In a Vase on Monday - Daisies

 For Extravaganza or even egg related posts I am sure you will find some interesting ones if your click this link to Cathy's post on Rambling in the garden. Yes I bought eggs for the family and was also given a lovely little soap egg, which I shall cherish. For a eggless arrangement I have collected a few daisies.

Last year I bought a pack of six daisies and planted three in individual small pots, and the remaining three in a pot where Tulip Cabanna was planted.  Yesterday I went out for a longer cycle ride for several months, taking just over an hour.  However pleased I was with my increasing level of fitness, I was a little saddened to see, when putting away my bicycle, that one of the tulips had shed its petals.  

Its structure is unusual with bits of petals growing out of the surface, but generally the bleeding of one colour into the other, is worth looking at, and this inspired me to lay out the petals around todays vase of those very daisies growing above the tulip bulbs have been flowering since well before the tulips emeged.

The greenery is from the tips of Salix Mount Aso, which I shall need to cut back fairly soon in any case. I just wanted to check the quality of the photographs from my new camera, and zoomed in on the the bottom three daisies in the above photograph by cropping, and thus a second crop.  Cropped further, the tubular shape of all those individual petals is revealed. I don't think I would have ever noticed this by eye alone.  I found out a little more:

I have just read that in the 'Compositae Family' many flowers are gathered together resembling a single flower.  I also did not realise they were edible! And can be infused to make a tea.  Since I am into 'botanical' teas I may well try a cuppa!  probably mixed with mint.

Happy Easter Everyone.

Six on Saturday - 16 April 2022

 The fine weather yesterday with temperatures reaching just below 20 C with sunshine the whole day, as well as spending the whole day at a rendezvous day with our family walking around Avebury and up to Windmill Hill has at this moment obliterated from my mind all the gardening I may have done during the week.  What I did not do was prepare for the hot day, and when I got back some of my plants needed a plunge in a bucket.  The new peat free compost is a problem in terracotta pots.  Is anyone else finding this so?

A quick trip round the garden with Six items that caught my attention.  There will be many more of course back at HQ ie The Propagator's post where others like me gather share and tell each Saturday.

1. Apple D'Arcy Spice is in flower, about a week earlier than last year.

2. Looking around the garden, I feel I need more yellows to catch the light, I shall have to ponder that.  Maybe I ought to just divide and place more of this lovely yellow Primula' Port and Lemon'.  As the season advances the port is getting more dilute and the lemons stronger. It started flowering in December and the party is still going. Primula Port nearby in contrast is well drained and flowered only for a short time.

3. Looking cute just 'downstream' if the dwarf  daffodil Hawera Narcissus 'Hawera' another triandus daffodil, but this time yellow, with many stems bearing five blooms, just along the same bed, is looking so cute.

4.  Another yellow hiding but growing out of the wall: Corydalis cheilanthifolia.  It chose to grow here and depending on where the ants may have deposited the see, I hope to see new plants in due course. 

5. Yellow lights up the shade, and also with good spring coloured leaves, this dry shade tolerant plant is now in full flower: Epimedium x versicolor 'Sulphureum' may not be one of the fancy ones, but its simplicity I admire, and I brought a piece of this from my previous garden.

6.  As for this golden lady Tulip Clusiana Chrysantha: she has been groomed to perfection by the ladybird, no greenfly on this one for sure!

Hot Cross Buns

Bake with Jack Hot Cross Buns..the only tricky thing is getting all the fruit below the surface of the dough! 

 

In a Vase on Monday

I'm pleased to be once more growing a few hellebore.  I have missed them and have to learn all over again how best to care for them.  Of course the go to place for Hellebore is Ashwoods and having read their care notes was surprised to read that they do flower better with a bit of sun.  Since I bought three young plants early this year that are yet to flower, the fourth a yellow flowered one, is already setting seed, and I wondered whether or not I ought to dead head it so that it builds up its strength rather than sets seed.  

Whether this was right or wrong, it is too late now, and the flowers with swollen seed capsules are the basis of this week's vase.  I found before that choosing 'maturing stems' meant the flowers did not flop. A few stems of Pittosporum Tom Thumb, Carex comans bronze form, and the nicely cut leaves of Geranium malvifolium made up its companions. Not altogether as spring like as I could gather from the garden, but without any pollen, they will be able to stay on the mantle shelf for a few days without causing us any hay fever etc.

I 'm joining in with Cathy who has the theme of Blood and Thunder and a delightful old Football Rattle.

Of Spoons and Arm and Wrist Warmers

One of my two talented nephews took up wood carving recently as a hobby and has found his niche in hand carving spoons.  These are just a few of his recent  ones.

From selection of the wood to the final spoon, everything is considered and everything using only hand tools from start to finish.  These are works of art and it has been enjoyable following his increasing knowledge, and the large variety of shapes and woods that he is using to create unique spoons.

I was absolutely delighted to received a little spoon early in the new year, and have just had it on my corner shelf in the kitchen admiring its beauty. It is the first spoon that he has made in Olive Wood.  

Mr S normally does the butlering duties, but with one thing and another I was doing it, filling up both sets of salt and pepper grinders: oh yes, he had hurt his wrist!

The spoon may remain on display, or it may sit on the pepper  corns.  I'm not sure that sitting on damp sea salt crystals will do it any harm, but this is a precious present that is to be cherished, and I think it safer cradled on dry pepper corns.

I was delighted to have something hand made. Having contacted Nephew Stasher No 1, to thank him, I wondered whether he would like to have something handmade from me, and straight away he wondered whether he could have some arm/wrist warmers just like the ones I made for his mother last year.  

These were in green Alpaca wool from my stash.  Having been given his range of colours, I went to my stash, pulled out a couple of balls of Pure Wool and then had to go in hunt for needles, but needed to order some fixed circulars.  Everything seemed to take time, from selecting the stiches I would use, to designing mittens, given a totally different yarn, and of course to suit and fit a man.  I came across a stitch pattern called Aran Rib 1 in The Knitter's Bible, and having got out the calculator to assess the number of stitches to cast on, I was away.  But the progress was slow, sometimes you get a mental block!  Each mitten is a mirror image with the cable reversed, but it doesn't matter which hand you put them on.  

I had Mr S on hand to keep trying them on, and of course measurements sent.  I asked Nephew Stasher 1 if they were to be used whilst spoon carving, but surprisingly I heard that they were for wearing when he is carrying out his work which is something to do with working on the graphics for computer games. Ha!  I don't know anything about computer games, but I do know your hands can get cold working on computers.  Mr S has ordered a pair such as these that almost reaches one's elbows.  I too want a pair, fortunate therefore that I have all summer to make them.