Welcome to this weeks ‘In A Vase On Monday’ when I am linking up with Cathy at Rambling In The Garden to join in her challenge to find something from the garden to put in a vase every week.
Today is a Red (or rather pink) Letter Day – the first of my tulips are ready to be displayed in a vase! Any readers who were here last April will remember how much I love tulips and how many different varieties I grow! Todays beauties are tulip Angelique and are fresh from the greenhouse – it will be a week or two before I have any garden tulips to show.
These lovelies were planted in the greenhouse border towards the end of December when I realised I was running out of time to plant them outside. I am so glad I made this decision – it is such a treat to have a pretty pink tulip in time to use with my first blossom.
As with shop bought forced tulips the flowers are not quite as big as they would be if grown outside, but I have plenty planted in the garden to look forward to in late April or early May. When picking tulips it is best to cut them just as the bud starts to show colour, but before it has opened. That way they will have the longest vase life – they quickly open once brought inside. I picked these as closed buds yesterday.
I mentioned my first blossom – this comes from my flowering plum tree (prunus cerasifera), which has been in flower for just over a week now. I noticed this morning that it has been joined by my apricot tree and the peaches are not far behind, so the blossom season is finally here.
As easter is rapidly approaching I spent a little time today rounding up my easter decorations. I have made an easter tree with the twigs which have been adorning my hall table since January and I have added a few bits and pieces to my dining room shelves. In the photo below you can see an egg wreath and a glass jar filled with blown eggs.
I purchased two of these egg wreaths a few years ago and every easter they decorate the shelf above the Aga.
Blowing eggs and decorating them is one of my favourite easter activities. I am no artist, but this is not to be taken seriously – just a little fun with paint to enhance the beautiful eggs. This Darlington crystal cookie jar was a wedding present which I kept safely behind glass for a long time. These days I am more of the mind that you should use your treasures, so I often fill it with something seasonal and place it where it can be enjoyed. It has never been used for cookies though – those are best for an unbreakable tin!
The light was lovely in the kitchen today, tempting me to play a little longer with my camera. The two shots below show the difference in moving your point of focus. In the first I had the camera focusing on the blossom and in the second on the tulips. I love the effect of the blurry blossom in the second photo.
Whilst I was digging through my easter things I came across these paper decorations that were unused last year. I loved Cathy’s fancy little cakes on Words and Herbs last week and I have bought some marzipan with the intention of making them for the easter weekend – I think these little decorations will look perfect on top of the cakes.
Finally this week I have to announce the winner of my Cutting Garden Giveaway! Thank you to everyone who left a comment and the name out of the flowerpot this month was Christine from My Hesperides Garden! If you email me your address Christine I will get your copy of Slow Flowers into the post for you.
I hope to be back before the weekend with a few more easter images to share with you. I have a whole window ledge to decorate in our local church on Saturday morning and plan to take some photos of the goings on as the flower ladies put together their creations. I am not a regular flower lady at church, so am honoured to have been asked to contribute flowers to such a special occasion in the church calendar! Easter Sunday itself sees 14 around the table for lunch and all the bedrooms full for the long weekend, so I will be taking a break from the garden and putting my pinny on (thats an apron to those of you from across the waters!). Before that I have a birthday to celebrate, so all in all a very busy week ahead!
I hope you will all pop over to Cathy’s blog to see what she and the others have made from their gardens this week.
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I have grown this tulip and it is my favorite…what a beautiful color that changes as it ages. Mine just disappeared one year and I noticed last year they were gone. So I hope to plant them again. Tulips don’t last but a year or 2 here. Stunning flowering plum blossoms…perfect vases for spring and Easter with all the lovely egg decorations…
I love that particular tulip. Do you pull them up a bit so they can do their “tulip thing” of bending and twisting in a tulipy way? They look a tad constrained. Of course, they are going to “go tulip” come hell or high water!
Angelique—some of my favorite tulips too. Such beautiful colors. I do not often grow tulips but when I grew these one year more people commented on them. As I said–the colors of them are fantastic.
I grow Angelique too, and might even cut a few this year if they haven’tall disappeared… yours look so perfect, having been protected in the greenhouse. And the blossom is so very pretty too – gorgeous photos! I hope you enjoy making and decorating your little cakes for Easter, Julie! 🙂
Yes, I am so happy that tulip time is here…finally! Actually, mine are coming out a bit earlier than expected which is surprising given the cold winter we had. But I was trying to time them for a party on April 11, but I fear the best will be over! My Iberis is really pretty this year, as are the inherited hyacinths. Both are growing a bit wild so I need to dig and move some clumps. Lots to do now with the nice weather!
I planted up a pot of tulips – a mix of Angelique and Sunlover – in the autumn and now they are in bud. Now I’ve seen your beautiful vase I’m eagerly looking forward to seeing them in full colour. They do look particularly good in your white jug – the tiny sprig of blossom is delightful too.
Such an elegant vase! Angelique are my favourite tulips, hope to have some in the garden this year, too!
Beautiful flowers, and the tulips coordinate so well with the plum blossoms 😉 You’ve put me in the mood for Easter between the eggs, pastel tones, and lovely flowers. Happy spring! WG
Is it your own birthday Julie? Is so, do have a Happy One. Seeing tulips back in season at your garden is a delight. Beautiful. Also love the way you captured the beauty of the flowering plum.
The tulips are beautiful, Julie, but I love, Love, LOVE that plum tree branch! Best wishes with your floral preparations.
Lovely tulips and beautifully displayed, Julie. Mine are all in the garden, so something to look forward to at the end of the month. I’m also doing church flowers and I’m off to the florist today for lily longiflorum, so they will be perfect for Easter Day. Enjoy your birthday!
Oh do enjoy your birthday and your visitors, Julie – you must have been especially thrilled as a child when your birthday coincided with school holidays! I can understand your excitement about the tulips too – and hadn’t appreciated your comment about the shorter stems before now. I tend to alternate Peach Blossom and Angelique in the pots outside the kitchen window but I can’t remember which it is this year. Tulips in a vase will always look stunning, and how beautiful is your apricot blossom?! Briefly wondered if you had blown the eggs in the wreath too, which would have been a lot of hard work! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I think you love tulips as much as I do! Yours are gorgeous; suddenly this weekend mine in the garden have started to open, I’m so excited. Thank you for prize! Maybe I could call and collect it on the way to my MIL from the airport. I’ll be in contact, I’m very excited about the book, I’m really looking forward to receiving it.
I do love this time of year. Angelique is a favourite of mine too.
The ballerina pinks of your tulips are precious. I envy the fact that you can grow so many tulip varieties in your garden. I have to treat most tulip bulbs like annuals in my Texas garden, but I too love them so much, that I’m willing to go through some hassle of chilling the bulbs in the refrigerator before planting, digging them up once they start to die, storing them, and repeating the process all over again. It would be so much easier to be able to leave them in the ground and have them naturalize, but alas – that is not a possibility for tulips here. Your Easter decorations are so picturesque. It looks like your blooms and decorations are right out of a Better Homes and Gardens magazine. Well done.
Your photos are beautiful; what kind of camera do you use?
The soft colors are lovely this time of year. Well done!
I adore tulips too and yours are such a pretty colour! Lovely images, Julie – I am going to be a frequent visitor to your blog …