Tag Archives: garden photography

In A Vase On Monday – Winter Flowers In A Mug

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In A Vase On Monday – Winter Flowers In A Mug

Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden encourages us to share a vase highlighting what is growing in our gardens.

In A Vase On Monday – Winter Flowers In A Mug

Walking though the garden I can almost hear plants murmuring, barely able to hold back their energy and excitement. Daffodils buds are beginning to show color but none have opened. Yesterday I discovered a fat bud on a bearded iris–the first Iris germanica to appear so early.

But the week belongs to Hellebores.

In A Vase On Monday – Winter Flowers In A Mug

The flowers are served in a large pale yellow Fiestaware soup mug and photographed on the back screened porch in remnants of the late afternoon sun.

In A Vase On Monday – Winter Flowers In A Mug

Several sprigs of fresh silvery-gray Artemisia foliage is tucked underneath the blooms.

Artemisia and Hellebores

Individual faces capture my heart. Some blush.

Helleborus x hybridus (Lenten rose)

Some have freckles.

Helleborus x hybridus (Lenten rose)

Helleborus x hybridus (Lenten rose)

This one is elongated with two green petals accented in pink.

Helleborus x hybridus (Lenten rose)

Materials
Flowers
Helleborus x hybridus (Lenten rose)
Foliage
Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’ (Wormwood)
Container
Fiestaware Jumbo Soup Mug

Helleborus x hybridus (Lenten rose)

If one can have a favorite it has to be this white double. Creamy and pure, with triangular petals, and unfortunately the least prolific, it was purchased at Pine Knot Farm in Virginia in 2016. I expect the plant will continue to bulk up each year.

Helleborus x hybridus (Lenten rose)

Helleborus x hybridus (Lenten rose)

Helleborus x hybridus (Lenten rose)

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 she and others found to place In A Vase On Monday.

In A Vase On Monday – Winter Boughs

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In A Vase On Monday – Winter Boughs

Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden encourages us to share a vase highlighting what is growing in our gardens.

After unseasonably warm (but wet) weather in January, Sunday night lows plunged to 25F. I have seen a clump of yellow daffodils blooming in my neighborhood. None of mine have opened but there are a few buds.

Daphne odora came into full bloom this week and outdoors any excuse will do to walk by the deliciously scented shrubs. For today’s vase I gathered several large stems to feature.

Daphne odora (Winter daphne)

Daphne odora (Winter daphne)

A few hellebores just starting to flower were selected also to contribute soft color and form.

Helleborus x hybridus (Lenten rose)

Helleborus x hybridus (Lenten rose)

Helleborus x hybridus (Lenten rose)

Helleborus x hybridus (Lenten rose)

Bits of fresh verdant foliage—arum, camellia, and columbine—were added for contrast and texture. The greens serve also to conceal the candleholder adapter filled with florist’s foam.

In A Vase On Monday – Winter Boughs

Materials
Flowers
Daphne odora (Winter daphne)
Helleborus x hybridus (Lenten rose)
Foliage
Arum italicum
Container
Glass Candelabra

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 she and others found to place In A Vase On Monday.

In A Vase On Monday – Pine And Flora

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In A Vase On Monday – Pine And Flora

Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden encourages us to share a vase highlighting what is growing in our gardens.

January has been mild in temperature but wet, making the garden soggy. Carefully stepping into squishy soil yesterday morning I retrieved a small pine branch that had dropped into the border from the neighbor’s towering tree. The branch is the starting point for today’s vase.

To support the pine branch I reached into a treasure trove of florist pins donated to me by a friend and former coworker. She had inherited the collection from relatives and was kind to pass them on to me. There are various sizes and shapes, mostly metal pins, but a few made of glass.  The one I reached for is metal, an extra-heavy 3.5 by 4.5-inch rectangular one whose pins are sharp and nicely spaced. It gripped the branch easily in place.

