In a Vase on Monday

My bay tree needed cutting back – what a delicious scent!

The voluptuous large jug on the left is Victorian, bought at auction in the 1970’s as part of a washstand set, the one on the right a modern little cousin.

So glad to be joining Cathy and all the other gardeners from around the world ‘In a Vase on Monday’.

Round

Photo Challenge prompt: ROUND in our 52 Week Photo Challenge

The hydrangeas in my garden are at their most beautiful stage at the moment.

In a Vase on Monday: Cathy has challenged us to create a minimalist or ikebana style arrangement of flowers from  our garden this week – my very favourite style – and because my current creative obsession is using trash from the beach to create art  – here is my take on it

I couldn’t decide which placement I preferred, which do you like best?

hydrangea’s soft blues

growing bigger and brighter with time

like childhood dreams

~

 

Joining in with Ronovan’s Weekly Haiku Challenge, this week’s prompts: TIME and GROW

hydrangea’s soft blues growing bigger and brighter with time

growing bigger and brighter with time like childhood dreams

~

And for Cee’s Flower of the Day ………….

 

This hydrangea grows just next to my ‘field’ of lychnis

with a few self seeded mallows and purple toadflax thrown in

My front garden is alive with bugs, buzzing and beasties – a complete joy to behold.

Next week’s Photo Challenge Prompt is

ZEST

 

 

Vase on Monday – Astrantia

Joining in with Cathy’s In a Vase on Monday, featuring Astrantia and Leycesteria Formosa

And Cee’s Flower of the Day – astrantia

Astrantia has such a ghostly etherial quality, which I really like very much. If you would like to see a larger version of the above photo click here to go to my PHOTOS Page.

It is hard to photograph well on these dull days, so I tried several positons and then used the special ‘highlighting’ effect on my camera.

The pots I have used this week are a beautiful glazed pottery green-tea cup which was given as a present by Kimonoboy in Japan – more of him and his shop in a later post; a crackle-glazed little pot, another charity shop find; and they sit on a rectangular plate/dish – I bought several of these back in my dinner-party-days in the 70s for a Japanese themed menu, I attempted a sushi starter which I put on these plates – they were actually sold as butter dishes – nowadays I find them to be perfect to use as paint palettes – a piece of greaseproof paper over a thin layer of water and then put blobs of your acrylic paints on top of the greaseproof – the paint stays wet and workable for hours

My houseplant of the week: Oxalis

It was languishing in a shady corner of my house and as soon as I gave it more light it started to flower – I LOVE this plant – thank you to Linda who gave this to me a few years ago – I think of her every time I see it. ❤ The leaves are like butterflies and they close at night – enchanting!

Verbena Vase

I love the vibrant purple of this annual verbena, which doesn’t seem to know it is supposed to be an annual. It grows to about 18″ and is now drifting through the border, peeping out through neighbouring plants.

This piece of sari fabric was bought at the Womad  world music festival circa 1998, and I drape it where it catches the light.

Add a Chinese Foxglove (Rehmannia) just coming into flower again, with thyme at the base, and the dragon willow for an oriental twist.

I also just wanted to show you the orchids I have in flower at the moment.

I’m still amazed I have been able to get them to this stage – they are all ‘rescue’ orchids and they do seem very happy on rain water and tomato feed once a week.

Joining in with Cathy’s Vase on Monday

And Cee’s Flower of the Day: Verbena

P.S. I am so thrilled with my autumn fruiting raspberries, now in their second year. I’ve had raspberries on my cereal for breakfast from July (summer fruiting) til now, with still more to come. The freezer has tubs of them to enjoy through the winter. I’ve also added them to cooked apples and pears for delicious puddings.

They are not in a fruit cage, they don’t need much attention and are not attacked by slugs, snails and sparrows, which seem to eat everything else!

I’ve decided that if I could only grow one plant this would be the one – what would your one plant be?

Vase on Monday – Eastern promise

Still following the ikebana theme …..

Some plants seem to think Spring is here, the weigela for example; and I don’t remember the arum coming up at this time of year before. Vinca, nasturtiums, polyanthus and borage are also joining in.

The pottery dish was made for me about 30 years ago by a friend of my son’s. (or was it my son who made this one at school – yikes – I’d better start labelling things, the memory is not what it was!)

The Eye of Horus – I have been to the Temple of Horus in Egypt, and Horus was my son’s nickname at school, so this sweet little dish carries a lot of meaning for me.

Parsley appears again, leaves this time, to hide the little spiky stem holder – it has proved to be a good substitute for moss.

