In a Vase on Monday: Flower Festival

There was a Flower Festival going on in the church in our village this weekend, on Friday I met my wonderful 85 year old neighbour on her way to the church with flowers picked from her garden. I just had to take a photo, she looked so happy and summery, she gives me hope for the future!

 

And this is how she arranged her gorgeous homegrown blooms

with a reference to ‘Watership Down’,

the theme for the Festival being ‘All Living Creatures’.

It has been hot, hot, hot here and the coolness of the inside of the church provided a welcome respite

There were some ingenious interpretations:

The Owl and the Pussycat

with the ‘sea’ of hydrangeas and the silvery moon dangling a pig with a ring in the end of its nose made me smile!

As did the Very Hungry Caterpillar

and the Jungle theme

with a lion’s head!

There was an elegant window sill of cats

and one with a watery theme

and can you guess what this next creature is???

I’ve no idea what I would do for this theme – what would you do?

Outside in the churchyard, we sat in the shade and cooling breeze chatting and drinking cups of coffee. There were masses of gorgeous homemade cakes on offer, but I managed to resist.

The Plant Stall was glad of the shade and the passing trade

Then it was back to my digging ……… yes digging!

I know, crazy in this heat but I have to do things when the energy and time is available – I have had a whole boundary bed cleared (the one on the right in the picture below) and I am waging war on bamboo and bindweed. But first the laurels, hawthorn and bushes had to be cleared

It helps to have a son-in-law with a tractor to take away the debris and to be able to hire a couple of strong young lads with a stump grinder!

More about that another day.

My own vase is just a quicky, gathered for a friend I went to see on Saturday night.

Phygelia, honeysuckle, astrantia, and lemon balm, all hastily popped in a jam jar decorated with washi tape

Joining other gardeners from around the world in Cathy’s lovely ‘In a Vase on Monday’ gardeners gathering. Always a highlight of my blogland week.

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In a Frida Vase on Monday

My son-in-law was helping with a house clearance this week and he rescued this vase for me, isn’t that lovely of him!!! And my daughter said – “a Vase for Monday!”

I immediately thought the vase had a Kahloesque look about it. You might already know I am a big fan of Frida!

An opportunity to get those candles out again.

Does anyone know what the mauve flowers are – they seed themselves freely around the garden?

I am thoroughy enjoying the heady scented mix of honeysuckle and philadelphus.

And philadelphus is my entry for Cee’s Flower of the Day.

There is a Frida Kahlo exhibition on at the V and A at the moment – I hope to go and see it, but it is hard to think of getting on a train and travelling to London whilst we are enjoying such glorious sunny weather.

Do you have anything to pop in a vase this Monday – if so do join in with Cathy over at Rambling in the Garden – such a fun gathering of gardeners.

I must just share another beauty of a sunset we had last night

Venus

In a Vase on Monday

It’s Summer! No more fires, so I can cover the top of the woodburner with a few crazy objects

From left to right

Back Row

Pink Watering Can

A few years back, after helping put together 3 weddings and numerous Christenings, it was about to be my 60th birthday – I was planning a big event for ME! The theme was to be English Country Garden, I bought tiny colourful plastic  flower pots in which I was going to serve chocolate mouse (earth) with pop cakes flowers in them, I bought a garden arch through which guests would enter the village hall, I intended to cover it with crocheted flowers, The drinks were going to be poured from brightly coloured watering cans …………..

woah!

Then my son and daughter-in-law annouced the impending arrival of twins – guess when they were due ON MY BIRTHDAY!

All plans for a big party were (happily) dropped – but I still have the watering cans!

And my children gave me a wonderful surprise birthday party in September on our family holiday. So all was very well!!!!

The can holds Jodie’s Forever Flowers and astrantia.

Orange Giraffe

I know you have seen the Giraffe before (from Chive), I hope you don’t mind her making another appearance. I’m very fond of her and her headgear today is a white perenial foxglove called Snowy Mountain.

I bought the seeds at Chelsea Flower Show.

I grew 6 for myself and gave some to friends – they were beautiful in the first year – last year, gorgeous I was thrilled with them. All but one has died, the one I have left is pathetic, it has this one flower spike. Oh dear!

Painting by Kaneda Hanaki

I saw this painting when I was in Japan. When I got home, I contacted the gallery to see if it was still available and it was! I love its quirkiness.

