In a Vase on Monday: Sticks and Stones

Thinking last night about today’s vase, I was well aware that there was little suitable bloom-wise and guessed I would need to be reliant on twigs or foliage – the post title ‘Sticks and Stones’ then popped into my head and the gauntlet was thrown down….

Although there is plenty of raw material on the twisted hazel I have kept the twigs that were used in previous vases so this morning it was a matter of looking for interesting ‘sticks’ to join them – some cornus had been retained too, but I decided instead to ramble with my eyes open in the search for potential vase contents. The Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’ was therefore joined by magnolia twigs from low down on the trunk, with their velvety buds still in a state of hibernation, sloe with their pin-sized thorns, dog rose with a hint of leaf bud opening and three precious stems of Hamamelis ‘Arnold Promise’, just to be controversial! Having made use of blue slate chippings in the garden these were a useful option for the ‘stones’ as they would hold the sticks in their place in the stoneware pie dish. Props this week were an encyclopaedia of rocks and materials and a chunk of natural tiger’s eye.

Every time I go into Aldi recently I look admiringly at the lovely bunches of tulips in jewel like colours but firmly resist, whereas before I started this meme I might have succumbed. The challenge of finding something from the garden or out-and-about to display in a vase or similar every Monday is too exciting to introduce bought flowers into the house, possibly ever again! I already have plans to grow bulbs specifically for cutting next year, and have seeds on standby for cutting beds this summer, both challenges in themselves as they are new concepts for me.

If you would like to challenge yourself in whatever way you choose by joining in this meme, then please do so. Just post your receptacle as normal  but add a link to this post and a link back to yours in a comment on this post so we can all share in what you have found. It is inevitably a tougher challenge at this time of year, but that seems to make it all the more rewarding – it will be a different scenario come the summer!