The wooden doll was brought back from Japan by my sister-in-law many years ago.

Joining in with Cathy’s In a Vase on Monday meme: a wonderful community of gardeners from all around the globe – pop across to her post, she is such a knowledgable gardener, with beautiful flowers to show us each week, as well as the vases of so many other gardeners.

A clear surface this week for the photograph – usually so hard to find in my house.

At last I am clearing out my so called ‘workroom’ – look empty shelves!

The contents are all over my sitting room floor at the time of the photo, so the task this week is to sort, clear and return in such a way that I will be able to find things again.

And joining in with Cee’s Flower of the Day: Weigela

Look at those buds

Isn’t nature magic!

Do you have flowers in a vase this Monday?

Just to let you know there is Worldwide Free Shipping on at the moment in my Society6 shop – (if only I could work out how to put their logo in my sidebar). Pop in have a browse, I especially like the way the bags and cushions (throw pillows) turned out.

In a Spode ‘Vase’ on Monday

Joining in with Cathy’s ‘In a Vase on Monday’, here is a Spode jug filled with hydrangea, alchemilla mollis and self sown musk mallow

which is also my bloom of the day over on Cee’s photographic blog. The mallow has arrived in my garden, seeding itself in gravel in both white and pink. The flowers have a delicate smell of honey.

The hydrangeas are at my favourite stage

just before they get all buxom and blousy

 

 

 

such soft interesting shades all on the same bush.

 

 

 

 

The jug was given to me by my mother-in-law many years ago. The crocheted cotton doily was made by my maternal step-grandmother whom I called Dabbity.

She was a Domestic Science teacher and I learnt so much from her about cooking, gardening and crafting. We sat for many happy hours knitting and sewing together whilst my Granddad also a teacher, would read snippets from the newspapers to us which resulted in deep discussions about life, the universe and everything.

My mother-in-law loved fine china, and I can still hear her describing the beauty of this jug to me as she gave it, gently stroking the twisted handle and telling me all about this very special design.

And explaining about the significance of the markings on the bottom of the jug

which gives it the date it was made and where. Sadly, I can’t remember the details of what she told me, but I understood that it was a very special and valuable jug – consequently it sits hiding away in a glass cabinet, never to be used as a jug as it is now also so precious for sentimental reasons. I really never want to own any more precious breakable things – the responsibility is too weighty!

It is lovely to be able to bring the jug out and share it with the other arrangers in this wonderful meme. Here with the photo of my mother-in-law (and father-in-law)

at our wedding in 1972. My mother-in-law, Pearl, was a hard-working farmer, a brilliant gardener, knitter and cook and the most lovely Granny to my 3 children.

Fond memories.

A Vase on Monday – Magenta

Lynchis coronaria, grown from seed collected from a neighbour’s garden, sitting in a Staffordshire pottery jug that was once part of a washstand set.

I just love the shape of this voluptuous jug and how the light catches the ripples. I bought it at an auction about 40 years ago. I got married in 1972 and we had very little money for furniture so I went to auctions and picked up chairs for £1 and our first TV for £2. I used to buy job lots of various things for £1 and this jug was in one of those job lots with the other bits and pieces of the washstand set.

It sits on a Laura Ashley tablecloth bought as a second from Laura Ashley in Bath at about the same time. The cloth is huge and has been used on tables groaning with food for many large family gatherings over the years.

oooo! that colour!

I swear magenta and turquoise cause a rush of endorphins every time I look at them! And these flowers just sing out in the garden as if they have lights inside them.

I’m also joining in with Cee’s Flower of the Day

The vase is photographed in front of my newly painted north facing garage wall – what a job that was! It took days to cover all the nooks and crannies but well worth it as it now reflects light back into the house. And will be a better backdrop for the painted pots.

(I was going to paint the opposite south facing wall of the bungalow too, but I can’t face it! It would take me weeks and is a horrid job.)

The large plastic pot (75ltr) 65cm diameter, on the left has been painted with turquoise eggshell paint, after a coat of universal primer and I have repotted a seedling clerodendrum, from its 50cm pot.

It is surrounded by lynchis, which looked a bit bedraggled after repotting, so I cut them back and hey presto! I had my flowers for the ‘Vase on Monday’.

I don’t know if this shrub will grow large enough in a pot to flower and produce its extraordinary fruits, but I am going to try. I think it might grow too big for the garden if I planted it out, its parent was huge! But of course I could not resist the gift of this seedling with a colour combo like this!I am also not sure how the paint will last on the plastic pots – another experiment. I’ll keep you posted. It lasts very well on the terracotta pots.

