A Week Of Flowers 2025 ~ Day 7

Sadly it's the very last day of Cathy's Week Of Flowers 2025. I'm rounding the week of with two later flowering perennials complete with visiting pollinators in Cathy's honour. Above you can see helenium 'Sahin's Early Flowerer' which is a hardy perennial and what could be called a good do'er. It did struggle a bit in this year's hot and dry summer and was the only well established perennial in the borders that I watered as it was positively flagging at times. The photo was taken in the first week of July but the plant was still sporting flowers well into September.

Secondly my favourite autumnal hardy perennial in the shape of aster 'Little Carlow' which relished this year's weather and looked as if it was on steroids. Here it is above in September and then still pumping away flowers in the first week of October.

A final photo and perhaps cheating just a little as this was taken on Christmas Day last year 

the cheering presence of a hamamelis with snowdrops nearby. It is already colouring up so the race is on to see when it will open - in 2025 or 2026. I think that it will be the former but whatever the outcome it isn't far away from doing so which is most exciting.

A big thanks and virtual bouquet must go to Cathy over at 'Words and Herbs' for her sterling effort of getting us together every day for the last week to enjoy some much appreciated floral fun and fond photographic memories 💐 ❤️

A Week Of Flowers 2025 ~ Day 6

Moving further into the year today as I join in with Cathy's 'A Week Of Flowers' 2025. Firstly allium 'Purple Sensation' on a mid-May day and my favourite time of year.

Then some three weeks later in the first week of June it's the turn of allium 'Christophii', geranium 'Rozanne' and astrantia probably 'Gill Richardson' or possibly 'Burgundy Manor'. I can distinguish them when in flower but not when looking back at photos. There is a clematis budding in the background but it doesn't join in until later.

A big vote of thanks must go to Cathy who blogs over at 'Words and Herbs' for her hosting. It has been a damp and dreary week with no sight in end so this has really brightened up my days. 

A Week Of Flowers Days 3,4 & 5 ~ 2025

 

I'm moving later into the year today as I join in Cathy's celebration of 'A Week Of Flowers - 2025'. This bowl of hyacinths with violas gave me great pleasure in the spring. I had never planted hyacinths outdoors in containers before and was thrilled by both the pop of colour as well as the aroma which I sometimes find overwhelming indoors, but oh so delightful out outdoors. The bowl was situated near the greenhouse so whenever I nipped in there to sow seeds etc. I caught the scent. I planted up two bowls. The hyacinth in this one was either 'Miss Saigon' or 'Woodstock' but I can't remember which. This year I've planted more bowls like this and the violas are of the same colour although I don't think it matters as the hyacinths bowls were one of my gardening highlights of 2025.

A new to me bulb in the shape of the little species tulipa batalini 'Bronze Charm' which was a lovely soft yellow and is supposedly perennial. I planted them with muscari but I won't repeat the combination because as you can see the muscari had already come and gone. I've planted more this autumn just on own their own. Unlike their bigger relatives the leaves are much smaller and less floppy.

Finally for today a spring blossom in the shape of malus 'Red Sentinel' which thoroughly enjoyed this years' weather conditions. A big thank you to our lovely host Cathy over at 'Words and Herbs'. It's a pleasure to be looking back as to what there was out there and will be again before too long.

A Week Of Flowers 2025 ~ Day 2

 

It's day 2 of Cathy's 'A Week Of Flowers' annual meme and it's fast forward to late February in the garden. Another snowdrop' Blonde Inge' with cardamine quinquefolia, an early flowering perennial. Into March the cardamine makes for a pool of colour on a sunny day pictured with other snowdrops this time.

A big thank you to Cathy who blogs at 'Words and Herbs' for hosting this annual celebration of colour.Do visit her blog if you haven't already!

A Week Of Flowers 2025 ~ Day 1

 

I'm joining in with Cathy from 'Words And Herbs' who kindly invites us every year about this time to share some photos of flowers that have given us pleasure over the year. This is a lovely way to brighten up what can be dull and dark days in the northern hemisphere. Today is such a day - damp and drear albeit very mild.

