My first ' In A Vase On Monday' in 2023 is very much a pick and plonk effort, with not much in common other than both the occupants are very much last year's flowers from different seasons.
- The chrysanthemums are a mix of chrysanthemum 'Spider Bronze' and 'Bigoudi Red'. The latter started off as deep red almost burgundy colour before developing warm shades of orange. I raided the plants in the greenhouse for the flowers. The plants were moved there before the bitterly cold snap in December as they are described as tender. Despite a small heater being left on overnight and once or twice throughout the day, the temperature in the greenhouse still dropped to well below freezing more than once. We had fitted a device to advise us just how much the heater costs to run and have decided that it's too expensive in view of rising energy bills. Since then himself has unearthed an antique paraffin stove which my Dad used in his greenhouse but there has no been occasion to use it yet.
- The second occupant of the vase are a couple of stems of dried lunaria seed pods were flowers last spring. They were loosely woven in my festive wreath hanging from the front door but I noticed this morning that they had fallen out so I thought that I would make use of them in the vase.
With thanks to Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' who hosts this excellent weekly meme with considerable aplomb and a most Happy New Year to everyone!
Beautiful combination, the hearty color of the flowers so perfectly illuminated against the papery pods of the money plant.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your visit and kind words 😄
DeleteMy goodness Anna, I wasn't expecting that! How astonsishing to have chrysanthemums like these in January, especially after December's freezing spell! I know I still have the remnants of my fantasy ones, but they are no longer in a suitable state for picking. I especially like 'Bigoudi Red 👍 What a shame about your heater, but hopefully the paraffin stove will help in due course, if it works well for you. I have reduced the thermostat on mine, but will continue with them despite the cost as the garden is one of very few indulgences I have. Happy New Year to both of you
ReplyDeleteI was astonished too Cathy especially as the temperature fell so low in the greenhouse during that cold snap 🥶 The flowers were though perhaps past their best though if you inspected them closely. I don't have many indulgences either but sadly the present heater is an energy gobbling monster. Will be looking at alternatives and in the meantime hoping that the temperatures don't drop much below freezing. Happy New Year to you too 😀
DeleteThat looks like a party in that vase, of exotic flowers given it is January. Bigoudi as you may know is the French for curlers, the ones no doubt both you and I used to use to get those curls into our hair. Happy New Year.
ReplyDeleteOh a party in a vase is a lovely idea Noelle. I didn't know that bigoudi was a French word let alone the word for curlers. I very rarely had curlers in my hair but I did use a set of curling tongs and way back in the late 70s had a perm 😂
DeleteThis is delightfully warm and sparkly for a January vase Anna. I love the Lunaria seedheads too. Hopefully you won't have too many spells of such cold weather again this winter, but a paraffin heater does sound like a good idea.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words 😀
DeleteThe Chrysanthemums are gorgeous, Anna. I thought the burgundy/orange flowers were dahlias at first! I'm sorry that energy costs are now an issue in running the heating unit in your greenhouse. I hope the paraffin stove does the trick. Would insulating the greenhouse interior with bubblewrap help at all?
ReplyDeleteBest wishes for a happy new year - with warmer temperatures.
I think that 'Bigoudi Red' could pass as a dahlia at first glance Kris but the leaves would soon give it away. We have used bubble wrap in the past but we have got some very heavy staging around the greenhouse which would make it a very difficult job to put up and take down. It might be possible to partially wrap though. Thank you for the suggestion 😀 Wishing you a Happy New Year too with all the rain that you desire.
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