Wordlesss Wednesday: Cutting Cornus

In a Vase on Monday: Pretty (Pink) Pods

Technical issues will keep this post brief as a mammoth Windows ‘update’ and ‘cleaning’ of my laptop yesterday evening would have kept me up way past my bedtime otherwise!

Perhaps inevitably, today’s vase contains tulips once again, although each week there are more competing contenders as spring races ahead. They clearly mean business today though, as they are in the vase that to me shouts “Tulips!”, and each year the combination feels like a special treat. It is a very ‘thin’ vase, ideal for supporting the tall stems of tulips, tulips from a pink mix that I could name if I rooted out the packaging or catalogue but haven’t got the time to do so.

When rambling through the woodland this morning, I noticed how tall the stems of the snakeshead fritillaries had grown, some as tall as 2 feet or 60cm, and it occurred to me that the stems and seedpods could be a useful addition to vases and posies, as they have indeed proved to be today. I wonder if their height is Nature’s way of increasing the chances of wider distribution of the seeds, sending them over and above neighbouring plants? Emphasising the pinkness and the poddiness of the not-yet-fully-open tulips and the seedpods is a (vintage?!) iPod in a remarkably similar shade of pink.

If you would like to share a Monday vase of bits and bobs from your garden with us, if technology permits, please do so by leaving the usual links to and from this post.

Six on Saturday: Excitement Mounts

We have had a few days away visiting my Mum, and although I wouldn’t usually choose to leave the garden at this time of year it was a case of needs must. Fortunately, one of our neighbours can be relied on to water everything in the greenhouse in our absence, my main concern, and this is where I hot-footed it to on our return. Not only were the seedlings still thriving, but they looked increasingly sturdy and bursting with health, necessitating several hours in the last couple of days potting them on.

It wasn’t just the seedlings that caught my attention on our return, but the overall abundance in the garden – could things really have filled out that much in a few days? I have no idea whether it is just an illusion, but since our return it is hard to know where to turn my head when rambling around the garden, and I could fill my allotted quota of six several times over today. The tulips are glorious, like the purple mix above, the apple blossom has caught up with that of the crab apples, alliums are on the point of breaking into bloom and there are buds on early perennials like aquilegia and astrantia.

The woodland floor is now covered with a range of greenery, and the path through it is bordered by bluebells and wild garlic (below). Likewise, the relative nakedness of various borders over winter is soon forgotten as herbaceous perennials spring into life and quickly cover the bare ground, as demonstrated by part of the blue & white and main borders below:

There are even buds on some of the roses – which seems really early, but evidence from my 5 year garden diary suggests it is not at all unusual:

Such is the abundance, I could have shown you the progress of the wisteria, or the seedlings in the greenhouse, or all sorts of other exciting goings-on in the garden, but instead I shall finish with a couple of rhododendrons purely because of their striking colour. The smaller one is ‘Wine and Roses’, new last year, but the larger red one, which has never previously flowered, has a label hidden in the undergrowth which I must seek out one of the days for my own edification. Thanks goes to Jim of Garden Ruminations for hosting this meme.

Wordless Wednesday: Not as Regal as She Looks

In a Vase on Monday: Strawberries n’ Cream

I was trying to avoid tulips for today’s IAVOM, as they could easily become a mainstay for many weeks; however, these creamy tulips were tucked out of the way where they mightn’t otherwise be seen and, like last week’s fiery contribution, they are also a bit of an enigma. They are growing in the cutting beds where they were planted around 10 years ago with the sole purpose of cutting them. Presumably, they flowered in the first year of planting but, although there has been foliage in some of the intervening years, I don’t think there have been any further blooms until now. My guess is that these are mature bulblets from the original bulbs, now large enough to flower: I have only picked the two blooms that were in full flower, but there are others to come. They may be ‘Exotic Emperor’, which I have bought periodically over the years.

Joining the tulips are sprigs of a reliable but straggly wallflower, not quite strawberry red, but in combination with the tulips perhaps we can get away with the title and the prop of a strawberry-themed knitting pattern, for an outfit I knitted for my first grandchild, The Poppet, nearly ten years ago. Sadly, I am not convinced she ever wore it, which would be a shame, as the overall effect was really pleasing (although the pattern was badly worked out with the yellow ‘seeds’ being on even rows, meaning there were a lot of ends to be sown in  – in hindsight, a wonderful thing, I could have used two separate balls of yellow…).

If you have tulips, or anything else plucked from your garden or nearby, to create a vase just to bring yourself pleasure or that you would like to share with us on IAVOM, then consider adding links to and from this post.

Six on Saturday: Galloping in the Garden

Although winter and early spring flowering plants might have started flowering a little earlier this year than some, they were not unseasonally early; this is not the case with Rhodendron ‘Wine and Roses’ (above) and the large unnamed specimen below, which is light pink in bud but white in boom. Unlike last year, when blooms were sparse on all but ‘Cheers’, all our rhododendrons are smothered in swelling buds.