When looking at the photos I've taken in my garden this year I soon came to the conclusion that I took very few photos after June - plenty in gardens we visited over the summer but barely any in my own! I must try to remedy that next year. So my contributions this week are going to be winter/spring top heavy and no apologies for starting with possibly one of my favourite flowers which is galanthus 'Trumps' taken at the end of January. It's a great snowdrop for clumping up quickly and making an impact in the border.

Thank you Cathy for providing us with both fun and a pop of colour this week. Its' a special day today as it's our wedding anniversary so there's a meal to be cooked and a glass of celebratory wine ahead. I'll be back later this evening to visit other bloggers.

IAVOM ~ 'Little Things'

 

A teeny- tiny sprig from me today in what must be a candidate for the world's smallest vase. On Wednesday afternoon there was a faint knock on the door and by the time I got there I saw the back of a man retreating to a van. However in the porch was a large box which I bought inside. I wasn't expecting any deliveries but the label had my name and address on it, so I opened it which was easier said than done. Nestled inside was a beautiful orchid complete with a note informing me that the sender was my sister. What a lovely surprise!

Sadly during either packaging it up or in transit a tiny flowering spring had broken off so I decided to put it in a vase. A big thank you to Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' who gets us together each and every Monday to share our Monday vases.

Storm Claudia arrived on Saturday - we were fortunate to escape the devastation that hit some of the country as a result of heavy and prolonged rain accompanied by strong winds. Here we had 29mm of rain in a 24 hour period. Since then the temperature had dropped significantly and we woke up to a light air frost this morning. It has been a glorious sparkling day today albeit chilly. The week ahead looks progressively colder. Yesterday all the plants that need some winter protection were bought into the greenhouse. I'm undecided yet as to what to do with my potted snowdrops and may just bring a smaller collection of my favourites under cover for the winter. The last of bulb planting will hopefully be done at the weekend when it should be warm enough for my fingers 😂 Have you had your first frost of the autumn yet? 

Wordless Wednesday ~ Norton Priory Walled Garden, Cheshire, November 2025

 

IAVOM ~ Nestled

Today I'm joining in a most special celebration of the twelfth anniversary of 'In A Vase On Monday' where bloggers get together to greet the new week with a vase of pickings from their own gardens. Participants were challenged to include a prop and a pun in today's post. In my vase today are :

• A flower of a chrysanthemum - although the label reads 'Avignon Pink' I have some doubts but whatever the identity it's a welcome pop of colour on a damp November day.
• A couple of sprigs of symphoricarpus or snowberry bush which bears the little pink tinged berries that you see in the above photo. This year it has produced more berries than ever. The plant came to me from my parents otherwise it would have not been planted as it's a thug and should carry a government health warning. It slightly redeems itself at the time of year but only very slightly.
• Tucked into the vase are flowers of erigeron karvinskianus which must be the longest flowering plant in my garden. It bears teeny tiny white daisy flowers some of which take on a pink shade with age. 
• Some foliage from pittisporum 'Bannow Bay' now wearing its autumnal/winter colours.

My prop is a small ancient and slightly skewhiff Russian doll who resides on a shelf of my Welsh dresser in the kitchen. I have a soft spot for her even though she is rather full of herself. The vase is one of two I have that was hand painted by my mum.

With special thanks to the lovely Cathy who resides over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for providing us with so many years of shared fun, knowledge, friendship and floral inspiration 👏🏻 💐🤗  Do visit if you haven't already done so.

IAVOM ~ Fall Back

 

With the clocks falling back an hour this weekend there's no denying that autumn is well and truly here and that the nights are lengthening. It's not my favourite time of the year and I'm already counting down towards the winter solstice. The weather was suitably dire this weekend with strong cold winds and intermittent rain some of it heavy. I picked the contents of my vase on Saturday to photograph not knowing what today would bring. As it's turned out it has been much drier and although still windy the direction of that wind is changing becoming milder.

