Although I have shown these tulips several times in the last couple of weeks they hadn’t made it into a vase until today, and well deserved their vase visit is as they are such a delightful mix.
They came, as I have mentioned before, from Aldi – a pack of 25 tulips for £3.99 and I bought 3 packs which are distributed between six containers on the paved area, four of which are grouped together. Each pack of the ‘Purple Tulips Blend’ comprises 5 bulbs of Claudia, 8 Flaming Flag, 9 Purple Flag and 3 Blue Diamond, un unequal distribution but one which works well as a…well, as a purple blend. I have only used 3 of the varieties in the vase, excluding Claudia as there were fewer of them in my mix.
Tulips Purple Flag, Flaming Flag and Blue Diamond
I tried several vases before I found one that suited, the first choices suffering from necks too narrow for the inevitably chunky stems, This slim white glass vase with the slight flare proved to be perfect and I like the clean contrast of white against the purple tulips. The 
‘Midget Gems’ serving as today’s prop would not have been my first choice and Dolly Mixtures, as well as having a more appropriate name, would have been a better colour mix, but I can’t imagine the sweet-eating Golfer ever being partial to the latter. There were no other ‘mixes’ to inspire me at the time the vase was being put together and the Midget Gems were just hanging around in an open packet and thus made their IAVOM debut.
I suspect tulips won’t be around much longer in my garden but there will be plenty of newcomers to take their place so who know what will be in my vase next week – I certainly don’t! Until you post your vases I won’t know what’s in them either, but I look forward to seeing them and finding out, if you leave the usual links to and from this post.
Rambling in the Garden 
Good morning Cathy! And good morning to your lovely ladies in their elegant vase! Beautiful! The tulips in my garden are just beginning to fade except for some rather glamorous cerise and white parrot tulips, which are in full flight! My vase this week uses someone else’s tulips, from a local flower farm. Today’s post explains how they come to be in my vase! Amanda https://therunningwave.blogspot.com/2019/04/a-sumptuous-vase-on-monday.html
Yes, we must enjoy our tulips while we can Amanda!
Your intuition on grabbing that bargain was right…the tulips are lovely. I like the vase too, being white and just the right shape, the tulips are the stars….Contemporary arrangement to be sure: https://noellemace.blogspot.com/2019/04/in-vase-on-monday-contemporary-floral.html
Thanks Noelle – I did try 2 or 3 different foliage additions, but they didn’t work
Note to self: head to Aldi’s for bulbs! What a great combo Cathy. The tulips look great in the glass you selected. I especially like Flaming Flag but they all complement each other. Still crazy busy here but managed a vase this week and a few hours in the garden! Take care and have a good week! https://pbmgarden.blog/2019/04/29/in-a-vase-on-monday-coral-charm/
In the UK Aldi’s bulbs are very good, and their plants too, when they are fresh. I like Flaming Flag the best too but agree that the blend is very well chosen. Glad you managed some gardening amidst the chaos – and yoga too, I trust?
Yes, thank goodness for yoga 🧘♀️
I practice Tai Chi but not yoga but both would be beneficial in maintaining equilibrium when things are tough
What beautiful tulips! They are truly the highlight of spring! It will be a while before mine bloom yet. I seem to remember that you had roses in bloom last year by the time my tulips were starting! Here’s my contribution for this week…it’s been cold but our snow is almost gone and there are signs of life everywhere if one looks closely! 🙂
http://yeflowerlovers.blogspot.com/2019/04/in-vase-on-monday-cats-vs-catkins.html
Thanks Joanna – there are buds on many of my roses but it will still be few weeks till they flower, I think. Good to hear your snow is almost gone!
What beautiful tulips and they look so lovely in that vase! What a perfect combination they make. I am enjoying everyone’s posts of tulips this year since the deer ate all of mine. They are very much missed in my garden.
Thank you for hosting us each week. It is always fun to see everyone’s combinations of flowers.
Thank you – and I am so glad I don’t have a deer problem!
Pingback: this week’s bouquet – in my spare time
It’s not often one finds such a sophisticated combo at Aldi’s. A lovely grouping. I am finally starting to be able to participate again with a few flowers from my garden. Thanks, as always, for hosting. https://www.lindabrazill.com/each_little_world/2019/04/in-a-vase-on-monday-snatched-out-of-the-snow.html
In the UK Aldi has great range of plants and bulbs, almost always named varieties. So glad that you are now getting blooms in your garden again
That is a bargain price and they look gorgeous! Now to see where we have an Aldi…
Take time to get to know Aldi, Jude – the quality is far greater than some people think and I highly recommend it. They have a great range of plant and gardening material in season too.
I bought some bulbs at Aldi this week and thought about you while at the cash register! Gladiolus, who knows if they will grow here? Another experiment. The vase was the perfect choice for your tulips and I like the color mix, purple is so dark by itself. Here is my vase this Monday. http://theshrubqueen.com/2019/04/29/in-a-vase-on-monday-flowers-by-karma/
If they sell gladiolus in your neck of the woods then one would expect them to grow – and I would complain if they didn’t as it would be setting people up to fail otherwise. I have recommended Aldi to so many people for plants and bulbs that their profits should be soaring now!!
The white vase is lovely with the purple tulips. I really should try tulips but I do have underground varments. Would need to cage them I guess.
Oh dear, I do feel sorry for those whose gardens are troubled by pesky creatures. Slugs and snails are the only real damage creators here
They are bad enough.
elegant!
