In A Vase On Monday – A Touch Of All Seasons
At a later hour than usual I join Cathy for the first time in 2017 with In A Vase On Monday. This is an opportunity to share an arrangement using materials collected from the garden.
It rained all day on the first of January and today it rained harder. Finally around lunchtime the showers stopped but skies remained gray and oppressive.
In A Vase On Monday – A Touch Of All Seasons
I have been saving dried stems and seedheads of a Jackmanii clematis for a time when the garden might not offer any fresh blooms. This seemed like a good time to bring it out and highlight the curves, angles and twists of the vine and the soft, pinwheels formed after the flowering.
In A Vase On Monday – A Touch Of All Seasons
I imagined the clematis placed simply and starkly, nearly in silhouette. Then I decided to add to the design a dried hydrangea flower in a separate container. This worked ok but I felt a bit of fresh greenery would brighten the overall effect.
While outdoors selecting a bit of fresh gardenia and lavender foliage I decided it would not hurt to take a quick garden inventory in case the anemone coronaria were blooming here as they were in Italy today. Unfortunately no, but a new flush of Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’ flowers were there for the picking. Although I have used these often in the past two months, my enthusiasm for them reignited when greeted by their fragrance.
In A Vase On Monday – A Touch Of All Seasons
Very little of what I collected outside was needed for this arrangement so now there are vases of greenery and camellias scattered all over. More elaborate than initially imaged this design still is rather restrained. It brings together a touch of all seasons as we begin a new year of sharing vases.
In A Vase On Monday – A Touch Of All Seasons
In A Vase On Monday – A Touch Of All Seasons
Materials
Flowers
Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’ – late fall and winter
Clematis ‘Jackmanii’ – spring and fall
Hydrangea macrophylla – summer
Foliage
Gardenia jasminoides – year-round
Lavandula x intermedia ‘Dutch’ (Dutch Lavender) – year-round
Mechanics
Glazed ceramic square dish
Black stones
Ikebana floral holders
In A Vase On Monday – A Touch Of All Seasons
In A Vase On Monday – A Touch Of All Seasons
In A Vase On Monday – A Touch Of All Seasons
Thanks to Cathy at Rambling In The Garden for hosting and giving us a chance to express our flower arranging passion. Visit her to discover what she and others found this week in their winter gardens to place In A Vase On Monday.
Gorgeous! love the Clematis and Lavendar. I struggle to grow greys.
Thanks. I need to replace some of my lavender, but I love having those grays (stachys, artemisia, etc.)
I love the greys, crazy spotted purple is easy here! not grey.
‘Yuletide’ is always a welcome sight and I’m sure you’ll enjoy it more in the house than staring at it through the windows and the rain. The skies were gray and oppressive here too but they didn’t deliver any rain today. However, there’s a good chance of some mid-week and again during the weekend.
Last time I’d checked Yuletide seemed done for the year, so it was surprising to find fresh blooms. The rain you’ve had must be restorative to your soul as well as to the earth. We’re getting rain again today and there’s some indecent talk of snow this weekend. Usually I’d welcome it but too much planned this time.
I don’t know why I am always so taken aback by the elegance of your arrangements; I just love your understated Japanese style. It is so difficult to combine living fresh material with dried but you have achieved it with ease; at first glance I didn’t even realise it was a mix of the two.
Thanks for the lovely comment. The dried materials were more brittle than I’d expected so I quickly lost some of the more interesting aspect of the clematis. That led me to search for the fresh greenery–an improvement in the end I think.
Saving those seedheads was inspired! I love their texture and implied motion
I had cut the clematis and brought it indoors, so was able to enjoy its transformation. The implied motion is what struck me too.
Very elegant. Yuletide is gorgeous and fragrant too? Clematis seedheads are lovely. Even the wild Old Man’ s Beard of the hedgerows is useful for winter arrangements.
Thanks. It’s funny I had written a few weeks earlier Yuletide wasn’t very fragrant, but that was in comparison to its heavily scented neighbor C. sasanqua ‘Hana-Jiman’ which is no longer blooming.
Unusual and pretty vase, Susie, and the plants are well chosen. I’m intrigued by the b/w image as it emphasizes completely different things.
Thanks you Annette. B&W filters are interesting to experiment with. White and yellow flowers pop, red is very dark. I need to find more flowers for intermediate tones.
Clever girl! Unique and beautiful as always.
Thank you Marian. It looked so dreary outside yesterday I hadn’t expected to find anything colorful to brighten the arrangement. Still raining today and snow predictions this weekend come at a terrible time with my yoga teaching training starting on Friday.
Lovely dramatic presentation. 🙂 It is so strange to see flowers in January everywhere we look down here, but I’m coping just fine with it. 🙂
Judy you made me smile with that comment. Glad you’ve adjusted to the benefits of a milder winter than you’re used to.
Another artful arrangement, Susie – and the subtle use of the pebbles and more than one (I guess) ‘frog’ just adds to the presentation. Intersting what you say about the effect of the black and white on the colours – the reds really ARE much darker. Thanks for your interesting post, as always.
Cathy, using the black and white filter is interesting to help us see the darks and lights and those in-between values. I did use two different frogs for this arrangement. One is very tiny, maybe 1/2 inch diameter. The stones help hide it from view.
Thanks for that info Susie
I always love your restrained arrangements Susie – the old stems of the clematis with the fresh new flowers work so well as we say goodbye to one year and welcome the next. Sending you best wishes for the gardening year ahead!
I appreciate your comment and good wishes. Thanks Julie.
I only wish I could smell the Camellia Susie! It’s another lovely arrangement, especially with the Hydrangea at the centre which only becomes a real focal point in the black and white photo.
You’re right about the hydrangea taking on extra importance in the B&W image. Glad you mentioned it as it made me take a closer look. Scented flowers are a real delight.
The spare style you often employ is a wonderful way to give each element its due…and quite lovely, as well.
So true the style is rather spare and lean. When there aren’t a lot of flowers in bloom each one takes on more importance.
Simply beautiful!
Thank you Beverly. This was a fun one.