In my vase this week are :

• Rudbeckia 'Enchanted Flame' - a new to me this year plant which were purchased as my usual sowing of Rudbeckia 'Sahara' was a complete and utter flop. This is a tender perennial which I shall be bringing into the greenhouse soon along with the dahlias. 
• The red foliage is chard' Bright Lights' which produces a mix of edible leaves with stems that produce a rainbow of colours. I use them in salads and sow them most years. I didn't this year but bought some plug plants from a local garden centre in late summer.
• Finally for the scent factor a couple of sprigs of mint. I've lost track of which this one is but think it may be pineapple mint. 

Thanks as always to Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' who gently encourages us to collect something from our gardens to show in a vase every Monday. Do pay her a visit if you haven't already.

This week's garden tasks include more bulb planting and leaf sweeping. A confession to make - a second albeit smaller bulb order arrived last week on the heels of the first delivery. We are also making our way through deciding what to do with our bumper apple crop apart from eat them and give them away. There's a supply of stewed apples in the freezer and we will be making a batch of spiced apple chutney later this week. The remaining necessary were bought this morning so we're all set to go. Any other suggestions as to how to use up surplus apples are welcome although preferably not anything involving cake 😂  Wishing everyone a good week both in and out of the garden.

In A Vase On Monday ~ The Late Show

 My vase today is a hotch potch of late blooming flowers namely :

• A trio of very pink and frilly cosmos flowers - these emerged from a packet of the annual cosmos bipannatus 'Double Click Cranberries' which they are most definitely not. At least this colourway was only to be found on one plant - the others being true to their name but to my surprise I've become quite fond of this errant imposter.
• A single flower of the lovely perennial that is aster frikartii 'Mönch' - with larger flowers than aster 'Little Carlow' but a very similar colour.
• A couple of geranium 'Azure Rush' flowers. I've bought a couple of plants to replace two hardy geranium 'Rozanne' plants which have been occupying space in a border for about five years or so. I love 'Rozanne' but she sprawls and rudely elbows her neighbours out of the way. 'Azure Rush' is very similar in colour, flowers just as late on into autumn but fingers crossed has a more compact habit. I plan to pass a 'Rozanne' on to a friend if she's amenable to providing her with a good home and use the other in a pot.

Thanks Cathy for your excellent hosting skills. 'In A Vase On Monday' can be found weekly over at Cathy's blog 'Rambling in The Garden' when bloggers from all over share their weekly pickings. 

It's been a dry and settled week with pleasant temperatures ideal for getting on with gardening jobs including bulb planting and the serious leg of seemingly never ending task of leaf sweeping and bagging up. Fortunately for me himself does more than his fair share of this as there are a number of large trees in the vicinity. Serious rain stopped play yesterday though and it looks as if we're in for a mainly wet week ahead so I'll be retreating to the greenhouse to do some more bulb planting in pots. I've also got one or two September sown hardy annuals that I'm going to risk pricking out into small pots before it gets much colder. I wonder what everybody else is up to in their gardens this coming week 🤔

IAVOM ~ 'Isle Of Capri'

There are definitely fewer and fewer flowers about now but here is a small picking for this week's 'In A Vase On Monday' in which there are :

• Astrantia 'Capri' - this is the second new to me astrantia purchase this year. I came across the plant in the plant sales area at Hampton Gardens in Herefordshire when we were on holiday last month. The name sung out to me as Capri is the island where my parents honeymooned in 1950. I've mentioned before on my blog that my Mum was Italian by birth and was born what was then a small town not far from Rome. Her family though moved to Rome during the war. At one point I had astrantia 'Roma' in the garden but she has sadly vamooshed. I hope to replace her and perhaps add other astrantias named after Italian cities namely Milan,Venice and Florence. I wonder if there are others. Unusually for me I had considered a prop last night but some unexpected overnight rain spoilt my plans. It was going to be a music box still in working order which my parents bought as a souvenir of their stay. I wind it it up every now and again to simply listen and to be transported to childhood days when it was a special treat to wind the music box up.
• Unknown long lost label variety of persicaria.
• Some flowers from the lovely perennial aster 'Little Carlow' - this was in flower at the beginning of September if not before and although beginning to go over it is still throwing out colour and attracts pollinators. 

