Tag Archives: alyssum

In A Vase On Monday – Late December

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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.

Spring Weekend

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Alyssum 'Easter Bonnet Violet'

Alyssum ‘Easter Bonnet Violet’

This weekend the weather was ideal for working in the garden. Highs today were in the 70s and was still 69°F at 8:00 pm.  Even warmer weather is forecast for the week.

On Friday afternoon I visited a favorite garden center, checking out each and every offering and finally bringing home mostly more of my same favorites. Last year Alyssum, an annual, bloomed well into winter so I decided to use it this year again to fill in. I chose a pretty violet, rather than white.

At the store I figured out exactly why I needed each plant and where it would go, but once home I could not match ideas to reality, so most are still unplanted.  No regrets, but in fact I still need to focus on cleaning up the perennial beds and mulching. This task that has taken much too long.

The sunny, warm weather this weekend helped motivate me though and I was able to make some progress, but the beds need serious renovation. I expected just to pull weeds and spread the mulch but there are many plants that have become so overgrown and entwined with neighboring plants, it is taking a long time to clear small spaces. Daylily, tradescantia, bog sage, another unknown type of salvia, perennial sweet pea and columbine are the biggest offenders this year. Tansy and yarrow are also getting out of hand. The soil looks beautiful though and I am finding lots of earthworms this year.

It was satisfying to spend the daylight hours outside. This time of year there are no mosquitoes, no air conditioners humming. It is pleasantly quiet and peaceful.

Iberis 'Purity'

Iberis ‘Purity’

Plants

3- Phlox subulata ‘Emerald Blue’
6- Alyssum ‘Easter Bonnet Violet’ (annual)
1- Creeping Lemon Thyme
1- Dianthus ‘Early Bird Frosty’ (White) –blue-silver leaves
6- Dianthus ‘Ideal Select White’
6- Dianthus ‘Ideal Select Red’
1- Diascia ‘Dala Desal’  (annual)
1- Salvia nemorosa ‘May Night’ (Hardy Sage) (Mainacht) [synonym Salvia × sylvestris ‘May Night’ (Meadow sage)]
6- Iberis ‘Purity’ (despite their poor performance last year)
10- Angelonia ‘Purple’  (annual)