In a Vase on Monday: Hanging On

Last week’s frost, by seeing off all the dahlias, has drastically reduced the options for my Monday vases – but experience from the previous three years has shown that there will still be treasures to find every week, albeit harder to find. Thank you for all your best wishes for the third anniversary of the meme, and well done to Anna of Green Tapestry for winning the draw – your prize will be on its way soon, Anna.

So what hangers on made it to this mid-November’s vase, displayed in a Prinknash jug on a plate rack in the kitchen, supported by the row of jugs hanging below? First to be snipped were a pair of Chrysanthemum ‘Sheer Purple’ blooms, shoved into a border on a sink-or-swim  basis as they barely performed last year but were still alive. They haven’t sunk, but are doggy paddling rather than swimming – so I jumped in and rescued them so they could star at least for this week.

They were joined by a motley crew: a sprig of miniature rose ‘The Fairy’, two stems of Persicaria ‘Blackfield’, a spent crocosmia seedhead, heads of Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, purple and white Twinny Antirrhinum, my last remaining cosmos, the odd white cornflower, Lavender ‘Spanish Eyes’ and the pretty seed pods of Clematis ‘Gravetye Beauty’. The end result is definitely a ‘better together’ vase although, taken indoors, the main photo doesn’t do the little posy justice – but the overhead photo does at least give a clearer idea of the contents.

With vases posted from three different continents, these next few months will highlight the range of weather patterns experienced by our blogging friends and how they affect what grows in their gardens. What will you find in your garden today or forage from nearby to pop in your vase and share with us in the usual way?