The vase is the second of two vases that I treated myself this year on our holidays. This vase was bought at Stockton Bury Gardens, also in Herefordshire which was staging an exhibition of various crafts when we visited as part of Herefordshire Arts Week. One of the exhibitors was a potter who began to work with clay just after the 2021 lockdowns and who has fallen in love with ceramics. Looking at her work it was impossible to guess that she was still a relative novice. 

Thanks as always to the lovely Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' who convenes our weekly floral get togethers. Do over to her blog if you haven't done so already!

For the last week since Storm Amy partied for an entire weekend the weather here has been calm and dry with some occasional pleasant sunshine thrown in. The coming week promises to deliver more of the same which is most welcome as there are various jobs to be done including making inroads into planting the contents of my bulb delivery which arrived late last week. Now just where am I going to plant them all 🤔😂

IAVOM ~ Harvest Home

 

The last few days have seen a marked contrast as we move toward's the autumn equinox later today. Friday was positively balmy and apart from a swift short shower it was dry. I made the most of it to gather up the last fruits of what has been a bumper tomato crop, to lift the remaining 'Charlotte' potatoes and move them to a crate in the shed as well as taking down the sweet peas and French beans wigwams and disposing of the somewhat bedraggled plants. I also took a few cuttings. Himself was kept occupied with picking apples. Just as well as Saturday was the wettest day we have had for some time - it poured down throughout the day and then into the early hours of Sunday morning. When I checked the weather app. on my phone yesterday morning it informed me that we had had 36mm of rain in the last 24 hours! However we woke to a sparking clear blue sky complete with sunshine and it turned out to be a completely dry day, possibly the first we've had this month.

In my vase this week a nod to autumn's arrival with :

• Dahlia - I think this one is 'Night Silence' but I'm not sure as it's in a pot with no label.
• Panicum capillare 'Sparkling Fountain' which was sown from saved seed back in March. I've grown this grass for a few years now and love the way it sparkles in the sunlight. It self seeds but never in places where it's easy to extricate and replant so I sow it yearly.
• Rudbeckia hirta 'Enchanted Flame' - for the first time in a good few years I had no joy with growing rudbeckia 'Sahara' from seed. I was upset as it's a flower mix that is good for late summer/early autumn flowering with colours of various shades. After some pondering I remembered reading about the rudbeckia hirta 'Enchanted' series over at Catherine's 'Notes From My Garden' blog. More pondering and although these plants are half- hardy perennials a special 3 for the price of 2 offer from an online source tempted me. I must admit that I'm not keen on the muddy looking colour that these particular flowers had in bud but I do like the final fully opened version. I will still sow 'Sahara' again next year whatever joy I have with overwintering these plants.

Thanks as always to Cathy who is the custodian of our Monday's vases and who blogs over at 'Rambling In The Garden'.

A few domestic tasks to catch up on here whilst it's still warming up - the temperature in the greenhouse dipped down to 5.7 centigrade here overnight which is most cool for September. Then there are jobs to get on with outside. Wishing you a happy Monday and a most gentle autumn 🍂 

IAVOM ~ 'September Morn'

 

What better way to start a new month than with a vase of flowers. Yes September has arrived - my favourite month of the year after May. In my vase today are :

• Helenium 'Sahin's Early Flowerer - this is a hardy perennial which likes the sun but also moist soil. It usually does well in its allocated spot but has languished this long dry summer so along with the astrantias has received the odd drink from the watering can.
• Aster 'Little Carlow' - another hardy perennial and one of my favourites with clouds of small lavender blue small flowers.
• Some foliage from the climber 'Humulus Lupulus aureum' or golden hop. I've never seen this plant grow so much as it has done this year - it has turned into a veritable monster. It's looking most attractive now with all the dangly hops. 

