IAVOM ~ Walking On Sunshine

 

It's Monday again and time for a vase on what is a rather warm and sunny day. Fortunately though we had a good thunderstorm accompanied by a couple of hours or so of rain on Saturday - our first rainfall for about three weeks. There was much rejoicing followed by a mollusc hunt come darkness. As you can imagine there was a bit of a party going on. In my vase this week are : 

• A flower from rosa 'Lady Emma Hamilton' who has just begun to open this last week. She is one of the roses that I can smell so is especially appreciated.
• A couple of the annual orlaya flowers which are hiding themselves at the back.
• Spikes of the restrained pink linaria 'Canon Went', which unlike it's purple relative doesn't seed everywhere with abandon.
• Some foliage from a physocarpus. I'm not sure which one.
• Astrantia major 'Gill Richardson' group which I think along with 'Burgundy Manor' are my favourite astrantias. The red ones always seem to take a while to get going but this one is now three years old and has now really taken off.

With thanks as always to Cathy who blogs at 'Rambling In The Garden' and who enables us to share our vases each week whatever the season. 

Here it is too hot for any serious gardening until perhaps this evening. Even then I think it will just be a gentle stroll round as I have come down with a summer cold, have lost my voice and don't have much energy. The green bin may well go up the lane tonight ready for tomorrow's collection without it's full quota of garden waste 🥲

IAVOM ~ Snow In Summer

A trio of different stems in my vase this week picked in a yet another shower of willow catkin snow. It's difficult to go venture out at the moment and risk opening one's mouth for risk of swallowing some of the fluff. The back of the house is becoming reminiscent of Miss Haversham's abode as cobs of snow congregate on the window sills and cover the decking. Oh for some rain to dampen them down. Our prolonged dry sunny spell continues unabated by even a gentle shower. Hopefully the annual shedding should be over soon. In my vase are :

• Aquilegia - this one gate crashed it's way into the garden this year. I'm not sure yet whether it's a case of live and let live or whether it will be going into the green bin.
• Briza media or quaking grass. I wonder why I have sown seed of this earlier in the spring when it has popped out as usual in various spots. During winter there's no sign of it so maybe it's a case of out of mind until it's time to think of seed sowing.
• A stem of rosa glauca - although the little pink flowers are pretty enough it's the buey/grey foliage of this rose which is it's most attractive feature. I like the red veins too. You may see some greenfly on the bud plus a smidge of willow snow. There seems to be an abundance of aphids in the garden this year and there is much squidging going on.  I don't know whether this is down to a lack of the insects that might nibble on them or another factor. I wonder if other U.K. gardeners have noticed an increase in numbers?

Thanks go as always to Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for hosting. I'm looking forward to seeing what delights are in other vases. Here it's too hot for me to venture out in the garden until this evening where as always there are jobs to be done including what seems to be a round of never ending watering. Until then there might be time for a bit of gentle sitting in the shade and listening to an audio book. Hope that you enjoy your gardens this week.

IAVOM ~ Spring Things

 

Yet another bank holiday today and for once the weather is beautifully calm, warm and sunny which is a most welcome treat. The forecast for the week ahead is more of the same so hopefully I can complete planting out seed grown annuals. This morning we planted some more sweet peas - a tale born from faint hopes of my own seedlings and resulting in a degree of amusement - a tale for another time.  In this week's 'In A Vase On Monday' are :

• Rosa 'Luisa's Daughter' - a special gift and named after my mother. I think that I like the bud stage best. It is a quite open and loose in shape and most pleasantly scented. It is also the first rose to flower. I am in a bit of a dilemma as it is planted in the wrong spot so need to move it. Will probably be asking for advice later this year.
• Geum 'Totally Tangerine' which I've found to be what you can certainly call a good do-er. I just wish that I could bring myself to like the foliage.
• Thalitctrum' Black Stockings' which is possibly my favourite thalictrum. It is a tall plant, with beautiful dark stems topped with clouds of purple fluff. I think that I picked it a few days too late as a haze of purple specks landed in and around the vase. I have some chives in flower so may do a swap later on.
• Orlaya grandilflora also known as the white lace flower - the only annual in the mix. These were from September sown seed. A further batch was sown in March so I will have more flowers for later in the year too. 

