In a Vase on Monday – A change is as good as a rest

A change is a good as a rest – proverb

A change of work is the best rest. Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four (1888) – 2nd Sherlock Holmes novel

The more regular readers of this blog will have noticed that MOST of my flowers vases contain purple, pinks, lilac and white flowers with red appearing now and again. So perhaps people might think that’s the only colour scheme in our garden – it’s not.  I walked round looking for flowers to pick, it was a very overcast day here in Manchester, a couple of different yellow flowers popped out from the gloom.

Definitely time for a change!  So this week’s In a Vase on Monday, in a milk bottle vase, has many yellow flowers and a bit of red too.

In a Vase on Monday – Coreopsis – sunfire, red dianthus, Achillea, sweetpea – 26 September 2016

It looks so cheery, even though it’s feeling very Autumnal:

• Coreopsis – sunfire – I really liked their raged edge.
• Pansy 🙂
• Red dianthus –these flowers have appeared in ‘In a Vase on Monday’ before:
  • Keep Calm and Carry on (last week – 18 September 2016)
  • Restful Reds and Pinks (23 June 2016)
• Achillea – it comes in many colours and sizes. This one starts as yellow and fades to pink/yellow.  It only grows about 18 inches high.  I don’t know its name as it was a gift.  Its common name is yarrow and it’s appeared in a vase before.
  • In a Vase on Monday – sunny yarrow, oranges and reds (10 August 2016)
• White sweetpea – this is the very last flower from the plant at the end of the garden.

Yellow is associated with happiness and joy especially for flower bouquets it represents new beginnings – so that seems appropriate too – since I’m about to enter a new decade.

Coreopsis – sunfire, red dianthus, Achillea, sweetpea – 26 September 2016

Do have a look at Cathy’s flowers over on ‘Rambling in the Garden’ – she has one vase with very architectural pink Nerine which look stunning.   She has another vase which has dahlias, zinnia and Persicaria amplexicaulis as well as foliage from oca –  It’s  a New Zealand yam – I’d never heard of this before.

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In a vase on Monday – red, white and blue (and purple)

Denby – Boston jug – sweetpeas, petunias, geraniums – 6 July 2015

This week’s theme is red, white and blue (and purple) because Wimbledon is going well for Andy Murray and his brother Jamie, the sun is shining in SW19 and also in honour of American Independence Day.  Hope all my American readers enjoyed their 4th July celebrations.

Today it’s a mini vase.  The flowers are:

• First sweetpeas from the plants growing by my south facing front door (it’s the pink/white candy coloured one) and some white ones too – the scent is drifting through the house. Even though there are only three flowers in the posy.
• A bright scarlet geranium from the hanging basket at the front of the house– no idea what variety as it came in a mixed set from B&Q – it’s got a darker brown stem and flowers though.
• Also some white geranium flowers from a big plant that’s been overwintered a couple of times in the garage.
• And some purple and white petunias (which was the closest I could get to stripes). They’re growing in a trough down on the decking with the bistro chairs – with a lot of purple, pink and white flowers.

It was at this point I realised the only blue flowers I had in the garden that hadn’t gone over, were trailing lobelia, with just the odd flower, so they didn’t work at all well in the vase as they kept falling out.  There’s probably some special florists trick I should have used ;-).  I really must remember to plant some more blue flowers next year.

Denby – Boston jug – sweetpeas, petunias, geraniums – 6 July 2015

Hence the blue vase – It is a ‘Denby Boston’ jug which I’ve had for over 20 years. When I first moved to Manchester my mum would arrive for visits with a few pieces of Denby tucked under her arm.   The plates and bowls have a blue rim and cream inside.  I still love them and have a large collection now and use them every day – not just ‘for best’.

If you look carefully, you’ll see the flowers are very wet; as it has been hurling down with rain in Manchester on and off this week.  Tricky to photograph too as it looked like Autumn out there. But at least my water butts are full up and I’ve only got to do minimal watering of baskets under the eaves and trees at the bottom of the garden.