Thanks as always to our lovely hostess Cathy who blogs at 'Rambling In the Garden'. A quick and early post from me today as I need to get ready to head out for a garden centre visiting marathon with a dear friend who loves plants too. We may be gone for some time but I'm looking forward to catching up with everyone's vases later. 

IAVOM ~ Knock Off

Finding their way into my vase this Monday are :

• Mathiasella bupleuroides 'Green Dream'. This was the first candidate simply because I managed to snap a protruding branch off the plant when I walked past it. This perennial hails from Mexico and quietly goes about doing it's business every year sometimes until late autumn, seemingly not suffering from any pests or diseases apart from damage caused by clumsy humans.
• Stems of millium effusum 'Aureum' also known as 'Bowles Golden Grass'. It's a pretty grass that prefers a shady spot simply because too much sun can scorch the leaves. It seeds about but never to nuisance proportions.
• Aquilegia - these seem to have self-seeded in abundance this year along with polemonium caeruleum. The original seed came to me as aquilegia 'Hensol's Harebell', probably from The Cottage Garden Society many years ago and was among the very first flowers that I ever grew from seed.

My usual perch for taking vase photos has been submerged by willow branches so I moved the vase to rest on top of a low wall in the garden. The vase is a fairly recent Etsy purchase.

A big thanks as always to Cathy as always for enabling us to share our vases each Monday - Cathy blogs over at 'Rambling In the Garden'. Do pay her a visit if you haven't already!

Here our sunny, warm and very dry spring continues - it was sometime last month when it last rained. I will be going out later to do some potting up in the greenhouse. It's coming up to peak willow fluff time and at times over the last few days it has looked at times as if it's snowing. The shedding usually subsides in the evenings so it should be safe to venture out then 😂

IAVOM ~ 'Baby Love'

 
There seems to be little in the way of flower or attractive foliage to snip at the moment and what there is I'm reluctant to snip, so I've come indoors for today's 'In A Vase On Monday'. Flourishing under the protective gaze of The Garden Angel who had to come here after I saw her sister on Cathy's 'Words And Herbs' blog are some cuttings from crassula ovata otherwise known as the jade plant. I bought the parent plant home with me from my mother's house before the house was sold. It did well for almost eight years but then during this year it has slowly collapsed, becoming increasingly straggly and lopsided before limbs starting falling off. There is very little of the original plant left now which I do feel rather sad about but given my track record with houseplants is hardly surprising. However I now have sufficient babies as you can see above and also on the kitchen windowsill to start again, with some to spare which will be heading in my sister's direction.

My vase is a little propagation set which came from a certain well known Swedish home furnishing store. When I saw it online I thought that it might be a nice way of displaying snowdrops or other small flowers but for the time being it has been highjacked by the babies.

Thanks as always to Cathy over at 'Rambling in The Garden' who today has made a valiant effort to host as usual under trying circumstances. Do have a look to see what she and others have posted. It has been a calm and dry day here after a wild and wet weekend during which storm 'Darragh' raged outside. Here we were under an amber weather warning from the Meteorological Office on Saturday for extreme winds so I cowered inside for the day. Fortunately the garden survived with nothing more serious than some broken branches and many little twigs scattered about. There are a handful of brave leaves still clinging on! There will not be much in the way of gardening this week as festive preparations take hold but I may just have to have a browse of the new Chiltern Seeds catalogue which arrived late last week. It's just too tempting not to I'm telling myself.

