There were so many things in the garden to choose from and pop into a vase today that making a decision could have been really hard, perhaps requiring the toss of a coin to see what made the final cut. In particular, there are lots of little spring bulbs – muscari, scilla and the like – but faced with the first tulips in any quantity these blue and white teenies have had to step aside.
To be honest, I think I knew all along it was going to be tulips, not only tulips but tulips in this particular vase, this flat, moon-faced vase (also resembling an honesty seedhead), which was snapped up on sight at a car boot sale after admiring a similar shaped vase from another blogger on IAVOM. The tulips gracing the vase are ‘Exotic Emperor’, a double tulip with outer petals more like green sepals than petals which look stunning at every stage in their development, from bud through to droop; indeed, this post is taking longer to write because I keep stopping to gaze at them!
The prop is the unused decision-taking device, a simple coin borrowed from the Golfer’s large collection, in this case a Sherlock Holmes 50 pence piece. This was issued in 2018 to mark the 160th anniversary of the birth of the author Arthur Conan Doyle, the reverse showing the iconic silhouette of Sherlock Holmes and a list of Doyle’s most famous stories involving the character.
I know tulips are delighting many gardeners elsewhere at the moment so the chances of them appearing in other vases today are high – will they be in yours? They have a relatively long vase life so why not enjoy them inside as well as out? If you are able to create a vase today, please consider sharing it with our blogging community too by leaving links to and from this post.
Rambling in the Garden 
Thank you Cathy for sharing your beautiful white tulips. They are so a favorite of mine, but so often, despite my efforts to protect them, the deer snack on them from the second they sprout from the ground. It is always a pleasure to see them and yours are lovely!!!
Oh really – that’s such a shame! No deer near our garden, thankfully…
I don’t have any tulips in my jungle, so always appreciate looking at other people’s. These are rather special, Cathy…
I had forgotten how attractive this variety was – definitely one to include in my bulb purchases every year
Beautiful! Easy to see how you could become lost in those ‘Exotic Emperor’ tulips. Is there really a water reservoir in the vase? Unique and interesting and lovely presentation Cathy. I didn’t get tulips planted for this spring but had two flowering comebacks that made me regret not planning better. Thanks as always for hosting each week. Take good care.
https://pbmgarden.blog/2020/04/13/in-a-vase-on-monday-rose-and-white/
Aren’t they just?! Hope you remember tulip bulbs for next season – I always add a little note to my bulb catalogue as a prompt if I think of somethng else during the year. The vase is about an inch think, perhaps half of which is is the opening – I will change the water one of these days and check the capacity before I refill it
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The tulip is lovely, and I really like the style of the vase and the way you have photographed it. Here is my vase with some narcissi and… tulips! 😉 Thanks as always Cathy!
With the black background I though it looked even more like a moon, the vase suspended in the black of the night!
Sorry, Link here! : https://wordsandherbs.wordpress.com/2020/04/13/in-a-vase-on-monday-peachy/
Do you know anything more about the vase? I love the green outer petals on the Emperor tulips and also the details of the coin…Thanks for keeping us going Cathy. Here is my weekly arrangement: https://noellemace.blogspot.com/2020/04/in-vase-on-monday-easter-flowers.html
The tulip is gorgeous, isn’t it? Sadly there are no markings on the vase except £2.74 written in pencil on the bottom. For such an unrounded amount, I imagine that was the original price including VAT, so we can guess it is post 1971!
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Beautiful tulips! Do they have a scent? I like to have quite a lot of white flowers in my garden at this time of year to dance along with the apple and pear blossom.
Here is my Easter Monday offering: https://daffodilwild.wordpress.com/2020/04/13/happy-easter-vase-on-monday/
Beautiful but unscented, Sandra. I am going to try replanting these against a dark background when they have finished flowering where they should make a good contrast if they come back
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Oh my gosh I LOVE these tulips and I’m doubly excited because I planted 100 Exotic Emperor myself last fall! They’re just small green buds at the moment but within a few weeks… watch out! For now I’m loving spring unravel itself slowly in my garden…the smaller, botanical tulips are about to bloom but it’s Daffodils all the way for now! Here’s today’s vase:
https://countygardening.wordpress.com/2020/04/13/in-a-vase-on-monday-yellow-and-blue-kinda/
Oh you will enjoy your army of Emperors Chris! Did you stagger the planting? Good to know spring is unravelling for you
Stagger? Like with peas, to get many months of harvest? I don’t think you can do that here. Or, as in all over the garden? Then, yes…we shall see how it looks!
Yes, I meant time wise, perhaps at weekly or fortnightly intervals? Here, we might keep bulbs chilled in the fridge for a few weeks to delay flowering
Oh tulips, I love them so much but decided to not use them today as a couple of my recent posts have pictures of them. instead I have gone for the mini flowers. https://digwithdorris.wordpress.com
I hadn’t seen one of the Sherlock 50 pence pieces before. Did the Golfer just find it or actively purchase it? Anyway it’s excellent. I shall be checking my coins from now on!
Yes, you have shown us some lovely tulips recently so you can be excused today 🙂 All of the Golfer’s modern coinage has been found in change or given (swapped) by people who know he is interested – except for one or two of the Olympic 50ps to complete the set. The Paddington Bear 50ps are the most recent ones that have been turning up
Paddington Bear ! Want him
Four different ones, I think, at various London landmarks
I shall keep my eyes peeled
I love your tulips and did not recognize them at first – the outer green petals are neat. The simple arrangement displays them perfectly, I would have bought that vase too! Thank you for hosting Here is my vase http://theshrubqueen.com/2020/04/13/in-a-vase-on-monday-pastels
They are very striking, aren’t they? And this is the perfect vase for tulips – we would have had to fight over it!!
