking around until Easter 2016. There will be periods inbetween with less or no snow, but Advent will be white – good news for the Christmas markets and the hot mulled wine stands – although Sepp warns them to strengthen the rooves of their booths! The winter equinox and Christmas will probably be milder, but in the New Year it will turn cold and snowy once again. All in all it will be “a hard winter”.

(Not really what I wanted to hear, but we will see!)

😉

Have you heard of any unusual ways of predicting weather?

 

A Song for Dad

In the UK this Sunday it is Father’s Day.

So have a wonderful day Dad!

xxx

I hope the sun shines and you get a piece of chocolate or even a slice of cake!

😀

As I’m not able to visit my Dad, here is a video clip for him instead: Diana Ross is one of his favourite singers. Turn up the volume and enjoy!