Welcome to my regular Monday post ‘In A Vase On Monday’, when I link up with Cathy at Rambling In The Garden to share what I have found from the garden today to put in a vase.
My Narcissi Paperwhite are finally flowering in the greenhouse! They seem late this year, but actually I forgot to plant them until early December, so really they are on time. I have a few more pots just coming into flower and another batch of bulbs that I planted recently in the greenhouse bed to make sure I have Paperwhites for a few weeks more.
This week I am displaying them in a zinc planter rather than a vase. I have used oasis in the planter to support the tied bunch of Paperwhites and then added Eunonymous Emerald Gaiety to fill out around the bottom of the stems. I had also cut some lovely stems of Sarcococca hookeriana, which is just coming into flower. When I made the arrangement I decided they were not necessary, so put them in their own little vase.
I arranged the Paperwhites in a globe shape, cut the stems to the same length and tied them together with a ribbon.
I used small stems of Euonymous Emerald Gaiety to push into and cover the oasis base. You can also see the stems of Sarcococca that I cut and put in a separate vase.
I have so far been underwhelmed by the scent of Sarcococca in my garden, but have just discovered in the last weeks that if you bring the stems into a warm house they release the most delicious scent. I think from now on I will forget wandering around a cold garden sniffing the air trying to catch a scent and just fill my house with the branches of scented shrubs. I have my eye on Viburnum Bodnantense Dawn next – I noticed that it has some lovely buds.
The newly opened Paperwhite flowers are very fragrant. Fortunately they have a scent that I love although, as with hyacinths, not everyone likes the smell.
The zinc planter was a bargain buy from Sainsbury’s last summer. The lace ribbon came from the White Company (sadly I have almost run out) and the lace table cloth is from a small collection I have been building up from a lovely vintage outlet in the village of Clare, Suffolk.
In the pile of books I have used you can see one of my current favourites, The Garden In Winter by Suzy Bales. I find that the more years I spend gardening the more I appreciate the winter season. I love winter flowering shrubs, flowers and bulbs and am looking forward to making the most of them this year by bringing them into the house. Every year I add more to the garden and finally the first ones that I planted when we moved here four years ago are starting to look more mature. I still have a way to go though to realise my dreams of a winter walk in my small woodland.
I hope you will have a look at what Cathy and her other readers have put into their vases. I will be back next week with another selection from my winter garden.
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Isn’t it lovely to find something different each week! Your vase is the complete opposite to my ‘macabre’ one – pure and white and innocent! It’s amazing to be seeing narcissi, and especially when you only planted them in December – you are clearly quite organised in your planting to have done so successionally. I like the idea of using the euonymus at the base – I might borrow it (the idea, that is)! I too am beginning to further appreciate the benefits of winter interest in the garden partly with writing the blog and even more so now we are filling vases on a Monday.
Sorry Cathy – I have been so busy I am late replying! I really do love this challenge – it is making me look more closely at all my garden plants to see what can be used that is different each week and it is lovely to have flowers in the house every week. I do agree about winter plants – it is easy to overlook them when planning for spring, summer & autumn colour, but they add such a lot to the structure of the garden and are good all year as fillers for vases. I need to come back to you on my witch hazels – I am not sure of the varieties.
Hope I can help with your witch hazels, although unless they were bought from specialists there are some more common than others. A garden centre we went to today had some unhelpfully listed as Hamamelis ‘Yellow’ and H ‘Orange’ (and H ‘Red’ was sold out!) 🙂
What a wonderfully creative way to gather those narcissi!! I just love the entire display. I too bought a zinc pot last year that has birch on the outside and is perfect for forcing my paperwhites. Yes, we all love the scent, but some can’t stand it. Kind of like the aversion some have to cilantro: either you like it or you don’t!
Thank you Libby – are your paperwhites still flowering. I can’t get over the ones you had in flower outside. I did plant some of my bulbs in the ground after they flowered last year, but there are no shoots yet and I have never seen any growing outside here in the UK. I also loved your tip about watering the forced bulbs with part water/part alcohol to stop them becoming leggy. I planted all mine in the greenhouse this year, but I am going to have a go at growing some inside for next Christmas and I will use this tip.
So gorgeous. I love the structure you’ve created with the Paperwhite. I adore the scent of narcissi so would really appreciate the scent. I have to admit that I’m on a steep learning curve when it comes to foliage; I’m only just beginning to appreciate that it can be a star by itself. You and Cathy are both inspiring me with your winter vases!
Thank you Sarah – I am glad you liked this. I have seen this done in floristry books but never tried it myself before. I am really pleased with the result and they do seem to be lasting well.
Oh now that arrangement is pleasing to the eye Julie. I like the look of paperwhites but sadly find the scent overwhelming. On the subject of scent my sarcococcas are both in pots outside the front door and I enjoy the scent every time I got out and return. Maybe they pick up on the warmth of the house 🙂
Thank you Anna – I am getting mixed responses to the scent in the kitchen. Some of my visitors love the smell and immediately ask where it is coming from – others find it quite horrible. I think pots by the door might be a good idea for the sarcococcas – do you leave them in place all year or swap them for something flowery in the summer?
Gorgeous…makes me think you may be a florist! 😉
Only in my dreams Annette!
Beautiful arrangement! I tried Paperwhites for the first time this Christmas, and was so excited with how fast they bloomed! Was not so excited about the fragrance, however!
As with the taste of some foods you might find the fragrance grows on you. The first time I grew Paperwhites I hated the scent and they got very leggy and flopped all over. I vowed never to grow them again, but when I visited a friends house the following Christmas and saw her Paperwhites in lovely pots on her windowsills I decided to try again. Now I would not want to be without them at this time of year.