In A Vase On Monday – Late December
Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden invites us to share a vase of cuttings from our gardens.
After some very cold nights with temperatures as low as 19°F. still on Sunday morning I managed to find my patch of alyssum still blooming at the base of a couple of large flower pots.
Alyssum – December 17, 2020
I imagined filling a tiny container with the miniature purplish-magenta blooms to finish out the year of Monday vases. The alyssum didn’t prove easy to collect or work with so I was glad I had also checked out the Yuletide camellia. Though many blooms were browned by the cold blasts of the past week, a few fresh flowers had opened.
In A Vase On Monday – Late December
Alyssum
Today’s resulting vase strayed from my initial concept—more of a hodge-podge—making a quick wrap-up for this year of vases. See the entire 2020 collection of Monday vases.
In A Vase On Monday – Late December
Camellia, Alyssum and Berries
Silvered Lichen
Materials
Flowers
Alyssum
Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’
Foliage
Crape Myrtle stem with lichen
Liriope
Container
Porcelain Ikebana vase, Georgetown Pottery, Maine. Rectangle Blue Zen (6.75L x 3.75W x 2H inches)
In A Vase On Monday – Late December
Thanks to Cathy at Rambling In The Garden for hosting and giving us an opportunity to share flower-filled vases across the world. Visit her to discover what surprises she and others found to place in a vase this week.
pbmGarden 
I love the colour in this arrangement and yet that last photo is really attractive too. The lichen is beautiful.
Yuletide camellia has a rich color, doesn’t it. Good thing it blooms at this time of year instead of early spring when it would clash with everything. I do like the alyssum’s color.
P.S. Your collage of all your vases for 2020 is fabulous! 😃
Thanks Cathy. The first year I did a gallery of the vases I did the whole year at one time, which was very tedious. Since then I create a new page and update it weekly.
You have craeted a beautiful ‘hodge-podge’ for the final Monday of the year. The slide show is stunning as well. 🙂
Thanks Joanne. It’s been quite a strange year so ending with a hodgepodge feels about right.
It’s wonderful that such a beautiful flower can survive the freezing temperatures! The star of this vase, for me, is the lichen! I zoomed in right away to inspect it closely!
Glad I added the lichen. Chose it at the last minute and its silvery color showed up well.
I would have never thought of using lichen, but it is really pretty when you take the time to look at it.
I’ve seen others use things like lichen to good effect. I particularly liked the color of this piece.
The combination of alyssum and camellia is beautiful.
Thanks Alicia. The alyssum didn’t hold up very well in the vase but I don’t regret trying it.
Oh wow, Susie, the collage of the year’s vases is wonderful – and all the more so because they all have the same minimalistic setting. Thanks for facilitating this. And I love the elements of today’s hotch potch – especially your addition of the lichen and berries. I am intrigued to see this shade of allysum too, which I just know of as white. You will be pleased to hear I am replacing my lost Yuletide with a new larger specimen which should be arriving next week. Thanks for all your contributions Susie, and my very best wishes to you both for 2021
Wish I could find the label for that alyssum. I like the color also, but the white one would be nice too. I work on the collage throughout the year so at year’s end I just have to pop in the last vase. Glad you liked it. I think it’s fun to see the whole year’s effort and see what was in bloom. Thanks for your good wishes and thanks for hosting.
Yes, I remember you explaining how you work on the collages and I did consider it but didn’t get round to it – having it as an on-going project would certainly make it easy…but then would I have a calendar year, or an IAVOM year…?
Beautiful way to end the year. Thanks for all the spots of joyful nature you have shared this year Jane
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Thank you Jane. Our contact with nature has been more important than ever this year to help keep us grounded. Happy New Year!
Your Camellias look much better than mine! Dry conditions and wind followed by rain (at last!) and most of mine consist of petals scattered atop muddy soil. Your addition of Alyssum is a nice touch and of course I love the lichen, something one never sees here!
I never would have considered alyssum as a cut flower. Well, I would not have considered liriope berries either.
Nor would I but I was seeking something different to use this week. I think small pots of it could be used effectively, keeping the alyssum planted. It did poorly as a cut flower.
Poorly? It lasted long enough to get a picture.
Ours works sort of like a perennial. Summer plants replace themselves with winter plants before they succumb to cooler weather. Winter plants do the same before they succumb to warmer weather. When the old plants get pulled up, the new plants are getting started, so the space does not stay blank for long.
I just looked at your collection of vases over the whole year and it’s stunning!
How kind of you. Thanks for checking them out, Alicia. It’s fun to look back at the whole year. There are a few I really like, some I want to start rearranging to fix!
A beautiful end to a year of fabulous arrangements, Susie. Loved the slideshow! ❤
Thanks Eliza! I’ve enjoyed your arrangements too.
Thank you kindly!
Love the combination, the Alyssum sets off the Yuletide and I always love a little grey lichen texture. Well done all year. Happy New Year, Susie!
Your card is perfect! And the arrangement–beautiful, as always! The blue vase with the red flowers makes for a striking combination, and the lichen is a magic touch. Love it.