In a Vase on Monday: cheers

Tags

Ammi majus, Bupleurum rotundifolium, cheers, cornflower black ball, cornflower polka dot mix, cornflowers, Dahlia Arabian Night, Dahlia mignon.mixed, Echinops, in a vase on Monday, Persicaria amplexicaulis Firetail, tankard, Verbena bonariensis

Today’s Vase is actually a beer glass and the flowers are a pleasing selection, well pleasing to my eye, apologies if not to your taste. They are from my homegrown patch,  which was a large patch of bare soil just a few months ago, onto which I planted a few seeds.

There are Dahlia mignon and Arabian Night, Ammi majus, Verbena bonariensis and the lime green of Bupleurum rotundifolium. 


White perennial sweet pea, pretty but alas with no scent. Cornflowers Black Ball, Polka Dot Mix and just your regular, good old delightful cornflower. Jo, if you are reading, I hope you like them. 

Now pop over to Cathy and take a look at the other Monday vases. They will not disappoint.

In a Vase on Monday: British Flowers Week

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apothecary bottle, British Flowers week, in a vase on Monday, Lily, oriental lily, poppy seed head, Rose "Lark Ascending", Verbena bonariensis

Cathy is the host of this lovely weekly feature and those of us who take part or who read the posts know all about the exquisite selection home grown flowers can offer. With this in mind I would like to share my British bunch, grown and picked by me. Just as normal really!

The centrepiece to the bunch is an extraordinarily dark lily. I grow a number of lilies in a raised bed and just leave them to it. This year the lily beetle has found them and I had to strip the leaves as they were covered in a black gunk. The flower seems to be untouched so I think it’s fair to say I got away with that one.  

Interestingly, well to me anyway, is that the buds of such a dark colour lily are an orange tone. With this in mind I chose Rose Lark Ascending.

I cannot praise this (David Austin) rose enough, it’s a firm favourite. It picks up the orange lily bud in a soft tone of orange to which I have added a few sprigs of  vibrant purple Verbena bonariensis and some soft green grey poppy seed heads. 

All that was left was to decide on a vessel. It had to be the orange brown apothecary jar as the colours seem to work.

The weather here is full on Summer reaching a sultry 29 degrees today. Incredible and dare I say it, not very British. The flowers are though. 

Tuesday view: 16/5/17

Tags

allium, anthriscus, sweet sicely, Tuesdsy view

Today the wind has been blowing about a warming air,  full of dust. Not terribly nice and my eyes now feel almost gritty. Through these peepers the view in my garden is looking more colourful than a couple of weeks ago mainly thanks to the Geums.

There are geraniums in the foreground and allium heads almost ready to open. There is lots of fluffy white from the Anthriscus and Sweet Cicely.  

Joining Cathy with my Tuesday view. It’s a fun way to track progress so do take a look at her blog.D.

Growing

Tags

seedlings, Spring, Tuesday View

A quick post today to share a picture of progress in the greenhouse. 

It is officially Spring yet today the weather seemed unaware of the facts, there was a real bite to the wind. 

Safe and sound under glass, the seeds are growing well. 

Silent Sunday: camellia promise

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camellia, promise, rain, Silent Sunday

No relation to Storm Doris

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germination, heat mat, seedlings, Storm Doris, vegetables for the kitchen garden

So for the record, this Dorris, is not in any way related to the current Doris running amock across the uk. 

I abandoned attempts to prepare the garden belonging to Ali . Debris dropping on my head whilst working was not fun. 

To distract and restore calm I shall share these babies, safely tucked inside the greenhouse. 

Salad leaves on 8 February 

Now, Cut and come again salads and spicy leaves today. 

Thanks to a heat mat, cucumbers, sweet corn, chard, lettuce, basil have germinated. Borlotti beans are beginning to show but so far no sign of the French beans.

We have had power cuts, massive disruption to trains, planes and automobiles, damage to trees and buildings thanks to Doris at 50mph. Further North I hope the snow has eased.

Be safe out there and let’s hope that peace will return as the storm moves off to the North Sea. 

Wordless Wednesday: crocus

Tags

crocus, Dutch crocus, wordless wednesday, yellow

Saturday: birthday woofer

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parson, parson russell terrier, Saturday dog

Ten today. 

Sleeting outside. 

Had my walk. 

Time to do a bit of radiator leaning. 

In a Vase on Monday: a gift

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filigran vase, in a vase on Monday, Lin Utzon vase, pink tulips, rosendahl, Spring flowers, tulips

I was laid up with flu this weekend. So dull. A missed opportunity to be in the garden as the sun shone on Saturday. No matter except that I have not been out to find something for my Monday vase. Cathy always manages to find a little something even at this time of year. (snowdrops? Take a look https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com)

I have however decided to share some tulips with you today. 

These are the softest pink with white margins on the leaves. 

The flowers have opened to reveal a stronger pink inside:

A thank you from a friend whose cats I fed. 

This vase is especially good for Spring flowers such as daffodils and tulips as it has a long body which narrows slightly at the top before gently opening outward to create a supporting rim for the blooms to lean against.  

I especially like the white leaf pattern on the glass which repeats the white margins on these tulips. Designed by Lin Utzon for Rosendahl, it is as attractive empty as it is with flowers. It too was a gift. 

Have a good week and mind those bugs, they’re nasty.

In a Vase on Monday : warmed through

Tags

black stem vase, Christmas rose, Hellebore, helleborus niger, in a vase on Monday, pink flowers, Viburnum bodnantense dawn, winter scent

Last Monday I shared memories of Summer which some of you may have looked at and thought ‘yuck’, they were rather brown. With that in mind I cut some Viburnum  and a Hellebore at the same time. The Viburnum was in bud in the garden but tightly closed. ‘Ah ha’ I thought ( I did really think that exact expression), this could be good for next Monday.  

This was taken last Tuesday:

As hoped, the buds have opened and are now filling the room with their rather overly sweet scent. 

This is a first time appearance for the black glass stem vase. Part of a Christmas gift from Liz who had found it and a couple of others in a local charity shop. Perfect for my Mondays. 
So today I have a tiny little burst of colour thanks to Christmas rose, Helleborus niger and Viburnum bodnantense Dawn.


There were no ah ha moments today but I expect many other contributors to Mondays vase will have lots of lovelies to share. Check out Cathys blog https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com

This was taken yesterday:

Have a good week and let’s hope it stops raining. I am awash thanks to Thames Water, a burst water main, no mains drainage and heavy non stop rain today.