Welcome to this weeks ‘In A Vase On Monday’ when I am linking up with Cathy from Rambling In The Garden to share with you a vase of flowers I have cut from my garden this morning.
When I went out early today on a hunt for flowers to put in my vase I had in mind a completely different look. Wandering down the Woodland Walk however, I could not resist the riotous yellows of the many varieties of daffodils that are bursting into flower daily and are now living happily with the hellebores that have been giving me such pleasure since January. Out came my snippers and a vase was born!
This weeks vase is a new purchase which I am excited to share with you. Although it is a not an old jug, it has a lovely vintage look and is in a beautiful duck egg shade. I can see this jug appearing in many future Monday posts.
The lady in the photograph is my paternal grandmother. It is from my beautiful grandmother Mabel that I think I have inherited a collecting gene. I remember her house being full of ornaments, many made of brass, and that she had boxes and boxes of what we would now call vintage jewellery. A particular favourite of mine was her charm bracelet, which included a miniature bible which she would let me open to reveal real pages.
I particularly love this combination of dark hellebores and yellow daffodils. These are not daffodils that I have planted – they were in the garden when we arrived, but they have been moved from various sites to congregate along the Woodland Walk. I think the large yellows are King Alfred and the flat flowers with the orange centre may possibly be a variety called Chinta.
The names daffodil and narcissi are interchangeable, although many people think of daffodils as the large flowered varieties and narcissi as the smaller, often scented, varieties. If you are interested in learning more about daffodils it is worth having a look the The Daffodil Society website, which has lots of information including a detailed breakdown of the characteristics of the 13 different divisions which classify daffodils.
My hellebores are now all starting to form seeds. Research suggests that they will last longer in the vase this way. I did sear the freshly cut stems in boiling water for 20 seconds just to be on the safe side.
Above is the one freshly opened flower amongst the stems that I cut from one hellebore today. This particular hellebore was purchased from Roger Harvey a few years ago and has lost its label. Looking at his website I think it may be a Bradfield Slate Blue.
I have included two books in this weeks vignette. I am currently reading Sarah Raven’s new book ‘Sissinghurst’, which is upstairs on my bedside table. I visited Sissinghurst for the first time last summer and was bowled over by the beauty of the place. I am quite fascinated by the idea of artists and writers putting their hearts and souls into creating their own gardens and I am looking forward to starting this book about gardening written by Vita Sackville-West – I am sure there will be much to learn from it. Vita’s book was a lovely Christmas present from a friend. Also for Christmas I received the RHS book Botany For Gardeners from my husband. Botany is a subject I really want to learn more about and I keep trying to find the time to sit down with this one.
Finally, whilst we are on the subject of daffodils and narcissi, I thought I would show you this iPhone photo of a posy I made for a friend last week. This was a highly scented posy of Paperwhites from the greenhouse and narcissi White Cheerfulness, which has just started to flower along the Woodland Walk.
I hope you have enjoyed these heralds of spring and that you can find time to pop over to Cathy’s blog to see what she and the others have made this week.
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What I wouldn’t give to go to Sissinghurst! Lucky you. And those dark Hellebore are fabulous: mine are all cream and light pink (I inherited all of them) so I must buy some of the dark and dramatic colors for myself. I thought you might enjoy this post from a gardening/blogger friend out in Detroit:
http://www.deborahsilver.com/blog/helleborus-festivalis/
Libby you would love Sissinghurst! Thank you for suggesting your friends blog – I wish I lived close to her – what a fantastic selection of hellebores! I am going to spend some more time later tonight having a good look around her blog.
wow! what a gorgeous posy! just knowing that it smells nice somehow made my day. Your friend is quite lucky indeed.
I have found that waiting until hellebores develop seeds is very helpful in keeping them from flopping and looking sad. I also just read that daffodils don’t mix so nicely with other flowers, causing them to wilt pre-maturely, so you may want to watch that one. Otherwise, it’s a gorgeous arrangement, yet again.
Thank you Bethany – the smell was almost better than the flowers!
Thank you for your tip about the daffodils. You are absolutely right and I forgot to mention when I was writing the post that I had soaked the stems in a couple of changes of water to let the poisonous sap run out of the stems. Many people are allergic to the sap so I should also have said that it is a good idea to use gloves when working with daffodils – I guess that is why rabbits and deer don’t eat them.
I have just popped over to your blog – I love your cat photos!
Yes I too am fascinated by the sort of gardens that artists make especially since it is quite difficult to control nature. I mean plants have a habit of outgrowing the space or keeling over and dying or spreading their seeds in the wrong place or flowering at unpredictable moments. Not that I mind any of that but maybe an artist envisages a more static ‘canvas’ initially at least for the garden borders.