I’ve only been to the US twice – once in 1990 for a scientific conference in Miami Beach and ten years ago with my mum who wanted to go whale watching in New England; we stayed in Plymouth and visited Boston too.  We saw very rare Wright whales – it was an amazing experience.   I’d love to go back but need to save up for a trip to Australia where my brother and family live in Melbourne – he and my sister in law were over in Boston and New York with her work which is very random indeed – and reminded me how much I liked America.

I think my chap and I need to plan more overseas travel adventures… it’s been a hard few months – so we’ll  be sitting at the bottom of the garden on the bistro chairs (Where I sit part 1) planning some trips – yoda will probably advise :-).

Do you have any suggestions for flower and gardening related trips in Europe or the US?

I want to go to Keukenhof (I love tulips) and also back to the Alhambra and visit some of those incredible Italian villa gardens.

And as usual I’m late to the party (I’ve been very busy and energy levels are very low this week).  Do have a look at all the lovely vases hosted by Cathy over on Rambling in the Garden. Anyone can join in – I enjoy looking at everyone’s vases very much and it gives me such a lot of ideas for my garden.

Have a wonderful week, enjoy the tennis (come on Andy) and I hope you have sunshine where you are and I’m hoping the weather improves here.

Carpe Diem

Love Bec xx

Raspberry ripple tulips, blossom and holidays! In a vase on Monday

In a vase on Monday – Tulips and dogwood – 27April 2015

It’s glorious sunshine in Manchester today, I decided to feature tulips again in my vase on Monday (Yellow and purple ones last week). These three reminded me of ripe cherries and raspberry ripple ice cream.  This could be because I’ve got holidays on my mind. We’re off to Cornwall on Saturday for a week – I am so excited!  I went last September (2014) for the first time in nearly 30 years. We had a wonderful time, especially at the Eden Project, so we’ll be going back there, the ‘Lost gardens of Helligan’ and the beaches too. Heaven!

These tulips were planted last autumn – I’ve mentioned before how much I like purple. These came from Wilko’s but as usual, I’ve got no idea what they’re called.

Three purple, pink and raspberry ripple tulips – in a vase on Monday 27 April 2015

The dogwood (Cornus) is a variegated one with red stems in the winter.   It’s at the end of my garden and pokes out between a row of conifers in my neighbour’s plot . It hangs over into our garden; so we prune it, so it doesn’t poke me in the eye when I’m gardening.    Dogwood is easy to grow but it definitely needs pruning for it to be at its best; it spreads though if it’s left and the old wood doesn’t have the glorious stem colour.  There are loads of varieties including ones with yellow stems, it’s very common in gardens here in the UK because of it’s all round interest and its hardy.

I liked the contrast of colours with the purples, pinks, greens and whites. Also thought too much foliage would overwhelm the tulips.

I’ve used the same vase last week as I haven’t got any other tall thin ones – though I think The Chap might be bringing something home from work for me.

In the sunshine – tulips and dogwood – 27 April 2015

We had a good day in the garden yesterday after a very hectic few weeks.   I rearranged my strawberry plants, put a dwarf raspberry in a larger pot and put the tumbling tomatoes in hanging baskets.   Also I tidied up all the fuscias in pots we’d over wintered in the garage and thought about what I’d put where.   A bit of TCL for my cosmos seedlings too – fingers crossed they survive us going away.  And The Chap put up the solar lights up too – we’ve eaten out in the garden 9 times so far this year.

The other things I’m enjoying this week are the wonderful blossom on the cherry, apple, hawthorn tree – they look incredible this year.     There are many around where I live, as it’s full of Victorian houses and mature gardens.  I’ve only got room for two dwarf apple trees in pots in my garden but I’d love more.  The blossom is really brighting my drive to and from work; I really must get out and take some photos this week as they’ll be gone soon.

Cherry blossom – 26 April 2015 – NO FILTER!!

Do have a look at Rambling in the Garden where Cathy hosts ‘In  a vase on Monday’
 www.ramblinglinginthegarden.wordpress.com. She’s got a wonderful selection of vases this week and is celebrating her 1000th blog post – I’m a very long way off that milestone. It’s great to see what people are growing around the world.

What plants have you enjoyed this weekend? Or have you been to Cornwall? Any suggestions where to go?

Have a lovely time

Carpe Diem

love Bec xxx