When I saw buds on the wisteria, however, I was not prepared for how quickly the flower buds would progress – they are not usually showing much before the start of May, with trusses at their best by the end of the month, but they could be a full month earlier this rate. All down to a mild winter and mild start to spring, unlike last year. So far, wood pigeons are not much in evidence in the garden so, fingers crossed, I and the wisteria may get a reprieve this year

It may seem early for sweet peas, but not early flowering variety ‘Winter Sunshine’, which is now in bloom in the greenhouse, appearing at its usual time early in April:

I wouldn’t say it was early for honesty, either, but was pleased at the sudden appearance of this white-flowered variety at the back of the obelisk border. I did have an established clump here once, in what was previously the snowdrop border, but it petered out, so where the stray seed has arrived from I have no idea. It will be good to re-establish it, but maybe not in this border.

One tulip that reliably returns here is the gorgeous deep purple parrot, ‘Victoria’s Secret’. Once I discovered its longevity, I bought more bulbs to establish it in clumps throughout the main and bold borders, but the plan was scuppered when the variety became no longer available. Pleasingly, existing clumps seem to be increasing, like the lovely grouping below, definitely contenders for a vase on Monday in the near future.

Jim of Garden Ruminations hosts this popular Saturday meme where there will undoubtedly be other tulips to see alongside many other garden goodies, so do consider taking a look.

 

Wordless Wednesday: On Point

In a Vase on Monday: On Fire!

I promised you tulips today, but even I wasn’t expecting these ones, remnants from a previous planting in a pot now filled with Carex ‘Everillo’. I can remember buying some fiery tulips two or three years ago, but have no idea why I would have put them in that particular pot, as their bright and brash colouring would have necessitated a planting location near the bold borders. Nevertheless, there they were, pushing aside the grass and cocking a snook at the main borders filling up with foliage of plants that will in due course have pink and purple blooms, so I had no qualms in cutting short their exhibitionism.

Having the title in mind already, I sought out Nandina ‘Fire Power’ to emphasise

the fieriness of the tulips, but the plant proved to be too young and the stems too thick for this to be a sensible choice, so I cut fresh foliage from its cousin N ‘Obsessed’ as a tolerable alternative. Revisiting my childhood Britain’s miniature garden collection successfully brought to light the miniature hose reel I was sure would be one of the pieces in the collection, and which currently serves as a prop. Luckily, it is too small to put out the tulips’ fire!

As tulips increasingly appear in our UK gardens, they will no doubt play a big part in vases for the next few weeks. Wherever you are, and whatever you put in your vases, we would love to see them on IAVOM, so please share them by leaving links to and from this post.

Six on Saturday: Little Beauties and Other Things, Mostly Beautiful

Having photographed several contenders for today’s Six on Saturday, the popular meme hosted by Jim of Gardening Ruminations, I then had to do a cull – but suggest you don’t actually count how many have been included in today’s post!

Let’s start with species tulip T hageri ‘Little Beauty’, a petite tulip with a very apt name, reliably reappearing annually and multiplying gently. With their contrasting deep blue centres, these would make a delightful posy in combination with muscari, but next Monday’s vase is already promised to some of their full-size cousins, now beginning to open throughout the garden. Perhaps it will be some of those in this galvanised tank?

For the time being, spring bulbs continue to be the stars of the garden and in the Coop the hippeastrum I showed last week is going to excel itself, with a fifth trumpet beginning to unfurl – not bad for a £3(ish)  bulb from Lidl. I particularly like the greenish hints on this unnamed variety.

Even more exciting than this, however, is the sudden appearance (a hop skip and jump moment, if ever there was one) of Fritillaria imperialis, or Crown Imperial fritillary, which I had been tempted to try again after a discussion last year with a fellow NGS Garden opener. Frankly, I had given up on it, assuming I must have forgotten the advice to plant the bulb on its side, so spotting it emerging amidst hellebore foliage was a joyous moment. I am pretty sure I ordered an orange variety so shall be watching its progress avidly to see if I was right; sadly, it has also been spotted by lily beetles and I picked and dealt with FIVE of the pesky red devils this morning…grrrr! I can spot two of them in this photo – can you?

It’s not all about bulbs this week though, as I have also been admiring this lovely clump of plain-leaved brunnera (this would work well in that posy with Little Beauty and muscari too), with healthy foliage of a corydalis in the foreground and late blooms of Hellebore ‘Anna’s Red’ behind:

With magnolias in bloom in many local gardens, I finally remembered to check our own dark-flowered variety, Magnolia ‘Susan’, and yes, she is resplendently in bud:

Having shared Amelanchier lamarkii in all its blooming beauty on Wednesday, I will finish by confirming how fleeting that moment really was:

And ps, crab apple Malus ‘Evereste’ is now in full bloom!

 

 

Wordless Wednesday: a Fleeting Moment