IAVOM - Floating My Boat

 

A single snip from me this week in the shape of a hellebore flower. This one was a present from himself to celebrate a rather big birthday last year and is a hellebore x hybridus (Ashwood Evolution Group) Yellow Double. The receptacle it's floating in came home with me last week after a trip to Chester for a haircut. The hairdresser just happens to be very close to a florist's shop which has a little room inside packed with vases and containers. This shop always pulls me in  by magic either before or after my hair appointments. As soon as I saw this one I had visions of a floating hellebore. 

Thanks to Cathy as always over at 'Rambling In The Garden', who encourages us to share our flowers and foliage every week and is also sharing some glorious spring mellow yellow this week. Do visit and see what she and other bloggers have in their vases this week.

Here after a 'False Spring' a couple of weekends ago we have had some quite chilly weather but it looks as if spring is going to well and truly arrive with the equinox on Thursday, with suitable weather to live up to the occasion. I sowed my first seeds on Saturday - the wouldn't be without sweet peas and 1 have three seed trays filled up with compost, lined up in the greenhouse, for me to sow more annuals this afternoon. 

Wishing you all a good week in the garden and a happy Saint Patrick's Day to anybody who celebrates. It's a special day for me as it's the anniversary of my first ever 'date' with himself 🍀

Wordless Wednesday ~ Blossom Time At Arley Hall

 

IAVOM ~ 'This Will Be The Last Time'

 
Well the last time until next year - that's a promise - no more snowdrops in my Monday vases! I wanted a chance to though to share my new snowdrop vase before the season ends. It only arrived in the last week. I'm not sure about the butterfly decoration - perhaps a bee might have been more seasonal. Today's gathering is a bit of a rushed smash and grab job which features :

• Galanthus - a trio consisting of galanthus nivalis, galanthus 'Trym' and one which I think could be 'Melanie Broughton' but in the absence of a label I can't be sure.
• The two twiggy bits are a winter flowering honeysuckle, which for the purposes of this photo is proving rather shy and a snippet of Abeliophyllum distichum or white forsythia. The latter is actually tinged with pink. Both are scented. The honeysuckle came to me via a plant stall at one of Cathy's open days so is particularly precious.

Thanks to Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' as always for hosting. 

There are definite signs that spring is almost in the air and there is the promise of warmer temperatures both by day and night in the week to come. Time soon to swap my fleece for a T-shirt. Now that's living dangerously!

Musing In March ~ 'Green Rain'

"Into the scented woods we'll go 

And see the blackthorn swim in snow.

High above in the budding leaves, 

A brooding dove awakes and grieves;

The glades with mingled music stir,

And wildly laughs the woodpecker.

When blackthorn petals pearl the breeze

There are the twisted hawthorn trees

Thick-set with buds, as clear and pale

As golden water or green hail-

As if a storm of rain had stood

Enchanted in the thorny wood, 

And, hearing fairy voices call,

Hung poised, forgetting how to fall."

Poem by Mary Webb, 1881 - 1927.

Illustration - 'The Blackthorn Fairy' by Cicely Mary Barker, 1885- 1973.

I came across this poem only this last week and wondered why I had never discovered it before.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Pixie Hats

IAVOM ~ When Is A Vase Not A Vase?

 

I've bended the interpretation of the word 'vase' slightly this week and hope that Cathy forgives me. Mondays are a bit full for me at the moment and I should have put something together over the weekend. I should have done it on Saturday which was a glorious early glimpse of spring but only thought of doing it yesterday, which was a thoroughly grim windy and very wet day. Consequently nothing was achieved that involved venturing out, other than checking the greenhouse, emptying a few bits and pieces into the recycling bin and also treating my hotbin to some left over vegetable peelings.

It was a rush this morning to get ready to go out so I grabbed my pot of iris reticulata out of the greenhouse my contribution for today's 'In A Vase On Monday'. I'm not sure which variety it is but think that it's either 'Pauline or George'. I've come to the conclusion that I prefer paler iris flowers than the dark sultry ones but whatever colour they are they never flower long enough for me. Still they are beautiful whilst they last and well worth splashing out on.

I probably have a dozen or so pots of spring bulbs growing in the greenhouse and some are faring better than their outdoor counterparts, especially crocus 'Firefly' which has been positively flattened by the elements this weekend. The pot was a purchase some time ago from one of the 'PromArt' craft shows held monthly from April to September at Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria. I think that I might plant muscari in it this autumn. 

Thanks as always to Cathy who blogs over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for her steadfast weekly hosting - do pay her a visit if you've not already done so to see what delights she and other bloggers are sharing in their vases today. Make sure you have a pen and paper to hand!

