IAVOM ~ The Northern Lights

 

This week's vase is really last week's vase - all picked in good time but I got distracted so it was never posted. It was a quick pick and plonk effort. In my vase are :

• Rosa 'Luisa's Daughter' - this is the rose that my lovely sister had named and then sent it on to me for my birthday not long after my mother had died. She is a healthy rose and what could be described as a good doer. She's lightly but pleasantly scented. I'm going to take some cuttings soon as she is too big for the place she occupies in my snowdrop border. I had realised that I hadn't included her in a vase this year so thought that I must remedy that.
• Red foliage from a perennial evergreen that is planted in a big pot at the front of the house. I am trying to remember the name. I know that Cathy from 'Words and Herbs' identified it for me previously.
• Some froth from panicum capillare 'Sparkling Fountain' - a half hardy annual which I grow from seed every year in March. It looks good in containers, sometimes self-seeds but not to nuisance levels like briza maxima.

For once my post title doesn't refer to the contents of my vase but to the fact that I caught a glimpse of the Northern Lights (aurora borealis) last Thursday night! My very first sighting of them. I was so excited. I have perused the skies on other evenings when I've known that there was a chance of seeing them but so far to no avail. Alerted by my sister who lives much further south and by himself who was out for the evening I peeked my head outside. We live in a well-lit and built up area, so not as a stunning as some of the photos that were featured in national television and social media outlets, but here is the magical sky I saw from my porch at 10.14pm :

and my sister's glimpse of them :

In other news the u3a Wordpress website that I have been working on finally went live earlier today. It has been a steep learning curve and has occupied a lot of time since June. All I can say is that it helped that we had such a poor summer. I'm looking forward now to having more time for blogging, gardening and other activities. Who knows as the winter months approach I might finally move this blog over to Wordpress! in the meantime I'm heading outside now to dismantle the sweet pea wigwam. There are still a few brave flowers out and buds to come but their time is up and the green bin garden waste should be emptied in the morning.

Thanks as always to the lovely Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden'  for her constant hosting skills each and every Monday. It's much appreciated. Do go and see what is in other vases this week.

IAVOM ~ 'Pinky But Not Perky'

Again with one eye on the weather today's vase was picked yesterday afternoon. Just as well as the skies opened yesterday afternoon and apart from the odd pause, it's raining again heavily now and is predicted to continue into the early hours of tomorrow morning.

In my vase this week are :

• Rosa 'Gertrude Jekyll' - one of the most bright pink and beautifully scented roses you could wish to come across. Although my sense of smell is impaired I've no problems appreciating 'Gertie's' aroma. These blooms are from a second flush of flowers and there are still a few in bud.
• Anemone huphensis splendens -  a late flowering perennial. I've never picked anemone flowers before so am wondering how long their vase life is. Does anybody know?
• A chive flower which you may be able to make out just lurking behind one of the roses. There are two chive flowers in there but I'm not sure where the second is hiding. As I was picking the flowers a bee landed on one of them and was most reluctant to leave.
• Some flowers from begonia grandis subsp. evansiana - a bit of a mouthful for a late flowering rather lovely tuberous perennial. It is always late to show and I always think that it has not come through the winter. I have a pink flowering version to but prefer the white.
• Finally a few whispy showings from erigeron karvinskianus - this must be the longest flowering perennial in my garden, flowering from early spring right through to November. It's the cause of some disharmony with himself declaring it as a pernicious weed. It does seed about prolifically but I've no problems with that.

The vase is a new addition to the vase family and is a preloved Caithness rose bowl, bought via Etsy. My post title was inspired by memories of a childhood television programme 'Pinky and Perky', which featured two little piggy puppets. The vase and some of the contents were on picking most definitely pink but one of the roses was definitely not perky. It was overblown and annoyingly dropped petals as I arranged the flowers so needed something strategic covering it to hide the gaps.

A big thank you to Cathy over 'Rambling In The Garden' who is the steadfast custodian of this weekly get - together of vases. Do have a look at other vases from near and far. After today's deluge the rest of the week promises to be dry so I'm looking forward to catching up with a few gardening tasks.

