Monday 26 February 2018

In a Vase on Monday - Shapes and shadows

On Saturday, I was getting rather excited preparing for the visit of two IAVOM friends the following day, and felt a little gardening would calm me down.  I wanted to start the preparations for planting out new snowdrops and later I attacked an old potentilla shrub that miraculously survived builders as the conservatory was under construction last year.

Here we are Alison C and Sandra D and myself...very cold but enjoying good company, winter gardens, and snowdrops.


Sadly the the lovely angel sculpture within the Palace has been moved....but here it is from when I posted about a visit in 2017 .  I have a thing for angels in the same way that Sandra has a thing for pineapples.  I am sure she will be writing about her Pineapple experiences in Wells!


At first I didn't particularly like this shrub, and would have had it out, except that Mr S liked it.  It would therefore seem quite disingenuous of me to dig the Potentilla out whilst he was away running model layouts at the weekend with friends!  Besides which, I felt it had earned a little reprieve having flowered its little socks off almost until Christmas.  Usually if I like a shrub or plant I carefully research and prepare for the best way to reduce or transplant it...if I don't, I usually just go for it.  I have since read that from time to time Potentillas do need a seeing to and will bounce back from even the harshest of prunnings....so it will recover, but maybe not flower until 2019.

I got busy with the secateurs and quite soon what was once a shrub a metre high and across became much reduced.  As I worked through the bush I became to appreciate the shape and curves of the woody stems, and saw the first sign of spring growth.  I chose some stems and 'pushed' them into a lovely  studio vase which my father brought back from Japan in the 1960s.


The shadows on the wall too added to the interest, but I have neither the skill nor the patience today to show this to advantage and have just added one of those tones available on the photo storage system I have.  The black elephant again is pottery from my Husband's family home, and the two little keys rings, skillfully made from wire and small beads,  were brought as souvenirs by my sister after her holiday in South Africa. 


The stems reminded me of the thin leaved scrubby trees we used to drive through, in one of the drier regions in Mauritius near Black River, where,  as children we would imagine we were driving through African grass lands with  acacia trees with rhinoceroses and elephants.  We had no television in those days, but we had large books with black and white pictures of landscapes from around the World, which I often had my nose in.  We would even see Lions in the clouds. 

I am sure you would like colour and for that you will be enchanted by a flower originally from the same continent as the rhino, so head off to Cathy's post this week.  Cathy is the creator of IAVOM....and without this post I would not have had such a special day with two new friends.


23 comments:

  1. I've enjoyed reading this very much! Such a lovely post with memories of African childhood activities! It makes me feel a bit sentimental - I am soaking up and storing as many details as I can of the part of Africa where I am at now, to go with those from other parts of Southern Africa, so I can bring them back and play them through my mind when I'm feeling homesick for this time in my life or just nostalgic. I love the look of blooming branches in a vase inside. It just feels like a promise of hope!

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    1. Of course you now have photographs and your blog...and wonderful moments which have shaped you, and which later you can call on to bring contentment and even joy.

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  2. Your Potentilla cuttings look elegant in a vase. Good to know they can be cut back hard as we inherited a small but leggy one in our front garden - time for a good prune I think.

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    1. Good luck...and in case if my prunned one fails..I'm sure there will be another more appreciated, by me that it, shrub to takes its place.

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  3. the keyrings look like semi-precious tigers eye?
    Very different from the usual tiny glass beads.

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    1. I have another little African treasure, which I shall keep as a surprise for a future post. I do hope that you have some rain soon. Do you have a rainy season? When do you expect it? We are thinking of you.

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  4. I like the branches as a harbinger of spring, very sculptural as well, We get some interesting plants from Mauritius and Africa here, I would love to see the forests.

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  5. The potentilla twigs are very architectural in this lovely vase. I remember seeing them yesterday but there was not time to comment. Thanks for the great day out and lunch, of course. I'm glad you were able to do a little gardening but I fear there may be worse weather to come in the next few days.

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    1. I have a couple of new books...on snowdrops and The Morville Year by Katherine Swift...more than enough to keep me dreaming. You and Sandra make my day, thanks for coming.

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  6. I have a large vase full of fallen branches that have the same sculptural look to them as your vase arrangement today. I like the sparse look just as much as a vase full of colorful flowers. It's always fun to get together with other bloggers!

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  7. How wonderful to have an IAVOM meet up. Maybe we could all join in one day and meet up for a party, wouldn’t that be great. I’ve met Cathy- when she opened her garden for the NGS last summer. I’m hoping to meet up again this spring for some garden visits together. Time always seems a problem for me, balancing work, family, and more family commitments - young- and elderly relatives (88). I actually never sit down! Anyway, I enjoyed your post and your little vases and props. It’s always interesting to see what everyone chooses each week. All the best . Karen

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    1. I knit in order to sit down...and read. Other than that I love to be active. Any IAVOM friend is very welcome...just contact me.

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  8. I will certainly writing of my Pineapple experience Noelle - an elegant 'crafty trick' that I was so glad to learn about - it was the cherry on the top of a perfect fruit salad of a day! ;-)

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    1. Little trick and lots of treats on that day! Love your trick of making moss balls for plants, so very sustainable.

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  9. You created a wonderful vignette, Noelle! I need to step back and survey my own pruned materials sometimes - I expect there are probably gems in the clippings on occasion but I'm usually too tired by that point to do anything other than haul the mess away.

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    1. I know the feeling and it is getting too dark! I had separated these twigs out, and only retrieved them on Sunday morning to make an arrangement for my visitors.

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  10. It is amazing how artistic twiggy things can look in a vase, and with such an elegant vase your potentilla prunings certainly do. It was good to hear some of your African memories too, triggered by your props - its these little snippets that add another dimension to IAVOM. Good to be hearing bits and pieces from your day from the three of you, so well done to you for organising it

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    1. It just happened...Sandra asked the question, and that got the ball rolling, and Alison stepped in too. I am going to be here next February for all the snowdrop festivals.....

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  11. Love the bronzy glaze and shape of the Japanese vase - sets off the potentilla very well.

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  12. The vase is gorgeous and perfect for you stems which look just right! My husband is in Japan at the moment and has instructions to bring back some beautiful pottery or Ikebana vases. I hope he gets one that is as beautiful as yours!

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    1. The vase your husband brings will be beautiful I am sure, and with the stories he will tell about the country will become even more so. I love the simplicity of form of this vase.

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  13. What an angelic trio. I hope that you had a good day out and enjoyed the gardens and snowdrops.

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    1. Thanks Anna we did..snowdrops united us on this occasion.

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