Yes and you are right!!
What lovely tulips and I love the green and white, slightly variegated sepals, and that lovely rich yellow at the base of the petals. Loads of detail on such a lovely flower! I have the wild bunch in my Easter vase! Thank you for yours. Amanda https://therunningwave.blogspot.com/2020/04/in-vase-on-easter-monday.html
It is a real star, isn’t it, especially with that variegation.
Your emperor certainly has fine exotic clothes Cathy. That is a most beautiful and elegant tulip and so well displayed in that vase.They could have been made for each other. As always I’ve learned something here as the Sherlock Holmes coin slipped under my radar. I may well have a few happy tulips this year which is an achievement for me but I will not definitely not be picking them 😂 There are some other spring flowers in my vase this week though here : https://greentapestry.blogspot.com/2020/04/iavom-pastels.html
I am pleased to hear you should be getting some tulips blooms this year, even though you won’t be sharing them! You might want to consider the Emperor for another year perhaps?
How fun that the UK issued a Sherlock Holmes coin. Your tulips are gorgeous! My species tulips finished long ago and I wasn’t able to get any forced bulbs from my local garden center this year as I’d hoped, in part because it’s been closed to in-store traffic for weeks now (pickup of online or call-in orders only with no ability to see what they have in stock). However, I do have a plentiful supply of other flowers and I didn’t have the sense to flip a coin to cull down the selection 😉 Here’s my post: https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/2020/04/in-vase-on-monday-going-overboard-again.html
The UK regularly issues ‘special’ coins, usually the 50 pences but sometimes the £2 coins. It can be fun looking out for them in one’s change – not that there are many cash transactions these days…must be at least a month since I have used any cash! Sorry to hear you couldn’t get any more tulips. Here, some of the big DIY stores are able to open for click and collect on a limited range of items, but sadly not garden centres
They are gorgeous, I can see why you can’t stop staring at them. Tulip time is so exciting, isn’t it? I am gloating over them in the garden but I can’t bear to pick any. I love your vase too. I have an Easter theme this week. https://wp.me/p3dx4o-3Gt
And of course during the day they open and close with the temperature or light levels, so they always look different – but it’s good to spend time gazing! I need to check out what my other varieties are as I bought a lot of bargain basement ones at the end of December. I forgot about an Easter theme for today, but there will be other years I expect!
Might have to put those tulips on my ‘to buy’ list! Well, bulbs for next year. 😉
Highly recommended, Magpie Sue!
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Ooh, I like those tulips! I also have tulips in my vase today: https://wp.me/p5Pz00-2fs
Belated happy Easter, Cathy. Sam x
Tulips are a joy, aren’t they Sam, and I am pleased you have some to enjoy too 🙂
Beautiful tulips. A favourite of mine. But today it’s narcissi for my vase https://bramblegarden.com/2020/04/13/in-a-vase-on-easter-monday-13-april-2020/ Happy Easter Monday Cathy xx
Aren’t they just?! I wonder what narcissi you still have that are looking good, as mine are virtually all over…
I ALMOST did a vase today, although not as pretty and refined as yous is. I might next Monday. It seems like such a waste that there is so much blooming out in the landscapes now, but no one here to see it. I never cut flowers from the landscapes, but might make an exception under the circumstances.
I feel that way about not opening our garden in June, one of the resaons why I will be posting a video at the end of every month ps there will be a big round of applause from the IAVOM community if you post a vase, Tony!
those are fabulous tulips Cathy – my list of tulips for next year is growing. I’ve got tulips in my vase this week – along with a white daffodil. Hope you have as good a week as you can in the circumstances.
https://viewsfrommygardenbench.com/2020/04/13/tulips-and-time-for-crafts-in-a-vase-on-monday/
Yes, I first heard of Exotic Emperor from another blogger’s vase!
Simply superb, Cathy. Both vase and tulip. But the only problem with blogging is that we keep having to add things to our lists! I find that if I participate in your meme, I am continually stopping and gazing through the week. Thank you!
Thanks Cathy, I know what you mean as I have learned such a lot (and acquired a lot of new plants!) as a result of blogging
I love the “Exotic Emperor” Tulips with their green-stained petals and white color. It is my favorite tulip. The vase is a charm like a full moon and pure white flat. The Tulips are divine in the vase, I love it. I really like the Sherlock Holmes coin. Where is the mystery my dear Doctor Watson? Stay safe and secure. Take care. Happy Easter Monday, even if it’s late. Loving greetings from Margarita.
It is indeed a glorious tulip, definitely one of my favourites too
How wonderful all in white, and your vase is just perfect with those big doubles!
I do love tulips; they were the first big spring bulbs I ‘discovered’ as a child newly transplanted from California to Chicago. Those were the classic red and yellow types, but they’re all gorgeous, aren’t they? I opted to rely on narcissus instead when starting bulb planting here because, you know, rabbits and deer… So my (very late) vase contains the last of my little cyclameneus with some lovely foliage…: https://www.smallsunnygarden.com/2020/04/14/in-a-vase-simplicity/
It took me a long time to begin to appreciate tulips, because it was the regimented red and yellow ones I recalled from childhood and early adulthood – it was seeing a massed planting of pastel shades that changed my mind…it was like an epiphany and I remember exactly where I was!