Thanks as always to Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for her stalwart hosting as always and especially today for going the extra mile when she is feeling under the weather. It is much appreciated.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Peter Pan at Sefton Park, Liverpool

 

IAVOM -'Bits And Pieces'

 It's Monday and I'm joining in with Cathy's 'In A Vase On Monday' meme. My flowers were picked yesterday afternoon before the rain. On reflection I think that I crammed too much into one vase. I only realised much later that I now have a conjoined vase which would have been so much better for displaying their individual beauty. Never mind - note made for the future. 

In my vase this week are my favourite May flowers which for me have all proved to be stalwart hardy perennials. They are :

• Geranium phaeum which usually open in April and are most easy going creatures. I'm sure that one of these is 'Lily Lovell' but the other may well be a seedling. They do have a tendency to self seed but that's no hardship.
• Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost' with it's light blue flowers and beautiful silver specked leaves.
• A peek of polemonium, probably 'Purple Rain' - I must find the label.
• Dicentra spectablis 'Alba' - I refuse to learn the new name. This met with a bit of a setback a few weeks ago with himself's size 12 feet accidentally treading on it. He was attempting to remove a hardy fuchsia which was nearby. An obstinate segment still remains in the ground waiting further surgery. Hopefully the dicentra won't remember anything about this unpleasant experience next spring and bear any grudges. 
• Finally a sprig of the rather elegant polygonatum odoratum also known as 'Solomon's Seal'. I must remember to keep an eye open for sawfly this year as they sometimes shred the leaves later on in the year. Last year I got there just in the nick of time. 
• Finally some pink from chaerophyllum hirsutum roseum, which was rather shy and hiding itself at the back. It is related to cow parsley and has ferny apple scented foliage.

My Emma Bridgewater hearts vase was an Ebay purchase made some time ago.

Thanks as always to the lovely Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for her excellent hosting skills. The weather knows it's Monday - after almost three consecutive dry days it's windy, cool and there was a sharp shower this morning. However the forecast for the week ahead looks promising and there is a myriad of gardening jobs are all clamouring to be done. I just need to decide which should be first 🤔

'Wild And Weedy Wednesday' ~ Corydalis Lutea

"Weeds are flowers too once you get to know them" - A. A. Milne.

This week I'm joining in with 'Wild And Weedy Wednesday' hosted by Cathy who has an always most interesting blog over at 'Words And Herbs'. This is one of those weeds that I've so far not made any effort to eradicate from the garden - it's name is corydalis lutea also known as fumewort. It originally comes from the foothills of the Alps in southern Europe and can now be found growing wild in the United Kingdom, often as an escapee from gardens. It is a shade lover and can be found in rocky places and walls. Here it appeared by magic as weeds often do - in this case at the base of one of our house walls. Over the years it has spread by seed so that there are now a few clumps, some making for larger mounds  than others.  It's the fern like foliage that I especially like rather than the flower. The first flowers usually appear during April here and it will flower on and off until autumn. It appears to have few if any pests and just gets on and does it's own thing. I have read that that the flowers can be toxic to horses. Thanks to Cathy for hosting - I hope to feature another of the weeds in my garden soon. 

IAVOM ~ Mainly Green, Cream and Tangerine

 

Monday has rolled around again in the blink of an eye and it's time to join in with 'In A Vase On Monday'.

In my vase today are :

• A flower from a now going over was white hellebore. I like how hellebore flowers fade and form their seed capsules - still attractive at this stage. A note has been made to deadhead more ruthlessly this year as I have noticed little forests of hellebore seedlings appearing this spring. I have culled some and will pot up just a few to see what transpires.
• A couple of stems with a plant that I always need to check the spelling of, well certainly the first  part of it - mathiasella bupleuroides 'Green Dreams. It's a perennial originating from Mexico. It flowers on and off from April through to November, the flowers morphing from green to pink as the year goes on. I did wonder whether it would survive the prolonged bitterly cold spell we had in December so was most pleased that it did. It is in need though of a bit of a haircut now - another task on the to do list.
• A peek of orange from the perennial geum 'Totally Tangerine' which is just getting into it's stride now and should flower for some time to come.
• A pop of purple from the short-lived perennial that's erysimum 'Bowles's Mauve', another long flowering perennial.

The vase is an old stalwart, a charity shop find - a stoneware jar that originally held cream. The Manchester Creamery which has long since closed was about 35 miles away from here. The creamery was in the city but the milk came from dairy cows in Cheshire.

