There was no dithering today; I knew exactly which vase it was going to be and what was going to appear in it: this ‘flat’ car boot bargain and some of the first tulips that have opened. In fact it was a bargain vase all round as the unnamed white tulips came from an Aldi pack of 10 costing £1.49. I particularly like this vase for tulips because of the way the stems will flop over the sides as they get taller. Not surprisingly, the buds opened very soon after being brought inside, exposing their buttercup yellow and black innards.
The prop today is an old penny, dated 1899, a Queen Victoria ‘Widow Head’, and a very worn one at that. If anyone is curious about the value, it is negligible – not only because it is worn but because so many were issued. The ‘penny plain’ of the title refers to vintage postcard advertising, where cards cost a ‘penny plain, tuppence coloured’
I am sure there will be tulips in other vases today and with spring flowers appearing in most bloggers’ gardens (apologies to those US bloggers where they are not and to southern hemisphere bloggers where it is currently autumn) there seems to be an increasing choice for IAVOM contributors. What will it be today? Please share your vase with the rest of us by leaving links to and from this post as usual.
Rambling in the Garden 
Reblogged this on anita dawes and jaye marie.
What a beautiful tulip Cathy! All the tulips in our garden are from Aldi – last year’s collection and they are just beginning to come out now. My post yesterday shows one or two. They are giving some lovely pops of colour in my little flowerbed! My vase today is a flower brick, and also a jam jar. I hope you and everyone else visiting today enjoy the declaration of Spring! Amanda
https://therunningwave.blogspot.com/2019/04/mondays-vase-on-nature-table.html
I buy some from Aldi every year for containers – I particularly like their ‘purple mix’ which is full of leaf but no buds so far. Unusually, the variety of the white tulip was not given. Is it a vintage flower brick? I am off to find out
No not a vintage one, although I have had it for probably about thirty years! My cousin was married to the Devon potter, Colin Kellam, for a long time. We have a lot of his lovely pottery! The flower brick is a fun vase to use and I am sure it will be appearing again IAVOM!! A
Oh that’s interesting, thank you. I did a quick Google search and there had been one on eBay but it had sold
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So lovely to see tulips again. The buttery centre is delightful and your props ingenious as always!
Here are some vases for my contributuion today : https://wordsandherbs.com/2019/04/01/in-a-vase-on-monday-honesty/
Thanks Cathy, it is – and these have appeared before my species ones
Hi Cathy – what a super combination.
I don’t have enough tulips to spare any for vases this year, but I’ve certainly got plenty of Narcissi.
Here’s mine: https://duverdiary.wordpress.com/2019/04/01/in-a-vase-on-monday-feast-or-famine/
That’s why I like the Aldi ones for my containers, so I can use some for cutting. Good to know you are making up for the absemnce of tulips with narcissi 😉
I’ve barely ever been to Aldi (can’t actually think where one is on the island 🙄) but I should definitely make a special trip for bulb prices like that!
No Aldi on the IoW? That would be tragic!!
Turns out there are two and one’s only about 25 minutes away…..
Who knew? 😉
Well YOU do now!
What a beautiful selection! So elegant and refined, very much unlike my collection this week. 😉
Thanks Jen – you can always rely on tulips to look refined!
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You know how to get the most out of a bargain! Love the tulips and that fine vase. Interesting info about the coin. Thanks for hosting, Cathy.
Aldi’s plants and bulbs are always very good value. Do the US Aldis stock them too?
Don’t shop there but will have to check it out.
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What a bargain those tulips were – they are gorgeous. I love the way they hold a secret inside.
Here’s mine: https://daffodilwild.wordpress.com/2019/04/01/in-a-vase-on-monday-6/
Good old Aldi!
I don’t think I’ve ever been to an Aldi – must find out where the nearest one is.
I am a huge fan – of both food and non-food items
An elegant bargain.
Thanks Laurie
A pretty tulip in a perfect vase! The golden surprise inside your tulips is wonderful. I noticed a few species tulips blooming in my garden the other day but none of the hybrids have made themselves known yet. My April foolishness is here: https://outlawgarden.blogspot.com/2019/04/in-vase-on-monday-april-foolishness.html
Oh I am sure your April foolishness will be delightfully amusing, Peter!
I love a good bargain, especially when it works out like that! Nice and simply beautiful. Aldi does not sell tulips here! I would try them if they did. Not a tulip in sight in my vase..http://theshrubqueen.com/2019/04/01/in-a-vase-on-monday-spa-day/
Ah, I wondered if they sold plant stuff in the US – shame…
Actually, they sell Orchids here..