IAVOM ~ Just A Few More 'Drops

 

It's a few of my special snowdrops in today's vase - some have lost their labels but they include 'Fieldgate Superb', the largest flower you can see in the above photo, 'Trumps', Wendy's Gold (yellow ovary and slow to increase for me) 'Green of Hearts', 'Aunt Agnes', 'Philippe Andre Meyer' and 'Lapwing' showing it's lovely markings and almost brushing the vase. The vase is a small stoneware pot purchased for a couple of pounds or so at The Malvern Spring Show a few years ago.

Thanks to our lovely hostess Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for hosting 💐 Do pay her a visit to share her offering today as well as contributions from fellow garden bloggers.

Well after a couple of seemingly never ending grey days with below average temperatures, the pendulum is set to swing towards a warmer, windier and generally wetter spell but with sunny spells too! All in all a most satisfactory state of affairs. I wheeled the green bin up the lane earlier this afternoon ready for the first collection of the year tomorrow. 'Charlotte' potatoes were chitted in egg boxes yesterday and are now occupying window space in the hall which is the coolest spot I can find in the house. Not a pretty sight but needs must. An exciting discovery yesterday afternoon when I spotted the first slightest purple whisps of crocus tommasinianus peeping out from the lawn. I had checked the day before and nothing was visible so it was magical to see evidence of their return yesterday. The days are now visibly lengthening and things are definitely on the move.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Bird On The Wing

IAVOM ~ "Just Another Manic Monday"

 

Well it certainly another Monday but no longer as in working years could it be described as manic. The song lyrics no longer ring true :

" It's just another manic Monday

I wish it was Sunday

'Cause that's my fun day

My "I don't have to run day"

It's just another manic Monday"

- sung by 'The Bangles'.

Now Monday is very much a fun day as we're invited to share our floral and foliage gatherings with fellow flower lovers. The year is still very much in it's infancy but there are definite signs of the lengthening days and of growth in the garden. In my vase this week are :

• Sarcoccoca - I like the delicate white flowers of this shrub as well as its scent. Here I grow a couple of varieties but neither live up to its common name of Christmas box, as they don't do much in the way of flower until the end of January. The flowers on this unknown variety seem to be sparser than usual this year and some of the foliage is yellowing. It lives in a big pot by the front door with a hardy cyclamen and a fern that has probably got too big over the years. Time I think for feeding and perhaps drastic action as far as the fern is concerned.
• A couple of fronds from a hardy fern, not the one already mentioned but another pot grown one. It's an evergreen fern by the name of polystichum polyblepharum or perhaps more easily remembered by it's common name of Japanese lace fern.
• Finally a few flowers from 'Trumps' one of my favourite special snowdrops. This one is easily recognisable and bulks up at an incredible speed. If only it could be remamed! Here is it in the garden just a few days ago :

Thanks as always to Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for hosting. Do pay her a visit or even better join in with a vase of your own! 

It looks as if it's going to be a relatively warm and sunny day here, with the temperature nudging into double figures. I hope to have a potter about in the garden later on and see what's happening out there. 

IAVOM ~ 'Singing the Blues'

 It's back to kitchen windowsill joy again for this week's 'In A Vase On Monday' and another purchase from a certain German supermarket chain. Along with the hippeastrums (about to open a second spike of flowers) is a hyacinth bulb grown in a vase designed for the purpose. This has provided me with entertainment every morning after I have pulled up the kitchen blind. At first I was convinced that the bulb was in suspended animation and wasn't going to flower in my lifetime. However and very slowly there was growth, both of white roots and of green shoots emerging from the bulb, before the flower finally appeared. I was most excited on Friday to see a blush of colour on the flower buds and have been surprised just how quickly the buds have been opening. The photo was taken this morning. The window was cleaned just before Christmas, since when all our windows have been covered by sprinkles of dust maybe Saharan or maybe originating from somewhere closer to home. Himself is not amused and is gearing himself up for an action replay.

Thanks as always to Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for providing us with a weekly get- together to share our vases.

Last week saw the snow and stubborn patches of black ice that had been adorning our garden finally melted giving way to a mix of sunshine and fog. The weekend was grey and bone chilling cold with the week ahead looking far from promising as far as the weather is concerned. More time inside than outside methinks. I have one or two more seed orders to make and if it does warm up just a smidgen I may repot some of the greenhouse hardy September sown annuals. The daily greenhouse snowdrops in pots collection continues to get a daily inspection along with a few pot grown iris reticulata, crocuses, fritillaria, muscari and little daffs. One or two pots might make their way into the kitchen windowsill so I can inspect them at close quarters. In other news this week it's been delightful to observe a couple of blue tits flying in and out of the nesting box that we can see from our dining room. Hopefully they will build their nest there. Spring can't be so far away!