Thanks to Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for her excellent hosting skills. Here it's the May Day bank holiday with the weather that we associate with such occasions - cool, cloudy and breezy. However it's not rained so far unlike yesterday when it poured down for a good part of the day. However it was welcome rain and I'm convinced that everything in the garden has grown noticeably in just twenty four hours. The downside is that for the first time this year I noticed signs of mollusc damage to seedlings this morning. The torch is coming out with me tonight!

IAVOM ~ "A Host Of Daffodils"

It's another pick and plonk this Monday with a vase full of daffodils. They are  narcissus triandus  'Tresamble', a variety that I've not grown before. They are an older variety dating back to pre-1930 and were described by the bulb merchant as "multi-headed, strong in the stems and weather resistant', a description which so far has proved accurate. I was expecting up to three flowers per stem but have been pleasantly surprised to find up to five flowers on some stems. I'm growing them in a pot but I'm sure that they would do well in the ground too. Research into the name drew a blank although there is a hamlet of 'Tresamble' in Cornwall, an area famous for daffodil growing so perhaps that was how the name originated. The flowers are also fragrant, although perhaps too fragrant for my liking and I will have to think carefully about where to position the vase.

The vase is an old timer of unknown origin. It previously provided a home for either pencils or artist's paintbrushes or perhaps it was a mix of both. 

A thanks as always to our hostess Cathy who blogs over at 'Rambling In The Garden'. Do visit if you haven't before and enjoy vases of flowers, foliage and frippery posted from far and wide throughout the year.

The weather has turned cold today with a touch of winter returning for a couple of days. The weather forecasters have been warning gardeners to fleece tender plants well in case of likely frosts tonight so I'm off to the greenhouse soon to wrap my seedling babies up for the night. Hopefully normal service will soon be resumed and the greenhouse vents will be opening wide again trying to cool things down. It's always a fine balancing act at this time of year. 

IAVOM ~ Nipped In The Bud

 
Well after last week's exciting experimentation with a flower frog it's back to pick and plonk today for 'In A Vase On Monday'. These 'Ballerina' tulips lent themselves to the occasion. I noticed this morning that seven of the stems had been snapped spookily in more or less at the same point of their respective stems, quite close to the flower heads. Luckily the pot is crammed with bulbs so their companions still make for a colourful display in their blue pot. Whether it has happened because of recent strong winds or whether it's down to pesky pigeon or squirrel activity I just don't know. The pot is visible from the kitchen window so I will be keeping my eyes peeled when I'm at the kitchen sink and maybe might be able to identify the culprit. I like 'Ballerina' - both the colour and the fact that I don't need to plant bulbs every autumn.

As always it's a big thanks to Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for her impeccable hosting. Some of the various participants met up virtually yesterday which was most enjoyable and further get togethers are in the pipeline. It's back to to the green waste bin for me in a few moments, It's due to be emptied tomorrow morning and I think that I can just squeeze another trugful in but I hope to catch up with everyone's vases later this evening. Wishing everyone a sunny flower filled week 💐

IAVOM - "My Cup Runneth Over"

 

Yesterday saw my first attempt at using a flower frog. It wasn't helped by consuming a glass of red wine beforehand to accompany a yummy Easter meal or by the breeze that ruffled stems and petals when it came to taking the photo. Still practice makes perfect and all that.

In my vase this week are :

• Some of my favourite daffodils - the beautiful and elegant white narcissus 'Thalia'.
• A peek of pale blue muscari 'Valerie Finnis'.
• Honesty from a self seeded plant which has a touch of 'Chedglow' in it's foliage but isn't pure 'Chedglow'.
• Some stems of alemanchier blossom. 
• A couple of flowers of sweetly scented viola 'Peach Jump Up'. This was a totally impractical addition as the stems were too short to reach the water but they rested there temporarily.

My vase is a 'Roy Kirkham' bone china mug which looks larger in the photo than it actually is. I have had it for a good few years but can't remember how it came into my possession. I do remember that it had a beautiful companion decorated with a clematis but a certain someone who shall remain nameless dropped it and that was that. The egg filled nest creation is a shop bought florists pick.

With thanks as always to Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' who encourages bloggers to share their vases each Monday. I hope that everyone who celebrates Easter enjoyed yesterday. Here the beautiful settled spring weather we've enjoyed for a few days has turned into the usual Bank holiday treat of heavy rain but there are jobs a plenty awaiting in the greenhouse.