Front Row

Self-Hardening Clay objects:

Hedgehog with bead eyes: Made by Little Miss M

Pineapple 1 made by Little Bro

Pineapple 2 made by Bog Bro

Crocodile made by Miss E

Candlestick

Made by Devon ceramicist Ross Emerson

~~~

 

Joining the Garden Party at In a Vase on Monday.

 

 

 

In a Vase: Irises

I am still completely captivated by the irises in my garden

The scent is so delicious! I wish I could bottle it up and send it to you.

Just imagine putting your nose to this gorgeous thing and getting slightly heady from the pear drop-like scent

Cutting them seems almost a crime, but having the scent indoors to walk past is a real treat

They are with Weigela and Nigella and some of the bottles from last week

I’m besotted by their shape and sculptural form

and can’t stop clicking

 

My favourite so far ~~~   Title: Mother and Child.

Joining Cathy’s In a Vase on Monday meme

and

Cee’s Flower of the Day

 

In a Vase on Monday

Mmmmmmm ….. those irises – the colour, the shape, the markings, the scent – I greet them each morning with my first cuppa,

and couldn’t resist bringing one inside …

to go with a collection of other plant shapes

From left to right

1. A local farm shop has started selling milk in returnable glass bottles Hurray! In this one are rooted cuttings of my spectacular epiphyllum
2. A miniature bottle of wine, so cute I couldn’t throw it away, with Mare’s Tail that is rampant in my front garden – I love it’s shape and design and the way it captures the dew in the morning, I respect that it has been on this planet much longer than humans – if only it did not want to take over the world.
3. A chirpy marigold in a teeny Victorian bottle with NOT TO BE TAKEN moulded into the glass – but I will be eating the petals of the flower sprinkled on a salad later.
4. Another miniature wine bottle, bought for the bottle’s shape this time. With chives.
5. Miniature wine bottle which came as a ‘favour’ at my son’s wedding, with one of my beloved irises in it.
6. A bottle which held an organic fruit drink now holds a sprouting acorn, which I pulled up from my lawn. Squirrels bury them in autumn, and I have never seen one being retrieved. A mini forest grows at this time of the year.

Do you have anything to pop in a vase (or a bottle) this Monday? If you do, how about joining in with Cathy and her pals over at Rambling in the Garden.

Also joining Cee who has a glorious photo of a beautifully flouncy Bearded Iris for her Flower of the Day

Have you seen any of these little white spiders in your garden? I’ve seen a few recently having never seen them before. So cute!

I had to look it up and believe it is a Crab Spider.

They do not make webs but lie in wait for their prey. Some can turn yellow or light green if necessary to merge with their surroundings.

 

In a Jug on Monday

That is my son-in-law ploughing the field for the maize to go in – at last we have a stretch of good growing weather ahead of us.

Sweet Cicely and Red Campion, both from my garden, sit in an orange metal jug that has ‘Made in Yuogoslavia’ on its base. My Mum used to have a stall in Wimborne market buying and selling all sorts of bits and pieces – I think she probably bought more than she sold! But she used to find us all some wonderfully fun and quirky gifts – this jug was one of them.

I use Sweet Cicely stalks to sweeten rhubarb, I never use sugar nowadays, I might pop in a few raisins or dates to add a bit of sweetness too.

My epiphyllum is throwing its own party in my sitting room – it is GORGEOUS at the moment! I feel proud of myself to have managed to get it to flower so well!

The pelargonium has been flowering for over a year now, and the marigolds sit in a Victorian glass ink pot, I found in a hedge in the 1970s.

Pop along to Cathy’s place for a flower feast in her In a Vase on Monday meme, where a happy band of gardeners from all over the world chat about all things horticultural.

Also joining Cee’s Flower of the Day.

Mystery Flower and Vase on Monday

The mystery flower from this month’s Monthly Meet-Up Photo Challenge is a Cactus flower. I have no idea of the name of the cactus – do you know?

It is not too late to enter the challenge – just add your flower photos to the comments in the post. You can see each Month’s prompt word here.

I am delighted with the flowers as for years this gifted cactus sat forlornly on a shelf sulking – then I discovered that it needed watering more often than I had been doing, feeding, and it needed a period of drought in the winter. Ta dah! Beautiful pink flowers!

Joining Cathy’s crew for In a Vase on Monday

Follow the link to see lots of beautiful vases from gardeners all over the world.

The giraffe with the fancy pink hardo of antirrhinum is a vase from Chive.

The Zebra, carrying forget-me-nots on its back is a little coffee cup I found in a charity shop.

The antirrihnum has been sitting in bud for months, waiting for the sunshine, in this south facing Veg Trug

and now it has burst forth into luscious blooms

Don’t you just love the complicated design of this playful snapdragon, it  intrigues me and delights the children. They love to squeeze it’s cheeks so that it opens its dragony mouth and then snap it shut again.

Joining in with Cee’s Flower of the Day.