IAVOM ~ "Summer's Lease"

With my eye on the weather forecast and William Shakespeare's words coming to mind I picked the flowers for today's vase on Saturday afternoon. It proved to be a sound move. As 'The Bard' succinctly wrote "summer's lease has all to short a date". It was the day before the autumn equinox and we had enjoyed a wonderful few days of soft and warm September sunshine and glorious blue skies. The imminent equinox was heralded in by some heavy rain later that same Saturday afternoon, which persisted throughout Sunday before finally petering out at lunch time today. There still could be more today - the skies look as if they haven't quite decided. In my vase gathered before the deluge are :

• Helenium 'Sahin's Early Flowerer', a perennial helenium which has been in flower for a good spell. It started life as a division from a plant that I admired in the garden of a cottage where we were on holiday. The owner who had called in answered my query as to it's identity and then most kindly pressed a pot into my hands as we handed the cottage keys back to her on leaving. It seems most easy going only perhaps flagging a bit in dry summers. Not a problem this year!
• Some angelica seedheads which were cut down earlier that afternoon as  didn't want them to set seeds. Unfortunately I was too late with one or two which had already turned brown and generously scattered seeds around  as I dealt with them. Grrrrrr ....
• A single no name hardy chrysanthemum. I bought it as part of a collection and will have to check whether the stockist still sells the same collection for identification purposes.
• A couple of flowers of  dahlia 'Kick Off' which was new to me this year. I like the flower but am puzzled by the name.
• Finally and a bit of a blur a couple of stems of foliage from a shrub the name of which is eluding me. Cathy of 'Words and Herbs' originally kindly identifed it for me some time ago.  Cathy if you see this and can make out what it is could you please jog my memory

Thanks as always to Cathy our hostess over at 'Rambling In The Garden' who kindly invites us to share our vases on Mondays all year round. Gardening plans may have to be fine tuned this week as we're threatened with more rain, wind and cooler weather as the week goes on. Time to clear the greenhouse maybe. Autumn is well and truly here! 🍂

Wordless Wednesday ~ Tatton Hall, Cheshire , September '24.

 

IAVOM ~ 'Last Of The Summer Wine'

 

It's good to be back with Cathy and other blogging friends today with a vase on Monday. It's been a few weeks since I last participated. It was a very wet day yesterday, misty and dripping this afternoon but the sky turned blue and the sun made an appearance this afternoon. In my vase this week are ;

• Sweet peas - still hanging on but probably for not much longer. They were sown in the middle of March and planted out at the back end of April. The foliage is now mildewed but the flowers and scent are still coming.
• A couple of sprigs of the dainty flowering perennial aster 'Little Carlow'.
• Some astrantia 'Gill Richardson' which featured in a vase at the start of July. These are from a second flush of flowers and one of my two plants is producing more flowering stems than first time around.

I remembered that this particular vase was loitering on the Welsh dresser when we recently spent a few days in our caravan in Cumbria. Whilst there we visited a craft fair that is held at regular intervals throughout the year and came across the potter that makes these vases. They are most useful as they come with holes all the way round to insert your flowers and foliage in. Here it is when I last used it in IAVOM back in 2016 :

I must bring it our more often! 

Thanks as always to Cathy who blogs over at 'Rambling In The Garden' and is the lovely custodian of 'In A Vase On Monday'. Do visit to see what everyone has in their vases this week.

Here the forecast is set for a few fair and warm for the time of year days so I'm looking forward to getting out into the garden as much as I can. My Wordpress marathon is nearly complete so I'm really looking forward having to a bit more spare time and hopefully some reasonable autumn weather to catch up on a lot of jobs. Top priority being to complete my late as usual spring bulb order.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Kellie Castle Gardens, Scotland, August 2024.

 

Wordless Wednesday ~ Cambo Gardens, Fife

 

Wordless Wednesday ~ Helianthus 'Astra Rose'

 

Wordless Wednesday ~ Just Buzzing

 

IAVOM ~ Heaven Scent

 At long last I have enough sweet peas for a decent sized Monday vase and that in itself is a cause for celebration. I can't describe how much joy picking a vase of sweet peas for the house brings me. It's not just the vibrant colours but the pleasure of the scent that makes me smile. It seemed that it would never happen. My sweet peas were sown in the greenhouse in the middle of March and once planted in the garden made painfully slow progress as our late spring/early summer was so cool and dull. They did have plenty of rain though. As usual I selected seeds from a number of varieties rather than opt for a mixed packet of seeds. This year's varieties included : 

• Stalwarts 'Erewhon', 'Eclipse' and 'Gwendoline'. 
• On their way to becoming regulars 'Piggy Sue' and 'Black Knight'.
• 'Indigo King' which I've grown for the last couple' of years instead of 'Matucana'
• New to me 'Chocolate Flake' (streaked flower) and 'Kings Ransom' which is initially a salmon pink but changes colour with age. 'Chocolate Flake' is definitely off the menu for next year but I have fallen for 'Kings Ransom'.

I'm already tweaking plans for next year's sweet pea magic in my head. As always a special thanks to Cathy who blogs over at 'Rambling In The Garden' and who enables us to get together every Monday to share our vases. 

We are in for a warm week this week so gardening activities will probably be limited to early morning and later in the day. Funnily enough my main task this week is repotting some of my potted snowdrop collection whilst the bulbs are dormant and as I do so the thought of snowdrops will definitely cool me down.

P.S.  I'm hoping to return to more regular posting and commenting soon when I've finished my Wordpress adventure.