Florist Pin 3.5 By 4.5 Inches

In A Vase On Monday – Pine And Flora

This arrangement is a bit like a sketch or prototype. I like it much more in person than in the photographs. With more time I would have trimmed and shaped the pine branch more and would returned to the garden for some taller materials to support the design. Perhaps too I would bind some of the needles in green wire. Possibilities are endless.

In A Vase On Monday – Pine And Flora

The hellebore bud used last week opened after a day inside. It is included in today’s vase along with one other, cut Sunday, that opened the same way.

Helleborus x hybridus (Lenten rose)

It is still possible to find a few camellias, so Yuletide is included again today. Daphne buds are reluctant to commit, but there are several stems with open flowers here and there.  I caught the fragrance as I cut the daphne and now am longing for it.

Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’ and Daphne

Materials
Flowers
Anthurium
Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’
Daphne odora (Winter daphne)
Helleborus x hybridus (Lenten rose)
Foliage
Anthurium
Arum italicum
Pinus taeda (loblolly pine)
Container
Black square plastic dish

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 she and others found to place In A Vase On Monday.

In A Vase On Monday – January Blossoms

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In A Vase On Monday – January Blossoms

Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden encourages us to share a vase highlighting what is growing in our gardens. It is the first Monday of the new year. Providing continuity from the past year, 2020’s initial vase holds the familiar blossoms of Yuletide sasanqua camellia. It really is the only choice for flowers this week.

In A Vase On Monday – January Blossoms

But I included a preview of Vases Future. Hellebores seem a bit late this year despite relatively mild weather recently. Their buds are promising.

Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’ With Hellebore Bud

The Daphne shrubs are full of buds and finally a tiny flower has emerged.

Daphne odora (Winter daphne)

The anthurium flower is from a house plant we were given a year ago. Originally the color was pink and perhaps it will be again one day. I have brought it into a different room where it will receive more light and where I will be reminded to water it occasionally.

In A Vase On Monday – January Blossoms

Materials
Flowers
Anthurium
Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’
Daphne odora (Winter daphne)
Helleborus x hybridus (Lenten rose)
Foliage
Anthurium
Arum italicum
Container
Blue/brown ceramic flat, round dish

Deep 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 she and others found to place In A Vase On Monday.

In A Vase On Monday – Winter Bauble

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In A Vase On Monday – Winter Bauble

Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden encourages us to share a vase highlighting what is growing in our gardens.

As 2019 comes to a close I chose small bits and baubles foraged from the garden beds for the year’s final Monday vase. Motivated to create a small design so I could feature two fresh, tiny blooms of Erysimum ‘Sugar Rush Red,’ I selected two petite but heavy, bowl-shaped glass candleholders as containers. I attached floral pin frogs to the candlesticks using florist sticky clay to make it easier to hold the materials in place.

Erysimum ‘Sugar Rush Red’

Spiraea this December has buds and a few white flowers. The fern-like greenery is Tansy. Several of its leaves came with a bonus streak of purple along the vein to pick up the color of one of the vases.

Spiraea Flowers and Leaves

An unusual find is a dried carcass from a daylily fruit, the loculicidal capsule. The daylily seed pod’s walls dry out and once the seeds are ripe the walls split apart. The fruit dehisces longitudinally through the locules. This three-valved chamber continued to dry, forming a conversation starter and interesting accent for today’s vase. (I welcome your corrections to my description of this process.)

Daylily Capsule

Daylily Capsule

In late October I had discovered one still holding its seeds; I am not sure if this is the same one that found its way into today’s vase.

Daylily Seed Pod October 24, 2019

The last ingredient looks like pine needle, but actually is grass, an unidentified oddity, the second clump I’ve found growing in the garden. The leaves are quite stiff and long, over 18 inches. It’s rich green color appealed to me and I decided to use it in an abstract way, formed into bundles and cut to even heights to form vertical pillars. Unfortunately the sharp prongs of the floral pin frogs were not closely enough spaced to hold all the grass securely. Next time I might bind the bundle with twine to keep the needles from spilling away.

