Anemones in November

Those little buds from my 11.11 vase have just decided to open.

Sometimes we push ourselves forward in the wrong season, we do not shine so brightly, we are much smaller than we could be, but still we insist on flowering.

Will they flower again in Spring, I wonder, or will they have exhausted themselves.

Joining Cathy for In a Vase on Monday

Celebrate!

It is Cathy’s 6th Anniversary of In a Vase on Monday!

Congratulations Cathy you have brought together some wonderful gardeners from all over the world. Warmest heartfelt thanks for the floral camaraderie and all the knowledge (and plants) shared.

Cathy has set us a challenge to celebrate with a miniature vase, but as you can see, I have not stuck to just one.

I have combined the meme with my birthday celebrations and here we have Hot Princess, and there is the rose on the left of her (corny I know, but hey it’s my birthday, I’m allowed!)

On the right are some anemone buds (!) and wallflowers (!) – what are they thinking?! They need to pipe down and wait til Spring.

And the dianthus continues to produce sweet pink buds, even if the flowers do get a little frosted.

All put together in a bit of a rush between birthday shinanigans, but I did not want to miss out on celebrating with Cathy. ❤

In Jam Jars on Monday

Despite the grey skies and the weeks of battering from wind and rain, there is still a lot of pink in my garden.

The Argyranthemums have formed huge clumps and have been flowering prolifically since May.

The self-seeded Antirrhinums have been a self-perpetuating surprising array of colours.

The red Achillea loves its new position in the new border.

The Kaffir Lilies have survived their many transplants.

The Phygelia stays in a raised bed waiting for a permanent position and seems to love it there, so perhaps it will have to stay where it is.

And my lovely rose, Hot Princess, after a promising Spring flush, sulked all Summer only to burst forth now in early Autumn – so I think she will still be flowering for my birthday, which is particularly apt as she was a birthday gift, last year, from NanaCathy. Thank you Cathy.

Joining Rambling in the Garden for the joy that is: In a Vase on Monday.

In a Vase on Monday: Indian Summer

A very hastily plonked together vase as I was taking them to a friend’s 70th birthday party and was running a bit late.

I am thrilled with this clump of Alstroemerias, variety Indian Summer, which I bought at the Rare Plant Fair back in June. Not that they are rare, but they are beautiful and are the only plant of the three I bought that have survived.

They have such long stems and you pull them up rather like pulling rhubarb, instead of cutting them.

They are growing very happily in my new border – I wonder if they will survive the winter, when that border gets very wet. I have mounded up the soil, in the hope that their roots will be kept out of the swamp.

I love this group of colours together: the hot pink pelargonium; the alstroemerias; the bright pink argyranthemum, which has been the star of the show since May – what an amazing plant; the purple toadflax, much loved by the bees; the deep bronze heuchera leaves, just peeping through, back right; and behind them the red achillea.

This video was taken a couple of weeks ago

You can see the beginnings of this border here .

Pop across to Cathy’s post to see what other gardeners are putting in vases today.

In a Vase on Monday

I was in a bit of a rush as I left the house to visit some friends for supper and gathered a big bunch of flowers from my wild bit of the garden

I just had time to plonk them in a jug, take a photo and dash.

In the bunch are honeysuckle (grown from a cutting), golden rod (self seeded), marjoram (self seeded), poppy seed heads( self seeded), purple toadflax (self seeded), a tall pink dianthus (grown from gathered seed), feverfew (self seeded), leycestra formosa (self seeded), bronze fennel (self seeded), and a weed with purple flowers like a thistle (self seeded) that I don’t know the name of.

They looked so much better when my friend transfered them to her vase in front of her fireplace.

I continue to enjoy the progress in my ‘long border’ – here it is at 7am this morning

Joining Cathy for In a Vase on Monday, who is in the Pink today.

In a Vase on Monday

I was so excited to see three varieties of lychnis in my garden.

I gathered seeds of the magenta and white ones from other gardens and just scattered them around mine, so the one with a pink centre was an especially gorgeous surprise.

The pottery vase was made in Roch, Pembrokeshire by a potter who is no longer there, I bought it in the 1970s on a visit to my Welsh grandparents. The chambers are joined together in twos at the bottom and then a dear little vase is separately fixed on the top.

Joning in with other gardeners who share their vases on ‘Rambling in the Garden‘ on Mondays

and

Cee’s Flower of the Day

Astrantia

A crown for the goddess Astrantia.

With her attending angel.

I have been following Floral Forager on Instagram, she also has a website.

So inspiring! She makes wonderful headdresses and this is where the idea took me.

I sought out the frame after seeing these wonderful creations at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2016. I can’t remember exactly where I got the frame from now, I think it was from an Etsy site –  it might have been this one: Geckomeister.

The angel etched in a glass block – how do they do that??? comes from St David’s Cathedral shop. I bought one for each of my grandchildren as a christening present.

I’m joining Cathy for her IAVOM meme, where we pop something in a vase (ahem) from our gardens and share our arrangements with other gardeneners all over the world.

You can see my more conventional arrangement using Astrantia here.

Yesterday I had the utter joy of going to the Rare Plant Fair at Sculpture by the Lakes

 

I bought 3 plants

An alstroemeria, a trailing snapdragon which sounds almost too good to be true and some quaking grass.

My daughter chose alstroemerias as the main flower to decorate the marquee for her wedding reception so they have a special place in my heart – I hope I can grow them – any tips?

Also joining

Cee’s FOTD