In a Vase on Monday: There’s a Word For That

There is so much to wonder at as I ramble around the garden these days, whether it’s the rapid progress of young seedlings once they are planted out in the cutting beds, diversity of the numerous aquilegia,  an almost constant hum of bees, distant sound of the first cuckoo or the vast number of rose buds at various stages of opening – or quite simply the size and sheer perfection of this ‘Munstead Wood’ bloom, which must be all of 5″ (13cm) across.

I don’t expect it to last long in this unmarked blue and white teacup as it was picked fully open in the heat of the day, but as temperatures this week have been persistently high almost from morning till night there perhaps isn’t an optimum time for picking anyway. The bush from which this rose was picked was contained for 3 or 4 years in the largest of the cubic planters on the paved area before being released to the freedom of the shrub border when that was created in the summer of 2014, and has been going from strength to strength ever since. It has certainly not produced blooms of such a size before now, and I can but wonder at Nature and how generously she applies herself in the garden,  frequently filling me with pure awe.

These pebbles are but two of a number that have been annotated with abstract nouns, painted on with Ronseal Garden Paint and representing positive emotional conditions that can be generated within or by the garden; no doubt there are many more that can be added to this selection, which will be dotted around the garden, limited perhaps only by the number of pebbles available.

The simplicity of the deep velvety red rose needed little embellishment and is therefore solely accompanied by a few tiny pale pink sprigs of a variegated London Pride (Saxifraga x urbium), given to me by blogger Noelle at Stasher. The rose’s petals will undoubtedly start to drop within a day or two but till then it will give me great pleasure, which is what In a Vase on Monday is all about. What can you find in your garden to bring you pleasure during the week, or perhaps just for a couple of days like my full-bloom rose? Please consider sharing it with us by writing about it and posting links to and from this one as usual.

You will not be surprised to know that I had a lovely day last Monday, albeit a very hot one, meeting fellow bloggers Christina and Julie in London. We met at the reopening-that-very-day Garden Museum where Christina received the accolade of being the very first visitor to the refurbished premises (which in practice was still undergoing finishing touches) and in the afternoon she and I went on to the Chelsea Physic Garden. In truth, it wouldn’t have made any difference where we visited as the time was spent chatting and catching up as ‘old friends’ do, albeit friends who had never met before. It was a real pleasure to meet up and I heartily recommend both making or taking the opportunity to meet with blogging friends whenever you can.