This week my Monday vase sees a return to flowers from the garden. After the slow start last week I can now see clear signs of the first flowers of the year appearing around the garden. I have been flowerless for about a month now, with my greenhouse chrysanthemums giving up in mid December and it is such a joy to know that even in the depths of winter nature is doing her thing and new season flowers are not far away.
After last weeks milk jug of lichen covered twigs and dried heads of hydrangea Annabelle, this week I have finally been able to cut some narcissi Paperwhite from my greenhouse. These beauties were still in bud yesterday when I cut them, but opened out overnight in the aga filled warmth of my kitchen.
To add some evergreen structure to the narcissi I have cut a few stems of Sweet Box (sarcococca hookeriana humilis). The flowers on this box are just beginning to show but I have not yet had the whiff of delicious scent that gives this shrub its name – I am sure I will very soon though. I planted a few plants of Sweet Box about 4 years ago and they have been very slow to get going – they are flourishing now though and I have no qualms about cutting from them this year.
The supporting twigs are cut from from Viburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’, another shrub that I have been anxiously waiting to reach maturity. The scented pink flowers that this shrub is renowned for are still tightly closed, but I hope that by forcing the flowers in the warm kitchen they will soon pop and release their scent and hopefully provide the backdrop for another vase on a future Monday.
In this photo I focused in on the vase in the background to show you that last weeks vase is still looking good. The lichen has dried up and lost its lovely green shade, but otherwise this vase can continue to decorate the kitchen until I get bored or want my milk jug for another arrangement. Cathy asked me last week whether I had noticed a sticky residue coming off the Annabelle heads and I said I would keep a close eye on mine. I can report that they have remained very dry, so perhaps her Annabelle had some residue from another plant on it that then came off inside.
I am so happy to welcome back my Paperwhites. It is actually 2 years since I have had any of these lovely white multi headed narcissi growing in my greenhouse as last years batch was a huge disappointment – my supplier sent the wrong type of narcissi labelled as Paperwhites, so I did not realise the mistake until the bulbs flowered. Financial restitution was made but nothing could be done to change the bulbs, so I am extra happy this year to be able to enjoy both the fresh dainty appearance and the lovely scent of these narcissi Paperwhite – although I do know that not everyone enjoys the scent as much as I do..
Thank you to Cathy for organising our weekly habit and I do hope you will pop over to Rambling In The Garden to see what she and the many others have found in their gardens today. I will be back later this week with a list of my Jobs To Do In January and a post about my love for my hellebores (which should be starting to flower very soon now). Just in case you missed it, can I also point you to my last post which has details of an exciting new collaboration between myself and a very talented garden florist. We are going to offer a series of courses here in my garden called Gather & Grow, covering growing your own flowers and turning them into beautiful floral arrangements. The first course is on 4th May and you can find the full details here.
Whether you are basking in sunshine and praying for rain, or hunkering down to sit out a snowstorm (even I am expecting some snow later this week) I wish you a lovely week and look forward to being back here very soon.
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Beautiful, Julie, I also have my first Paperwhites of this year. When did you plant yours? I actually don’t like the perfume but they are the only reliable bulb to flower in January so I’m trying to learn to like it. Your images are gorgeous as usual. BTW, when do you sow your greenhouse sweet Peas?
Thanks Christina – I think this batch were planted in mid November. I planted another batch mid Fecember and have just brought in more bulbs to plant this week – I keep them in the putting shed in the dark until I need them as they sprout so quickly. My greenhouse sweet peas are already growing – as you have much warmer springs sow yours now & see how quickly they flower. Mine were sown in October & should flower in mid April – yours will probably catch mine up. xx
Interestingly, Julie, both the outdoor planted and greenhouse planted bulbs have flowered at the same time (in November) but the one difference I noticed is that the stems of the outdoor ones are thicker and shorter than the greenhouse ones. I had to plant them all as they had started to sprout way back in September! They were up early and are still in full bloom – a very cheering sight in the garden and greenhouse at this time of year.
Am all signed up for the new course and so looking forward to spending time with you and learning as much as I can about this delightful journey into flower gardening.
Thank you for booking on the course Teresa – I am very excited to meet you!
Have you planted Paperwhites outside or are they a different variety of narcissi? I have never tried Paperwhites outside as they are not a hardy bulb so have no experience of flowering times. In general bulbs planted in a greenhouse will be longer and thinner as the bulb has to stretch more for the light – this can be an advantage from a floristry point of view. I don’t find my bulbs grown in the greenhouse are significantly earlier than their outside sisters – perhaps a week or two – but the main advantage for me is that the flowers are not damaged by bad weather and can be enjoyed whatever the conditions. If you want early flowers you have to plant the bulbs in pots back in September and keep them somewhere dark and cool. If you bring them into a warm house as soon as the green shoots start to show through they should flower quickly – giving you indoor blooms in December and January well before the outdoor bulbs are ready to flower.
I adore Paperwhites and never miss a year without them! But it turns out I didn’t order enough to see me through the winter..so just ordered some more via Amazon (all good suppliers were out of them!) and they just don’t look very good. We shall see. They are planted, some in soil and others in pebbles, but are small bulbs and look half dead already! But you never know, they may be fine (says she, hoping…)
I will keep my fingers crossed Libby and you must make sure you order plenty for next year! I was so sad when my bulbs last year turned out not to be Paperwhites at all – what a relief that this years batch are ok.
Oh such a pristine arrangement Julie, with the white and green in the the white jug – lovely! Thanks for the feedback on the Annabele heads – I have NO idea what would have cause the residue from mine then! Do give me feedback on Dawn, as mine have been in bud for ages – I guess it is just a matter of a bit of warmth but will the warmth of the house be too much, I wonder. My Winter Sunshine sweet peas were also sown in Oct and I have planted them out into big pots in the greenhouse this year so will be interested to see how they do
Thank you Cathy. There are no flowers yet on Dawn and you may be right that being indoors might be too much – I will let you know. I am pleased to hear that your sweet peas are doing well – mine are in the greenhouse bed and have been growing well although I think this cold spell will slow them down a bit. I have decided to sow my outdoor sweet peas later this year in the hopes of extending the season. I usually sow them in January and they overlap with the greenhouse peas by about a month – also they seem to sulk for weeks when I plant them out in March – maybe by sowing in mid to late February I can delay putting them out until late April and have flowers that will last into the autumn.
You did better by your paperwhites than I did by mine. Your arrangement will inspire we to look around for more structural stems of foliage to set them off next time. I do love to see these flowers, inherited with the house, pop up each year in areas throughout the garden.
As ever I am jealous of your growing climate Kris – I would love to be able to grow these bulbs outside – it seems such a waste to have to throw them away every year. I did try planting them out for a couple of years running but although the leaves grow they have never flowered.