Thanks Laurie 🙂
My tulips are done and gone, I finishes digging them out this weekend (not reliable to return here in northern California) so it’s nice to see yours -I couldn’t bear to cut any for vases when they were in bloom ! It’s rose time for me today https://gardenbook-ks.blogspot.com/2019/04/in-vase-on-monday-some-roses.html
I shan’t keep these tulips either, so will take them and their sprawly leaves out of the tubs when they have finished flowering 😉
I’d seen your tulips in some prior posts and wondered when we might get to see them in a Monday vase. This is a wonderful mix and and terrific bargain from the sound of it; however, what most surprised me was that your bargain mix came with the cultivars identified. You’d never see that here!
Thanks for hosting, Cathy. Here’s my post: https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/2019/04/in-vase-on-monday-late-arrivals.html
Aldi almost always give the cultivars, which is important to me. I am not sure whether they will be on their way out by next week so I thought I better cut some whilst I still had the chance!
that’s a lovely mix of colours Cathy, and a very good buy too! My vase is pink today too: https://myhesperidesgarden.wordpress.com/2019/04/29/in-a-vase-on-monday-very-pink/
I did comment last week but there was a problem my end and it disappeared into the ether!
Thanks Christina – I think it’s a well-chosen blend that Aldi have put together, even better than previous years. There are more Claudia tulips opening now, giving an even prettier effect. What a shame your comment disappeared last week – I do check my spam regularly but if it was at your end I don’t suppose I could do anything about it
Hi all, it’s nice to see the later spring flowers coming through.
My collection this week is the first from our new garden as we’ve just moved house.
Thanks, as ever, for hosting this lovely and addictive meme.
I’d better get back to unpacking!
A new house and a new garden – how exciting!
Cathy I love the colors of tulips and their shapes. The white vase you have chosen is perfect to highlight the tulips. It’s a wonderful vase, I love it. I’m going to have to look for an Aldi to buy bulbs, because these are divine. Greetings from Margarita.
Thanks Margarita – I was really pleased with how well this vase set the tulips off
Hello Cathy, beautiful tulips. The purple mix is lovely and the white vase is just perfect. I’ll be looking out for tulips in our Aldi in the autumn in the hope that they have such a pretty mix again. It’s the blues for me today with just a bit of cheeky yellow making a late appearance too. Here’s the link: https://silverscrappers.blogspot.com/2019/04/in-vase-on-monday-springtime-blues.html
Thanks Elizabeth – it was a different mix last year, but still pretty. I think there is usually a pink mix too. There may be a run on them later in the year…!
I love the vase! I love the tulips! I love the candy mix! It’s all just about perfect! My tulips are getting set to open here, perhaps by next week, if we get some sun and warmth. I put up an IAVOM post today, even though they aren’t my arrangements or flowers. I hope your readers will enjoy seeing it anyway!
Thanks for your enthusiasm Kimberley – I get the impression you liked today’s offering… 😉
Yes, those tulips work very well in combination. Are they the same height in the ground? Your white vase is exactly right for the display. Makes me want a glass of milk though, especially with the gums!!
My vase is here: https://wp.me/pM8Y1-7nx
The Flaming Flag seem to be a little bit shorter but this makes the mix work together, not having the heads all at the same height. The vase, as most of mine are, came from a car boot sale and is a really pleasing shape. Although it looks as if some blooms might be top heavy it is more weighted than it looks and will be regularly used – I still need to catalogue my vases to remind me what I have though!
A lovely mix of colours, I shall look out for cheap tulips at Aldi in the autumn. Lovely vase too.
Ahah – you are going to be brave enough to visit Aldi… tiptoe carefully, as might be contagious… 😉
I’ll have to stick with ‘elegant’ too. It is vibrant also.
Fresh and cheerful! Strangely enough I have only been in an Aldi supermarket once or twice, despite them coming from Germany! Very popular here too (my partner’s Mum loved it), but I have always had nearer options. I should perhaps visit around tulip bulb time though! I didn’t manage a vase this week – we had rain! (Yippee!)
Although relatively small, our town has a big choice of large supermarkets – and we now have TWO Aldis because of their popularity! I am glad you have had rain – we had only 15mm in April according to our home weather station, and that was ‘storm’ Hannah…not enough 😐
I am late for this party because of work but I always love seeing your vases, Cathy! I am suffering from gardener’s envy right now. I am sharing someone else’s flowers because I needed a pick up me up! https://angiebaer.com/blog/1stt2eerhta2lxqzugpqme9k2fzsv1
Sorry we give you cause for envy, Angie, but I am glad you still love to see our vases 😁
A most eye-catching display of tulips Cathy, which complement each other so well. My tulip growing prowess is rather sad but I’m going to have my eyes peeled in both Aldi and Lidl later this year. At those sorts of prices it will not be too upsetting if I am not successful. I was away at the weekend visiting a new and most special arrival so a very late in the day from me post here : https://greentapestry.blogspot.com/2019/04/in-vase-on-monday-wonderful-baby.html
Great Auntie Anna! Congratulations to all concerned 😊 Here, I am just sticking with tulips in pots now, and will not keep them when they are finished. Species tulips excluded, of course 😁
Hi Cathy. I had a chuckle at the thought of the golfer with dolly mixtures.
My tulips are over but yours look fresh and lovely. Good old Aldi. Sorry to be so late joining you and in such a ridiculous way but here you are https://digwithdorris.wordpress.com
I have actually no idea whether he would like dolly mixtures but it does seem unlikely, doesn’t it?! IAVOM can be interpreted however you want, Dorris – it is always good when people to contribute
Yes I think it does. Bless him.
I have just asked him and – surprise surprise! – he loves them… just like liquorice allsorts without the liquorice, he says… 😉
Ha! I’ll have the liquorice bits, that’s my favourite sweet