Monday 21 May 2018

In a Vase on Monday - May

Walking along the small lanes yesterday, the white froth in the hedgerows has coincided with the warm weather beautifully. The white froth  is from the cow parsley all along the road edges and the hedges.  The May I love so much is the Hawthorn, I also love the month of May as the wild flowers start their displays.  From the plane, coming in over Dover, I watched the white lace trimmings to the fields  and from the small  May trees which have been allowed to grown up along footpaths, on commons and in spinneys, and felt I was back in the country I love so much.

I have often pondered the saying 'Cast not a clout till May is out'. Is it the month of May or when the Hawthorn blossom is out?  Each year I consider this, for me the blossom of the Hawthorn Tree is the signal that winter is truly over.

Being of the more fragile sort..haha, I do wear clouts...several layers.  My Grandma from Lincolnshire used the term clouts, and it seemed that with cold winds off the North Sea, several layers were needed.  Down in Somerset two or three are sufficient.  I actually prefer the more temperate temperatures, but for now with the high temperatures, for me that is, I have cast my winter clouts.

I have not used any May in my arrangement....instead only two elements.  Both are 'rescued' as I tidied up the garden.  On our return we found that the stone wall at the end of the garden was in the process of being repaired, without the several weeks notice we had been promised at the beginning of the year.  Anyway, I console myself in that once this is complete, I shall have no more size 10s trampling shrubs and flowers.

Red Peonies and the lovely shiny new leaves of Mahonia:


I had moved the  peony  last summer from the site on which we erected our shed to a position close to the wall..I have at least six large blooms and lots of leaves.  I may have to move it a second time!

Cathy who hosts this meme has come lovely blooms...my one aquilegia plant was completely trampled under, in any case it must have hitched a ride in the pot of another plant brought from the last garden, and I had no idea what it would have looked like.  Do go and have a look at Cathy's arrangement, and if you have time others linked in will be well worth visiting.

13 comments:

  1. The peonies make a gorgeous arrangement.

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  2. Such lovely red peonies! I had never heard of Mahonia before, so had to look it up. It does pair well with the flowers! Hope your garden wall will be finished soon! :)

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    1. I have corrected the moved plant to peony...the shiny leave do belong to the Mahonia though.

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  3. I love your description of the beautiful countryside in your part of the world which brings to mind lines from Silent Noon by Dante Gabriel Rossetti:
    "All round our nest, far as the eye can pass,
    Are golden kingcup-fields with silver edge
    Where the cow-parsley skirts the hawthorn-hedge.
    'Tis visible silence, still as the hour-glass."
    Your combination of Peonies and Mahonia is gorgeous.

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    1. What a lovely poem, l shall look it up. My home is indeed 'my nest' and yes all the buttercups are up in the fields.

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  4. Oh no! Hope there is no permanent damage to any of your plants :( YOur peonies look wonderful in a vase and almost make me hope that the non -performing one here that I took out but is reappearing does suddenly have some blooms of its own (sorry, that sentences isn't very well constructed!!)

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    1. I understand the way to move them is to make sure they are planted at the same depth...this one succeeded even though it is in a hot spot. It will have to move again, but I shall wait till the autumn. I had a couple of the tubers, which I had potted up, they have grown and are now in neighbours' gardens.

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  5. Beautiful red peonies grace your vase full of beautiful foliage.....lovely on that lacy doily!

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  6. I really don't trust the weather this year so I'm not casting anything just now and still keeping precious things inside or wrapped in fleece. Beautiful peonies, I'm so glad they flowered for you.

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  7. Peonies! My envy knows no bounds! I'm sorry that you've had workmen trampling your garden (in May yet!) - I tend to cringe when workmen tromp through my garden too.

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    1. The had trampled whilst we were away!!! I think I have lost my precious rose Etoile de Hollande, they were cuttings taken from the lovely climber in my last garden. I shall dig them up and plant them in a nursery bed to have some tlc.

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  8. The lush foliage of mahonia works really well with the peonies. Overall, the effect is very soft and pretty. I love that saying...I was not familiar with the archaic definition of "clout." --Terri, tssoutherngarden.com

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  9. A good idea to couple Mahonia foliage with the peonies. :) I am pretty sure our family used that saying referring to the May flowers, and not the month. But we may be wrong! In any case, spring in the south of Germany has been so warm we cast all our clouts weeks ago! ;-)

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