Welcome to this weeks Monday Flowers when I am linking up with Cathy at Rambling In The Garden to join in with her challenge to find something from the garden to put in a vase every week of the year.
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This week I filled not one but 6 little vases! My kitchen windowsill has been quite wintery since Christmas with a collection of twigs and candles to brighten the dark evenings. This weekend I decided it was time for a change so I rooted out my hares who have been tucked away in a cupboard for quite a few months now and found my colourful collection of Sarah Raven bottles to bring some early spring cheer to the kitchen.
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Having planned to cut a selection of daffodils that are starting to open around the garden to fill my little vases, my spring mood evaporated when I drew the curtains this morning to reveal a (thin) blanket of snow. Overnight my poor daffodils look very out of place – rather too early for the party I think whilst the hellebores and snowdrops look fashionably at ease in the wintery landscape.
My dark hellebores are finally flowering and I love the moody contrast they bring to the borders.
Most of my snowdrops flower in February and I have some lovely drifts in the garden that are growing in number year on year.
This beautiful double hellebore is called Double Ellen Red.
The snowdrops look perfectly at home in the garden growing amongst the hellebores, so they also complement each other perfectly in this collection of vases. I added a few stems of the highly scented winter flowering honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima) to add some height to this arrangement.
I hope that you have all seen the very generous GiveAway sponsored by Agriframes which I announced in my last post Growing Sweet Peas – Part 2. The lovely people at Agriframes have offered 5 packets of the excellent jute netting that I rave about so regularly – if you have not entered your name in the draw do pop over to the post now and leave a comment (I am sorry but this GiveAway is for UK readers only). I will announce the 5 winners on Wednesday, so check back here then to see if you a lucky winner.
Thank you Cathy for organising us all once again – do pop over to Cathy’s blog to see what she and the others have made this week.
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Such beautiful hellebores. I have three different sorts in my garden, but sadly I don’t know the names of them. Yours do look fabulous in the colourful vases and the snowdrops look so fresh and vibrant. I sowed over 200 sweet peas on Saturday, rather a lot I know, and I hope that most of them will germinate for me, as I didn’t have so much success last year. Please do include me in your draw. I have used plastic netting before and it is rather horrible stuff to use, so would love the chance to try this eco jute webbing.
I am sorry you did not win Angela but hope you will put an end to fighting with pea netting and order some jute netting anyway! What a lot of seeds you have sown – I am sure that you will have more success this year. I hope you will let me know how you are getting on!
What a lovely display…see ing these beautiful bottles filled with hellebores and snowdrops cheers up any corner or counter. Certainly gave me a boost!
Thank you Donna – I am glad that they made you smile – we all need a touch of spring by now don’t we!
Oh Julie – that last photograph is so beautiful and almost has the effect of a painting. Delightful, as is your row of matching jars with their various contents. I wonder whether your snow will linger? Just cold here, and cloudless blue skies so no chance of any precipitation. Thanks for sharing your vases – and for not sharing your snow!
Thank you Cathy – the snow was very short-lived – we had a cold wind today but even so it was sunny and warm enough to take my coat off for an hour as I weeded.
A very clever idea to use multiple pots that way. Your hellebores are delightful.
Thank you John – I am also delighted to have had camellias in flower since Christmas! Sadly not enough to cut but it has been nice having flowers at this dreary point in the year.
Such beautiful photos! Your gorgeous Hellebores have inspired me to increase my rather meagre collection. I have been following you growing Sweet Peas Blogs With great interest and would love to have my name included in the draw.
I am sorry that you did not win this time Alison, but hope that will not discourage you from sowing some sweet pea seeds. I am so pleased that you are thinking about growing more hellebores – they are such an easy plant and so beautiful in the winter garden.
I have never tried cutting my hellebores for a vase as I thought they didn’t last very well but perhaps I should try as they look so pretty in those coloured vases. I still haven’t managed to sow my sweet peas yet but it is in the diary for Sunday!! I would love to be entered into your draw for the jute netting please, it looks great and easier to assemble than my usual bamboo arrangement I suspect!
I am sorry you were not a winner this time Sophie but hope you will order some jute netting for your sweet peas anyway. Good luck with your sowing – I have just sown my last batch and there is still plenty of time to get the seeds going. If you cut any hellebores make sure you re cut the stems and sear them in boiling water for 20 seconds just before you put them in the vase – that way they should last a bit longer. If they do droop cut the heads off and float them in a bowl of water – they last ages that way.
Good advice! Thank you very much. I don’t have very many so I am probably going to leave them in the garden for now. Will order my jute netting anyway!
Your enthusiam for Spring flowers is so inspiring, Julie! I ordered some snowdrops in the green from Gee-Tee having read a post here and spent a pleasant afternoon yesterday planting them. I also visited Anglesey Abbey near Cambridge where I succumbed to a ‘specie’s snowdrop (some were eyewateringly expensive!) to grow in a pot and later this month I am going to Beth Chatto’s for a special event when her Garden Director, David Ward, will head up a one-off tour and talk for Snowdrop enthusiasts. All thanks to your lovely writing and photos here Julie, I feel I qualify as a Snowdrop enthusiast!! On to the Hellebores and Sweetpeas and looking forward to where you will take us all by the time Summer gets here!
Thank you for your lovely comment Teresa – I am so glad I have inspired you!! I love Beth Chatto’s garden – do enjoy that talk. I am off to Roger Harvey’s tomorrow to look at snowdrops and hellebores (and drink coffee and eat cake of course!).
I’m glad the snow kept the daffodils in the garden, these hellebores and snowdrops are beautiful! You really captures the mood of spring, and what a tonic on your windowsill now that the winter decorations have been stored away again.
Thank you Frank – I am so pleased that you enjoyed my touch of spring. Everything is coming so early that I do not feel I am having enough time with the snowdrops and hellebores!
Hellebores don’t have a good reputation for lasting in vases, do you condition them in any way?
You are right Brian – they are not very long lasting in a vase. I always sear the freshly cut stems in boiling water for about 20 seconds before arranging them which seems to help – without this treatment they can flop within hours of cutting. When they do start to flop – usually a couple of days later – I cut the heads off the stems and float them in a bowl of water which carries the display on for another week or so.