In A Vase On Monday – Winter Bauble

The candleholders are 2 ½ inches in diameter. The contents in the clear one measure 6 inches tall; the purple, 7½ inches.

Materials
Flowers
Daylily seed capsule
Erysimum ‘Sugar Rush Red’ (Wallflower)
Spiraea prunifolia (bridal wreath spiraea)
Foliage
Stiff grass (unknown)
Tanacetum vulgare (Tansy)
Container
Small glass candleholders (2) fitted with florist pins

In A Vase On Monday – Winter Bauble

My 2019 Monday vases are collected into one place to see the year at a glance or to step though a slide show. I was able to participate 43 times this year.

Deep 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 she and others found to place In A Vase On Monday.

Happy, Happy New Year! Peace, calm and joy and may you grow!

Erysimum ‘Sugar Rush Red’

In A Vase On Monday – Winter Song

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In A Vase On Monday – Winter Song

Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden encourages us to share a vase highlighting what is growing in our gardens.

In A Vase On Monday – Winter Song

In A Vase On Monday – Winter Song

My garden has been a one-trick pony lately, offering up only camellias to fill Monday vases. Of course I am grateful to have them blooming this time of year. It was 27 degrees F. when I left the house early Sunday morning, yet Sunday afternoon I was able to pick a few fresh blooms of Yuletide and one Hana-Jiman.

Pink Camellia sasanqua ‘Hana-Jiman’ and Red Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’

Nearby the camellias stand several gardenias that a former neighbor rooted for me many years ago. Yesterday I discovered two gardenia hips, orange fruits that only rarely appear on my gardenias.

Gardenia Hip

Gardenia Hip

Scouting for other materials I managed to find one tiny red Erysimum and a small Penstemon digitalis ‘Husker Red’ plant which I pulled up, including roots, from the soggy soil of the meditation circle.

Erysimum ‘Sugar Rush Red’

Foliage of Penstemon digitalis ‘Husker Red’

To add seasonal interest I gathered greenery from a ‘Carolina Sapphire’ cypress in the back northwest corner of the garden.

‘Carolina Sapphire’ (Arizona Cypress)

I decided to include spiraea after noticing a few white flowers on the mostly bare stems. The spiraea must be confused by the mixed messages the weather has been sending recently, with temperatures sometimes warm, sometimes as I mentioned earlier, 27 degrees. This week is due to be mild and in the 60s.

A rustic wooden box serves as the container this week. The arrangement looked fine just using the items I found in the garden, but I have lots of flowers on hand that I bought for a luncheon I hosted last Monday. Adding few pale green carnations and stems of hypericum berries helped fill out the design and lifted the color.

In A Vase On Monday – Winter Song

Materials
Flowers
Camellia sasanqua ‘Hana-Jiman’
Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’
Carnation (purchased)
Erysimum ‘Sugar Rush Red’ (Wallflower)
Gardenia jasminoides hips
Spiraea prunifolia (bridal wreath spiraea)
Foliage
‘Carolina Sapphire’ (Arizona Cypress)
Hypericum
Penstemon digitalis ‘Husker Red’ (Beardtongue)
Spiraea prunifolia (bridal wreath spiraea)
Container
Wooden crate lined with plastic container holding floral foam

In A Vase On Monday – Winter Song

In A Vase On Monday – Winter Song

Thanks to Cathy at Rambling In The Garden for hosting and giving us an opportunity to share flower designs across the world. Visit her to discover what she and others found to place In A Vase On Monday.

In A Vase On Monday – Red And Green

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Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden encourages us to share a vase highlighting what is growing in our gardens.

Happy to find a few camellias to share, I’m off to prepare for a luncheon I’m hosting for long-time yoga friends. These women have been a strong source of inspiration and laughter for many years, and this year especially, a well of support.

Materials
Flowers
Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’
Foliage
Container
Ikebana

Thanks to Cathy at Rambling In The Garden for hosting and giving us an opportunity to share flower designs across the world. Visit her to discover what she and others found to place In A Vase On Monday.