Monday 5 March 2018

In a Vase on Monday - Making the most of small offerings

Cathy has posted her vase within the snow..with some lovely winter offerings.  I am sure other contributors in difficulties will have made the effort, and then we have friends in warmer climates who will have beautiful selections of flowers and plants from their gardens, so do join their links from Cathy's page.

Until Sunday we have been housebound, except of a slow walk along the icy pavements.  We just had to get out and feel the air and listen to the bird song.  Luckily whilst the lock down lasted we have had much to entertain us in the way of tasks, reading and watching the birds, and getting on with jobs inside.

When we got to our local supermarket we were surprised to find it open, and managed to get a carton of our special milk, and a little fruit.  Virtually all the fresh produce had been sold and the supermarket was more empty that late on Christmas Eve!  We are being patient and understand that it will be several days before supplies get back to normal.

On Sunday when the snow started to melt and temperatures rise, I didn't hesitate to get out into the garden.  For one, pots had to be moved around:  precious plants had been moved from the front of the house into the garage, from the shed to the utility, and from the conservatory to the house, and they were all shuffled back to their usual overwintering positions.

A little peer over the little of the garden that is planted out, and the pots gave me very meager but non the less pretty offerings for my vase.


The twig is a piece of the Dwarf Forsythia which I had from my Kenilworth Plantwoman friend Janet.  This shrub has the loveliest of forms with branches that swoop and curve, and is less than 25cm high and in still in its pot into which it was first planted, along with species crocus and Ophiopogon planicscapus Nigrescens. I'm not sure of its particular name.

The delightful textured leaf with purple wash on its mid leaf vein and ruffled edges is Teucrium scorodonia 'crispum marginatum', which also is known as curly wood sage.  This plant came from Alison C and the gift is being cherished.  It is a very tough little plant but cutting this shoot which grew slowly over the winter will ensure that the many smaller shoots will be encouraged to spring up as soon as the temperatures warm up.  At the Bishop's Palace a large round urn in the centre of formal garden is planted up with a mixture of curly wood sage and succulents, and when Alison C and I were admiring this plant last year, she offered me a little plant from her 'mother plant'.

The Primula stem has been saved from the hoard of slugs who are sure to emerge very hungry from their temporary freeze.  The plant was chosen for me from a selection of old Primulas at The Vyne by my little Grandaughter, several years ago.

20 comments:

  1. A beautiful primula and it goes well with your budding forsythia!

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  2. A pretty vase of memories--love that you have people connected to each of the offerings.

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  3. Very pretty; just what is needed after the snow. I've not seen your Teucrium before; most of them grow so well in my garden I'm always looking for other varieties.

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    1. Not only did I not realise what this plant was when I first saw it, it is good for you to let me know they are others too.

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  4. A dwarf forythia? Sounds delightful, and what a pretty little vase it makes with the primula and curly wood sage. I dug some seedlings out of paving cracks here that I thought must have come from my (ordinary) teucrium but then wasn't sure and decided it might be a weed after all. I will have to look up this wild version and see if it could be that instread. You have had a busy time moving your pots around but hopefully it was all worth it! Seems strange to think of empty shelves in the supermarkets because of the weather, doesn't it?

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    1. The empty shelves are really because the lorries have not been able to get through with replacement stock. If you follow the link you will see just how little the forsythia is. I shall sufficient curly woodsage to share by the autumn, so let me know, and I could also try to propagate the forsythia, just let me know.

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    2. I've got plenty of teucrium if anyone would like some.

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  5. Oh what a lovely vase that sings of spring coming even with snow....glad you are melting and the garden will be blooming soon!

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  6. An impressive showing from a snowbound garden! Here's to warmer temperatures.

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  7. The colour of the primula shines out here. I tried to buy milk today but there wasn't any but we should try and keep it in perspective.

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    1. You are right Alison...we had plenty of warning, and it did not last long.

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  8. A lovely coloured primrose. It just shows however bad the weather there is always something to pick.

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  9. It's a lovely composition, made all the more impressive given the circumstances. Being housebound sounds somewhat romantic but I guess it's much less so when it actually happens. We seldom have to worry that much about the weather here - it's earthquakes that could cut us off from markets and the other aspects of civilization we take so for granted.

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    1. We rather enjoyed it, we were warm, we had sufficient for all our needs, and we had no burst pipes.

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  10. A little song of Spring and friendship

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  11. Oh that is a sweet little vase Alison - I think that I'm just as taken with the leaf as with the flower. I hope that the supermarkets shelves are restocked soon. We take it for granted that they will always be full so it's a shock to the system when that isn't the case. We escaped relatively lightly on the Costa del Merseyside.

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  12. Very pretty. And I like the sound of your dwarf Forsythia. I hadn't thought of the slugs, but I suppose they will wake up as soon as my primulas start flowering too!

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  13. The dwarf forsythia is so pretty. I haven’t heard of that one before. I like the sound of its growth habit too. Love the dark primula. Don’t we treasure every little thing at this time of the year. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. I'm not sure which of the dwarfs this is. I'll take a picture of the whole plant and post this soon. Its one of my favourite pots to put by the front door, but with the new garden fairly grim, it is by the conservatory from where it can be admired.

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  14. I don't know exactly what kind of flower is this but i like your blog. Its interesting.

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