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They look a little like species tulips, don’t they? Lovely. I’ll look out for tulips at Aldi in the autumn. I resisted picking any of mine today and instead went for old favourites – acoastalplot.com/2019/04/01/in-a-vase-on-monday-fools-day-flowers/
Thanks, as always, Cathy. Sam x
Tulip buds always look elegant, don’t they – then they let their hair down and become blowsy! These are out before any of my species ones
I like the shape of the unopened tulips Cathy as well as those attractive egg-yolky insides. What a bulb bargain! I never had much joy with tulips but at that sort of price could be tempted to have another go 🙂 Interesting to read about the old penny. I didn’t realise that vintage was so prolific in their issue. I have a small stash of them but am not sure exactly which years. It will come as no surprise that my vase this week lacks tulips but there are other joys :
https://greentapestry.blogspot.com/2019/04/in-vase-on-monday-spring-forward.html
Thanks Anna – I am sure LIDl probably sell similar packs in season. Unless the old pennies are from years where few were minted and are in exceptional condition their value will be minimal and many people will have the odd few stashed away, mostly very worn. Still worth checking though 😉
Oh yes, my very brief flirtation with tulips is already over but I will enjoy seeing more of yours and those of other UK gardeners. Spring is in high gear in my part of the world now. I can already feel summer’s breath, which I fear will be arriving all too early this year. As always, thanks for hosting and here’s my post: https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/2019/04/in-vase-on-monday-spring-is-in.html
Summer, crikey! First time I have heard that mentioned this year!!
I love the simplicity of this one, Cathy, and what a beautiful contrast between the closed and open blooms. Clearly I shall have to check Aldi’s for flowers. They weren’t around in Arizona (so far as I know) but they are plentiful here; and anyplace that has good deals on good flower bulbs is worth shopping at! 😉
For my vase today there is a vintage creamer and some spring flowers… all quite small: https://www.smallsunnygarden.com/2019/04/01/in-a-vase-a-bit-of-bright/
Thanks Amy – it is often the case with tulips that a simple unadulerated vase vase works bestand I for one I love this this one today
Love your tulips with the egg yolk centre, Cathy. I had a bit of a fling vase-wise and environment-wise but didn’t get around to sharing it so shall try for next week. March has been extremely dry, we just had 32l of rain…how is it your end? have a good week xx
I can’t quite imagine what sort of a fling you were having, Annette, but I hope you and Monsieur enjoyed it! It has been dry here too although when I checked the total for March it was about 52mm, which is more than I thought and must have just been early in the month. Jan and Feb were much drier. I wasn’t sure what your 321 referred to…mm? Have a good week yourself ps are you fully recovered?
32 litres (l=litre) per square meter, we took ourselves off to the wilderness for a couple of days which was so good! feeling better, face still very tender and my wrists give me a lot of trouble as I landed on them trying to protect my face…hope it’ll go eventually xx
I have not heard of that way of measuring rainfall – is that how it is done in your parts? How would that equate to our usual mm or inch measurements, which aren’t quoted per area? You realy have been through the mill and it will have forced you to ‘slow down’ which although frustrating could be a good thing
hi Cathy, 1mm of rain measured in the pluviometer corresponds to 1 litre per square meter 🙂
Thanks for that – despite my interest in ‘weather’ I have not heard that equivalence before. Perhaps if I had had a separate pluviometer I would have done… Thanks Annette ☺
Wow, that’s cheap and it is such a pretty tulip.
Aldi’s bulbs are cheap, and mostly very reliable
Cathy that more wonderful tulips closed pure white and open I love with their colors yellow and black. I like the vase very much, flat, and it is magnificent with the tulips. I like the Queen Victoria penny of 1899, I had never seen any, thank you for teaching it. Have a nice week. Greetings from Margarita.
Thank you Margarita, and I hope all is well with you
Such a lovely calming tulip arrangement….
Thanks Noelle: I agree and have enjoyed gazing at it in all its stages
Lovely you have tulips! Sorry not to participate this week, there’s just so much to do at the moment. Tomorrow we’ve been promised rain all day so I might manage to do it then.
Indeed – and there are buds on many more! I am trying to have a blitz on the garden today as it is an unusually ’empty’ one; sadly it is very chilly with sleat forecast and we had a touch of frost last night too, Hope you get some jobs done too! ps buds on the wisteria are swelling nicely!
Such a beautiful yellow tulip. Love your penny too. I must try to be more inventive! Sorry, there’s tulips from me too! https://bramblegarden.com/2019/04/03/in-a-vase-on-monday-or-wednesday/
No need to apologise for tulips, Karen!
Those don’t look like the sort of tulips that are typically purchased in stores. They look more like those that are becoming more popular in home gardens. I really do not know much about tulips or the simpler species, but to me, that is what these look like.
And yet to me they do not look unusual at all, Tony
The simplicity of this speaks to my appreciation of minimalism…even tho I can rarely pull it off as successfully as you have here.
Tulips make it easy, rickii!