‘In a Vase on Monday’ is wonderfully hosted by Cathy, and there are some beautiful vases to be seen from all over the world if you pop on over to Rambling in the Garden for a peek.

The most exciting idea so far: from Susie at pbm garden

In a Vase on Monday – Yellow

This rose, Floribunda Korresia, was given to me as a thank-you present this week, isn’t that lovely!

I don’t know where to plant it yet but thought I would celebrate the gift by using two blooms in my ‘Vase on Monday’. Just these two blooms fill the room with a glorious scent.The vase is a glass nightlight holder, which is great on a table outside as the shape protects the flame from the breeze. To keep the blooms and twigs of twisty willow in place I used some pebbles with holes in them, and threaded the stalks through the holes – clever huh! Where did that thought come from!

How and where to photograph the vases is always a challenge for me – very few places with clear backgrounds.

I have been decorating in the house this week and the terracotta pots the vase is standing on, were first painted with a watered down coat of white paint and then a couple of coats of left-over household emulsion paint. Except the urn which is painted with some left over Eggshell paint.  Ooooo! I love those colours. The pots will go outside against the north facing wall of my garage that is being painted white. The ones covered with the vinyl emulsion last about two years before needing another coat to freshen them up. The turquoise Eggshell on the urn has lasted 4 years and still does not need a retouch.

Still looking for the right background for the vase, I took this photo in front of the TV screen, what do you think?

The contorted willow was grown from a little sprig that had sprouted roots in a vase about 6 years ago – it is now a magnificent tree, about 30′ tall, arching beautifully over my drive-way.

So looking forward to seeing all the other Vases over on Rambling in the Garden. Pop on over and take a look, there are bound to be some gems!

In a Tiny Tea-cup

Oh I did have fun playing around with this teeny tiny arrangement, in another charity shop find: a miniature tea-cup and saucer. There are spikes of  lavender and purple toadflax held in place by the fluffiness of nigella, and some bluey white miniature veronica blooms.

 

The even tincier cup came as a birthday present, bizarrely stuck to a hair grip.  Its pinkness demanded some pink flowers, and the only ones small enough and currently flowering is the pesky Herb Robert, which is growing in abundance in my front garden, seeding itself everywhere. Just to make sure I had identified it correctly, I looked it up and hey presto! It has uses! And one can eat the leaves in salads!

I’m really very excited about that!

From ediblewildfood.com ‘Edible parts: Fresh leaves can be eaten or tossed into a mug to make a tea.

(The tea tastes a bit like Green Tea, so of nothing much really, I added a little bit of grated lemon rind to pep it up – very pleasant.)

The flower and leaves can be dried and stored so that it can be used throughout the winter months as a tea or tossed into salads as a nutrient booster. The root can be dried and used. Rubbing fresh leaves on the skin is said to repel mosquitoes, and the entire plant repels rabbits and deer.’ And from webmd: Herb Robert is used for diarrhea; to improve functioning of the liver and gallbladder; to reduce swelling (inflammation) of the kidney, bladder, and gallbladder; and to prevent the formation of stones in the kidney, bladder, or gallbladder. Some people use Herb Robert as a mouthwash or gargle. The fresh leaves are chewed to relieve sore mouth and throat.

I might never have discovered this without taking part in Cathy’s ‘In a Vase on Monday’!   (Also, this week, in a teacup – are we telepathically linked, I wonder?)    I love the way these memes open up whole new worlds! And it seems to be the home of ………….? Does anyone know what creature laid these eggs? You might just be able to see the shadow of a little spider on the stalk – spider’s eggs? I got completely absorbed in ‘staging’ the photos ….. …… and tried these clam shells brought back from Tahiti, as a backdrop, with pebbles from Findhorn beach …. and then I got lost in editing the photos and I clicked a button I didn’t mean to,  and this happened – but I rather like it – do you? This little gem now sits on my bedroom window seat and makes me so happy in its teeny-ness!

There many are more wonderful ‘In a Vase’ posts for you to enjoy – here is a small selection by : Christina, Anca , pbmgarden and Cathy.

Flowers inside

My granny used to grow streptocarpus and I have tried before failing miserably, but now…

I seem to have got the hang of it ….

Maybe it helps to be a Granny.

 

And here are some flowers I picked from my garden to put in the bedroom for my friend who is coming to stay ….

Weigela, black cornflowers, marigolds, red campion, and sweet cicely for a bit of froth..We are going to a Quick Draw event at Sculpture by the Lakes tomorrow – lovely!