In A Vase On Monday ~ Anniversary Celebrations

It's certainly a red letter day today celebrating eleven years of 'In A Vase On Monday' a brilliant meme started by Cathy. I was slow to participate so my first vase which you can see below wasn't until April 2014. Unfortunately my imagination has been thwarted by domestic concerns over the last couple of days so my vase above doesn't reflect the eleven theme but I'm sure that Cathy will understand. The dominant colour of my vase is red and in it are ;

• Chrysanthemum 'Bigoudi Red' which is a deep red perennial hardy chrysanthemum Unfortunately I've allowed the plant to become rather leggy and must do better next year.
• A stem of one of Cathy's signature plants in the shape of persicaria 'Red Dragon' which I know she has shared with other bloggers as well as no doubt with other folk.
• A couple of berry carrying stems from the decidous shrub of symphoricapos or snowberry, a gift from my parent's garden. Unfortunately it has a thuggish suckering habit which I know Cathy has had problems with it too. Oh well the berries do look most pretty at this time of year. 
• Some stems from leucothoe also known by the intriguing name of dog hobble - a small evergreen shrub which occupies a pot near the front door kindly identified by Cathy over at 'Words and Herbs'. Now I need to try to work out which variety it is - the leading contender for that title is currently 'Scarletta'.

I have used my hearts shaped vase for such a special vase to reflect my affection for the blogging community spirit fostered by Cathy as we share our vases each week. I've also included eleven other vases posted over the years. At first I was going to include one for each year but then realised that I would only have ten so instead I've included a mix from over the years in no particular seasonal order. They include favourite flowers such as snowdrops, sweet peas, hardy geraniums and rudbeckia 'Sahara', as well as one or two photos remembering special occasions.

My Very First IAVOM 

My Cup Runneth Over

Of Course There Had To Be Some Snowdrops!

Summer Sizzle

Shimmer

Celebrating Easter

Sunshine

Sweet Peas - An Absolute Must Every Year

A Family Wedding

I Saw A Mouse

Celebrating A Graduation 

As always a ginormous thanks to the lovely Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for coming up with the inspiring thought of starting each week off with flowers to be shared with friends. My wish list has grown each year along with knowledge of plants we do not usually come across in the UK, lots of hints and tips as well as my expanding collection of vases. 

Now I'm off to cover the seedlings in the greenhouse - there's a chance that we may have snow overnight and temperatures are set to plummet as the week goes on reaching levels normally seen in January and February. I've managed to bring my potted snowdrops under cover just in the nick of time (you could say at the eleventh hour) and hopefully some of them might feature in Monday vases in the very near future. 

P.S. I've amended the second line of this post - thanks to Cathy for pointing out my chronological typo. 

IAVOM ~ The Doldrums

 

Of all the months in the year November has still to persuade me that it has any attractive features. The fact that the last weekend of October sees the clocks move forward plunging us into darkness before the afternoon is done does not help it to get off to a good start. I know the month is still in it's infancy but so far we have been plunged into greyness with little or no sign of the sun reappearing this coming week! My post title this week is a reference to both my annual November grouchiness as well as a reference to the weather conditions when sailing ships struggle to make any progress. Such grey weather comes hand in hand with very little or no wind. Away from the doom and gloom of November and on the plus side it has been dry, relatively mild and there has been an opportunity to do some gardening.

In my smallest of small vases this week brightening up November are :

• A single albeit slightly fading and bedraggled flower of the hardy geranium 'Rozanne' which is an absolute star in my book. It has been in flower since early summer and is only just petering out now. A couple of years ago she hung on to some flowers into the second week of December. The Royal Horticultural Society has deservedly given her a well deserved Award Of Garden Merit. As well as being long flowering, she is vigorous and so far has been pest free. The bees love her too!
• Some flowers from a dainty little hardy chrysanthemum name unknown. I admired her in a friend's garden and she kindly gave me a couple of cuttings last year. I looked forward to seeing her in flower last autumn but last year's flowers were all munched up by goodness knows what. This autumn though she is in flower and is making a nice little clump in a container. From a distance the flowers en masse look white but when looked at more closely they have a pale pink hues.
•  A little sprig of evergreen pittosporum tenuifolium 'Siver Ball' which is growing in a container.