I think you are right to question whether artists can really control the space that they plant in a ‘painterly’ way at the beginning – I certainly find it hard to keep control! Reading about Vita Sackville-West at Sissinghurst it seems that it was her husband Harold who designed the bones of the garden and Vita planted the spaces. Whilst she had a great eye for colour she relished the self seeders and the unruly plants. It seems to be a bone of contention between the National Trust who garden this space in a very exacting way and Vita’s grandson Adam Nicolson (Sarah Raven’s husband) who would like to see the garden look more as he remembers it from his childhood.
Thank you for commenting and what an interesting blog you have. I am going to try your recipe for marmalade, as the cutting up of the raw fruit is what has always put me off making my own.
Your photographs are really lovely.
Thank you Julie – I am glad you enjoyed them.
Two lovely vases for the price of one, both lovely. I think I actually prefer the daffodils on their own, rather than combined with the hellebores. Thanks again for all the tips about the flower preparation, I have a lot to learn.
Thank you Christina – I think that on balance I agree with you, but the hellebore vase is a much bigger arrangement so is filling a nice space at home.
Cathy’s challenge is very interesting because it is making me put into practice on a weekly basis knowledge that I have gained from books. As with recipes you only really learn to cook by experience and so I find it is with flowers. I am learning as I go and hopefully sharing ‘real-time’ experiences. Being with all you other very knowledgeable gardening bloggers is also challenging me to improve my garden expertise. There is much to learn from each other and that for me is what makes this all worthwhile.
Yes, I do agree.
It certainly shouts ‘Spring’, doesn’t it – and the posy for your friend is gorgeous! I am looking forward to having flowers to pick as gifts later in the year too. That was a great tip about using hellebores that have started to form seeds – I have particularly noticed the way the flowers change as they get to this stage recently, and on checking the ones I used today one of them is at this stage so it will be interesting to compare it with the other less-advanced flower. I did do the 20secs in boiling water though after you mentioned that before. I have just been reading Caroline Zoob’s book on Virginia and Leonard Woolf’s garden – another lovely place to visit I would think. Perhaps I will order Sarah Raven’s book from the library next… Thanks for posting, Julie 🙂
Thank you Cathy – please do report back on how your hellebores last. This is my first year of using hellebores in vases, so I am writing what I have read rather than necessarily proved to myself. We can all help each other by sharing our vase experiences. The Sarah Raven book is written in a very readable way, so I would recommend it. It is in a small format rather than the coffee table book that many are these days. I would love to visit the Woolf’s garden one day.
Julie, your flowers are once again very beautiful. That gift to your friend looks very stunning.I have always wanted to know how Sarah Ravens gardens look like. And I would second Dirt Simple blog I have been reading it for a year now. You must look in to it. And in case you have not seen Paradis Express and all the other blogs along with it they are all very good too. But honestly nothing is so special and personal as your blog.Enjoying so much. So simple and beautiful, Julie.
Thank you so much Sajina for your very kind comments – I do appreciate your support!
Although Sarah Raven and her husband live at Sissinghurst, the house and garden are owned by the National Trust so this is not Sarah’s garden. You are thinking of Perch Hill, which is the garden Sarah has made and refers to in her books. Sadly she has not yet written a book that really shows what Perch Hill looks like, although you can visit on open days – I hope to make a trip there one day.
Julie, love the vintage look of the new vase and the nostalgic feel of adding the photograph. The dark hellebore is sumptuous by itself but really elevates the mood of the arrangement.
The posy for you friend is another interesting arrangement. You really have a flair for flowers. Is that pussy willow? I tried to grow it years ago. Susie
Thank you Susie – yes it is pussy willow, but not from my garden. I always buy a big bunch at Christmas to use in festive decorations. As long as I keep it out of water it survives beautifully till around easter, so I get plenty of use from it. I do have a very young weeping pussy willow in the garden but it has not produced much yet. Anyway I think commercial growers must treat pussy willow with something to stop the buds flowering, so it is probably more effective to buy it.
Julie, I’d love to have a friend like you! Bet your friend was over the moon about this fab bouquet. Your Monday vase is also delightful as usual – I like the different yellows very much, the daffs warm your heart and look great with the hellebores. Beautiful still life with granny and books. Well done 🙂
Thank you Annette – I am glad you liked both the arrangements!
Interesting to learn that hellebores started from seed won’t wilt. How long from seed to bloom? Do you recommend a good book about hellebores. Love your pictures!
Thank you Kathleen – I am glad you enjoy the photos.
I need to clarify what I said about the hellebores. What I meant was that hellebores that are forming seed pods in their flower (as in the photo) are less susceptible to wilt than ones that still have pollen in the flowers. I am not sure why this is. I was not referring to hellebores grown from seed.
Although I love hellebores I don’t have a book about them, so cannot make a recommendation. If any other readers have a good book, please let us know!
Your spring blooms are inspiring. We are still muddy and snow a bit still on the ground. I did see some blooms the other day, but we are a bit away from beautiful blooms like yours…”dark hellebores and yellow daffodils” I agree pretty!
oops..I meant “green”…I guess your beautiful photos of blooms were on my mind!:-)
Thank you Robbie – I hope that the weather starts to pick up soon for you.