In a Vase on Monday: Midwinter

The lack of light as the solstice approaches is even more noticeable now that our snow has started melting. But there are nonetheless signs of new life in the garden. The hazel catkins stand out in the hedgerows now that the snow has brought down the last of their big leaves. In just a month or two, depending on the temperatures, their pollen will be flying!

On my morning round of the garden with Anouk (our old doggie) I also noticed a few Euonymus and Rosehips in the hedges that had survived the frosts.

Some pine branches that came down with the weight of the snow were easy picking and made a nice filler for my Advent vase.

Then I added a final flourish with a red cornus stem from the garden beds.

By the way, the elk is Elvin, who makes an annual appearance on this blog! And the little envelope is today’s seed packet from my seed advent calendar… Golden Everlasting. I treated myself to this calendar and am very pleased with the seed packets I have opened so far, which include some beetroot, Sweet Williams, Thyme and Chamomile, Callistephus and an heirloom tomato St. Pierre. It is nice to think about seed sowing, even though it is a long way off still.

I am glad I could find some fresh materials to share so that I can join Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for her weekly meme. Do go and pay her a visit to see what she and others are finding for vases today.

In a Vase on Monday: Dormancy

Dormancy: a period in an organism’s life cycle when growth, development, and (in animals) physical activity are temporarily stopped

The seedheads in my vase today are a reminder of the plants in the garden that I picked them from, snoozing under a thin layer of snow.

The low light and the dark contents seem fitting to the season, but I wanted to show off the beauty of these seedheads too, so here is another photo with artificial light. (My Man of Many Talents kindly stood behind me shining two torches on it! 😃)

The golden fluffy bits are Chrysopsis, the spikes Agastache and Sage, and the brown pods are Iris. On the right is some Pycnanthemum at the back, and some Fennel at the front. I had bought this vase with allium seedheads in mind….

…. but the ones I saved are so fragile that I decided to go with Fennel instead.

I myself may not exactly be dormant, but I am certainly not active in the garden yet. And strangely enough I am still not yearning for the seasons to change, happily using the time indoors to do some reading and crocheting. I may not have flowers outside right now, but I can read about and create some inside!

I am joining Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for her weekly meme. Pop over to admire her lovely vase and see if anyone else is finding something to share from their winter gardens.

And have a good week!

 

In a Vase on Monday: Summer Memories

Isn’t it nice to look back at photos in the realization that spring is not far off and soon our gardens will be performing again like last year? My arrangement this week brought back memories not only of my own garden, but also of the garden show I visited in Ingolstadt last September. (Above photo)

The crystal bud vase is filled with tiny porcelain flowers and butterflies I bought there, which I intend to give away eventually, one by one. But for now they are still sitting in waiting. 😉

And the pink dried flowers at the base are Helichrysum bracteatum ‘Silvery Rose’, grown two summers ago and saved. The three purple ones are Xeranthemums, which I grew last summer under the impression they would be like traditional strawflowers. They are much smaller though.

I was not terribly impressed with them actually, as they are flimsy plants which lean at the slightest breeze and make little impact in terms of flowers; only one or two opened at a time. I am returning to the original Helichrysum this year, with some more freshly ordered. 😃

Many thanks to Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for hosting. 😃 You should visit her blog to see what Cathy and the other participants linking in have found to put in a vase on this Monday, which is, by the way, the last of January! Yippee! (Detect my dislike of January there? 😉)

Hope you have a flowery week and a good start to February!

🌷🌷🌷

In a Vase on Monday: Hidden Gold

At the end of November, with a light sprinkling of snow, the idea of creating a vase with items from my garden would, just a few years ago, have been far from my mind. But then Cathy at Rambling in the Garden came up with her Monday meme and so, here is my contribution for this week. 😃

At a first glance, these grasses and seedheads look rather drab. But when I turned the light on to get some better photos this afternoon, I found hidden gold. 😉

See what I mean?

 

By the way, the little elk is Elvin. He is packed away after Christmas every year with all the other decorations and it is a happy reunion when I open up my boxes of bits and pieces! And the doiley is one I crocheted a couple of years ago. 😃

Do visit Cathy to see what she has found on an icy Monday in November. And have a lovely week!

❄️🌨❄️

Enchanting Larkspur

I treated myself to an advent calendar last December that contained a packet of seeds for each day. It was so lovely opening it up each day in the semi-darkness of December mornings. 😄

One of the seed packets was a Delphinium consolida mix (also called Consolida regalis); Common field larkspur. Never having grown it before it was exciting to see the teeny weeny seedlings grow into tall strong plants, which I then planted out into the Moon Bed, hoping they would be blue and white.

The Moon Bed

Well, last week they started to open….

And most of them are blue. 😁 (Well, purplish blue). They are really tall and have had a beating in our storms, but they are still standing.

I love them!

 

There are two shades of pink too, which are also really pretty. This peachy pink…

And a lilacy shade of pink…

I will probably use them in vases. No white ones so far, but I shall definitely be putting white larkspur on my seed list for next year. I am rather envious of the white ones Frank at Sorta Suburbia has drifting romantically through his Potager. 😉

Have you ever grown Larkspur or do you see it in the wild where you live?

 

In a Vase on Monday: Antiquity

I am joining Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for her Monday meme once again, and have picked some flowers to put in a vase and share.

I don’t think I have a single antique among my possessions, but the title of this week’s vase refers rather to the pretty Cosmos which features here and gave the inspiration for the pink colour theme. Whoever gave this flower its name was quite clever – the colour does in fact fade as the flower ages, just as a piece of material might fade over the years, giving a feel of time passing by, or nostalgia. How apt as we see summer fading to autumn as well.

The glass vase also contains some of the last wild flowers blooming in our meadow: Queen Anne’s Lace, Chamomile, Achillea…

In addition, there is a sprig of Buddleia, some Miscanthus, pink Heuchera, a white Cosmos ‘Purity’ and the lovely deep pinky red Cosmos ‘Double Click Cranberries’. I can recommend all three of the Cosmos. Each has a different growth habit; the white is tall and willowy, the Cranberry tall and bushy and very resilient to wind, and Antiquity is much shorter with barely noticeable foliage. Antiquity does need deadheading though, as the dark seedheads look rather unsightly. But since I love deadheading I don’t mind – I spent a whole morning doing the rounds last week!

I wonder if you grew Cosmos this year and which ones you liked best? I will be choosing seeds for next year soon and these three are on my list.

Before I go, I have got an extra vase today which is for my Mum and Dad. 🙂 Mum gave me the sweet little cream jug recently and my Dad loves Antirrhinums! These red and orange ones set seed at the foundations of the house where a pot of them stood last summer. A nice surprise.

Do visit Cathy to see her vase today.

And have a great week!