As always a big thanks to Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' who whatever the months provides us with the opportunity to share our vases. It is much appreciated. Do visit to see what Cathy and other participants have in their vases this week.

IAVOM ~ October Days

Monday has come round again and I'm in joining in with 'In A Vase On Monday'. Tucked in to my  vase this week are :

• Dahlia 'Copper Boy' - on the whole my dahlias haven't flourished this year not finding the wet summer to their liking. I have two 'Copper Boy' plants which have been in the ground since 2022 so they have now come through two winters. I'm not sure whether to leave them again as although I'm partial to the flowers the stems tend to flop. We shall see, in the meantime I hope that our first frost isn't for a while longer so I can continue to enjoy the flowers.
• A few persicaria flowers - I'm not sure which variety. I had these arranged more closely together but on transporting the vase they decided to go their own way. I must look to adding one or two more varieties as they are such great perennials for late colour and also seem to flower for a good while.
• Some dangle in the shape of flowers from the deciduous shrub leycesteria formosa also known as the Himalayan honeysuckle. The flowers with bracts eventually give way to berries. It's particularly recommended for partial shade or woodland gardens. It self-seeds but can be propagated by softwood cuttings too. After years of very few seedlings appearing I'm now perhaps discovering too many but they are easily recognisable. Thanks as always go to the lovely Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' who invites to share our vases with fellow bloggers throughout the year. Do pay her a visit!

We were blessed with some calm weather last week and some gentle sunshine which has been good for getting outside. There has been much in the way of leaf sweeping to be done and although we make leaf mould there are so many trees around that some leaves have been filling up that green bin. After tomorrow we only have one more collection until the middle of February. Bulb planting is a work in progress too.

In the greenhouse there are a few hardy annual seedlings which are still too small to pot on namely ammi visnaga, daucus carrota and orlaya grandiflora. I left sowing them until the last week of September so must go earlier next year. I'm waiting patiently for papaver 'Amazing Grey' and larkspur 'Misty Lavender' to show signs of life. I'm also peeking every day at the six ranunculus corms that I've planted. Such excitement.

Also a cautionary tale - do not do as I did and leave horticultural fleece in the greenhouse over the summer. I had discarded a piece that I must have used last winter and left it in a corner. When I picked it up it disintegrated and covered me and the greenhouse floor with a myriad of fleece snow which was an absolute nightmare to clear up 🤬 😱 

Just Blue

 

In my little sunshine (or are they stars?) blue vase this week are a trio of blue cornflower like flowers. They are from the perennial Catananche caerulea also known as Cupid's dart. It's name derives from the Greek word katananke which means 'strong force' and it was used as an ingredient in love potions by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Sadly yesterday's morning skies didn't match the colour of the flowers. It wasn't just wet but it was also extremely windy. The rain petered out as the morning went on but the wind from Storm Ashley, the first named storm of the season, became more ferocious particularly during the evening. I was glad that my flowers were tucked in their vase on Saturday which was a beautifully warm, sunny and calm day.

I have grown this perennial from seed a long time ago but eventually the plant or two I planted petered out. I believe that although perennial they are quite short lived and I think that perhaps a mainly damp and shady garden is not ideal for them. Still worth another go. I came across a well established plant on the sales table in what was otherwise a disappointing visit to St. Andrews Botanic Garden in Scotland during August. The plant sales area however was excellent and if we had not been away on holiday I would not have limited myself to departing with just one plant. I'm not sure whether it is usually in flower so late in the year but it will be a silver lining if it is. 

Thanks as always to the lovely Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for providing us with the platform to share our Monday vases.

Here today the weather is thankfully much calmer and there is bulb planting to be done, perhaps an autumn sowing of sweet peas and the continuation of my ongoing disposal of sycamore keys. I imagine that quite a few more are dotted about the garden after storm Ashley's visit.

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.