In a vase on Monday: Heads and Tails

My how I dithered this morning – and even found myself thinking about the vase contents when I woke during the night, not something I make a habit of, fortunately! All week I had been considering the little group of Iris reticulata ‘Katharine Hodgkin’ which were growing in a pot in the greenhouse and just coming into flower – but only 4 of the 5 bulbs had come through, odd numbers are always best and I didn’t want to cut these as they look so pretty in the pot. The alternative would have been to add extra material to the pot itself – but there again there were Iris reticulata in my vase a couple of weeks back…

However, the neat button-like seedheads from Inula magnifica have been waiting patiently on the parent plant for the opportunity to appear in a vase, as have a clutch of rose hips stems from ‘Parkdirector Riggers’ which were cut when the roses were pruned early in January and had survived untouched in a neat pile near where they originated, so my thoughts were also revolving around a title with  the words ‘Heads’ in it. When ‘Heads and Tails’ suggested itself whilst I methodically swum up and down on my Monday morning swim, I wondered whether there would be catkins on the twisted hazel, Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’ – once home I was able to establish that there were, so we were in business!

Choosing a container can be difficult when there is a lot of choice, but because the first two contenders didn’t need water and the twiggy hazel would be able to survive dry at least for several days I finally chose this vintage ‘frog’ or florist’s cage which I bought when we were at the Lincoln antique fair in December. It wasn’t labelled but to me its purpose was fairly obvious and it was aesthetically pleasing enough to be used on its own with a dry arrangement, but of course it would also fit inside a wide necked vase. It has a neat domed shape and when photographed on the kitchen table in front of me whilst writing this post the light cast pleasing shadows of the contents on the table.

The main photograph was shot outside to take advantage of today’s bright start, but perhaps the muted colours are a little lost against the brickwork, the lack of foliage on the stems meaning there was not enough contrast with the lines of the wall and path – a plain fabric background might have been better. Heads and tails props were easy, with the addition of Victorian and George V pennies from another of the Golfer’s collections. Some of these ‘collections’ may well be gathering dust but they have come in jolly useful on Monday mornings!

So there is today’s vase, a double whammy really because I still showed the irises – perhaps something in the garden will take me by surprise during the week so I can be more decisive again next Monday. Christina was certainly excited about her vase this week, and for good reason, as you will see if you check it out. You don’t need to be excited about your vase though, as the meme just encourages you to find something in your own garden or foraged nearby and bring it inside for your own pleasure – as all contributors have found out it can be an addictive and habit-changing process, but above all it has indeed brought us huge amounts of pleasure, increased by sharing vases with our blogging friends. Do join us, by including links to and from this post – you won’t regret it 🙂