Welcome to ‘In A Vase On Monday’ when I am linking up with Cathy at Rambling In The Garden to join her challenge to fill a vase for the house from the garden every week.
This week I am delighted that my lilac trees are flowering. I think lilac is my favourite flowering shrub and I look forward to its short flowering period all year! I am lucky to have a few mature specimens in the garden. In particular I have two lilac trees growing in a very neglected corner near to the oil tanks. As this corner is not in view from anywhere else in the garden I feel free to snip and cut as much of the beautiful frothy lilac as I can fit into the short flowering season. Growing in this corner with the lilac is an old berberis bush and plenty of cow parsley (as well as an assortment of nettles, thistles and docks). It was too this corner that I hurried this afternoon with my secateurs.
I have a confession to make to you. I needed a focal flower to pull the arrangement together and as I headed across the garden Tulip Black Hero was calling me from the Cutting Garden. I know that I said I planned to stay away from the Cutting Garden on a Monday, but the dark velvety blooms were just too sumptuous to ignore. Before I knew what I was doing an armful of tulips had been picked to compliment the lilac, berberis and cow parsley.
I have been planning to use a new vase today that I was given for my birthday earlier in the month. This is a long low vase from Sarah Raven that I have been coveting for some time. It is perfect for a mantle piece arrangement.
Once again I put to use my metal flower arranger from The Real Flower Company. It fits inside the vase perfectly and allows me to place flowers without worrying about how to support them. If you look closely the edge of the vase it is just showing in the photo.
Tulip Black Hero must be one of my favourite tulips this year. It is a late flowering double version of Queen of the Night and has the same long stem. It seems to hold its shape well in the garden, not opening out too quickly despite the recent warm temperatures.
I love to add cow parsley to arrangements at this time of year. It adds an airy lightness to anything it is used with. I usually sear the stems in boiling water for a few seconds before arranging it, as this helps to prolong the vase life. I know that at best it will last a few days – certainly not as long as the tulips, but it is so plentiful I can refresh the arrangement as needed.
I love the colour of berberis, but do not enjoy working with its thorny stems! Our large mature shrub was cut to the ground last year whilst some maintenance work was being done and it has regrown with fresh vigour (including the thorns). This spring it is looking a better shape and colour than before its rough treatment.
White lilac is my favourite, but it fades quickly both in the vase and on the bush. My advice is to cut it early whilst the flowers are just opening. Using older lilac flowers in an arrangement is always a disappointment. The flowers droop overnight and there is little of the beautiful scent.
Finally, I have a close up photo of the tulip leaves that I have placed in the vase to cover the metal arranger. It is really best to use the arranger in large pots and urns, but when only glass will work a layer of leaves provides an attractive disguise.
Last week I showed you two different arrangements. The Forget-me-Nots were a complete surprise – they have lasted seven days in the kitchen. I expected them to droop within 24 hours, so am delighted to learn that they are so long lasting. The viburnum carlesii did not do as well. The stems in the urn started to fade the next day and needed to be removed within 3 days. The flowers on a very short stem, however, that I put into the small vase lasted the week – it would seem that viburnum carlesii will work as a cut flower provided you cut the stems almost to the flower head and effectively float the flowers in a vase. I think they would sink if floated fully in a bowl, although I have not tried this so it might work.
I hope you have enjoyed my arrangement this week and that you will pop over to Cathy’s blog to see what she and the others have made.
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Julie your arrangement is wonderful–you should be glad you gave in to impulse and used Tulip Black Hero from the cutting garden. The tulip’s dark rich color is scrumptious and the barberry is a perfect foil to it. The lilac must smell delightful. I like the symmetry of the arrangement. susie
Thank you Susie – I am glad that allowed myself to use the tulips. It looks and smells fantastic today and the cow parsley has kept very well.
Julie – these tulips are gorgeous thanks for sharing them with us! I love lilac too but my granny said it was unlucky to bring it indoors! I’m going to Google this!
I could do with some advice as a new gardener if you have a moment to help please. My daughter got some dahlia tubers today 1/2 price they are dry but look healthy what shall I do with them?
Here are some references for unlucky Lilac that I found. https://www.google.co.uk/#q=is+lilac+in+the+house+unlucky There seems to be an association with the dying and funerals! Having a look I found a few other interesting superstitions to do with flower types including May blossom.
Thank you Pam – you must pop your tubers into a seed tray on a sunny windowsill and spray them with water every day to plump them up. Once they start to send up shoots pot them up and keep them in a frost free place until June when they can go out in the garden.
It is really interesting to read about all these old superstitions isn’t it – thank you for your link! I think lilac is far too beautiful for bad associations.
Using the tulip leaves as you did is interesting and very effective. I’m not fond of glass vases because I don’t like to see the stems throigh the glass, but your solution works perfectly. The tulip is another to add to the evergrowing list for next year, I can see that I’m going to have a lot of planting to do.
It is so hard to be disciplined about tulips – I just want to try them all! Having grown such a variety this year has been a real treat.
The colors are just gorgeous: so rich and such contrast! Oh, to have SO many tulips!!!
Thank you Libby – the Cutting Garden really is a candy store at the moment!
Lovely colours. I adore that Tulip Black Hero. My lilac is giving me enormous pleasure right now. I never thought of picking it. Your arrangement is beautiful.
Thank you Chloris – I really wish the lilac season was not so fleeting!
Oh those tulips are divine! And I love the arrangement!
Thank you – I am glad you enjoyed it.
That low vase is indeed brilliant, Julie – and that dark tulip! Wow – it’s like a dark globe artichoke with all those petals! I noticed lilac flowering further south than us, although I don’t have any at home (in fact I have very few ‘shrubs’). Interesting to hear about the forget me nots, and how long things flower for – helps the learning curve!
Thank you Cathy – I knew those tulips reminded me of something – they are very similar to artichokes.
Très chic, my dear 🙂
Merci.
By the way, I’m reading Bowles’ My garden in spring – lovely!
You already have lilac in bloom? Gosh. That is the difference between the south of England and the north of Wales. Love the black and white.
Thank you – you are lucky to have it all to look forward too!