The spider’s touch, how exquisitely fine!
Feels at each thread, and lives along the line.
Alexander Pope ‘An Essay on Man’, 1733
You may have guessed from recent posts that after featuring my other fantasy chrysanthemum In a Vase on Monday last week, that it would soon be followed by its partner, ‘Kiyomi No Meisui’. Unlike ‘Salhouse Joy’, which reminded me of sea anemones, this reminds me of spiders – the big house spiders with small bodies but lanky and droopy legs…you know the sort I mean?! I chose to include only three blooms in the vase, snipping off any side shoots and buds – a good decision as even just three blooms jostling for space easily created a tangled web of petals as they brushed against each other
I don’t have a probem with spiders but one of the Golfer’s sons does (the Golfer isn’t very keen either and I am regularly called upon to remove a spider from the bath), and the warning sign was a present to him one year when he still lived with us; sadly it turns out that spiders cannot read… Seeing a six foot plus adult’s response to the presence of a spider taught me to take all phobias seriously, however irrational or bizarre they might appear to be. The sign now normally lives in the ‘bus shelter’, and its embellishment with web remnants shows that the resident spiders are still educationally lacking.
I cut a couple of my remaining dahlias for a posy for a friend today but left a trail of petals as the blooms disintegrated in my hands, so even without frosts to blacken them, it seems that their season is now over and they are all flowered-out. Monday vases will become more of a challenge, but there will always be something to pop into a receptacle of some sort. Flowers, grasses, foliage, twigs, fruit or veg, just something from our gardens or foraged nearby, brought inside to bring us pleasure from close observation. Do join us, leaving links to and from this post.
Rambling in the Garden 
Just like spiders which I rather like, and can spend time watching, and admiring, I feel the same about your Chrysanthemum. Clever techniques with the photography to take white against white,. Here is my contribution this week: https://noellemace.blogspot.com/2020/11/in-vase-on-monday-needs-must.html
Clever? Definitely not -just pot luck as I didn’t have time to look out another background so used my trusty sheet! It was dark before I viewed the photos so I wouldn’t have got a second chance… 😉
Pingback: In a Vase on Monday: Anastasia | Words and Herbs
Love the white version of your spidery Chrysanthemum Cathy. What a sweet little sign. I need one for the mice, although I am sure they are as illiterate as spiders! I think our house would come to a standstill if either of us feared spiders… the cellar is full of them. Thankfully the mice haven’t found their way indoors. 😉 Here is my vase for today. Also Chrysanths. As you say, from now on it will be more of a challenge to find something! https://wordsandherbs.wordpress.com/2020/11/23/in-a-vase-on-monday-anastasia/
Yes, it would be a handicap here too! We have occasionally had field mice in the house, but not for a very long time – we have some plug-in deterrents which may or may not do the trick
Very unusual, and very lovely. 🙂
Thanks Joanne
Fantastic – what splendid flowers. I’m really tempted to grow something this outrageous!
If I am to succumb to growing chrysanthemums I may as well grow something outrageous!! I shall take cuttings next year and send you one if you like – mine started its life with me this year as a rooted cutting and it’s over 7 feet tall now… 😉
Beautiful chrysanthemums. They seems very tactile–I want to reach out and touch. Hope you’re well. Thanks for hosting Cathy!
https://pbmgarden.blog/2020/11/23/in-a-vase-on-monday-zinnias-with-ginger-lily/
Just tentatively reach out into your screen…😉 All well here and I hope progress is still being made with you and Mr PBM
Not quite the touch I expected!😀 He’s continuing to improve and we are celebrating his birthday today! Thanks so much Cathy!
And I hope it is a happy one for him 😊
Nice creamy white spiders! We have Banana spiders in the house occasionally – they look like tarantulas but are non poisonous, one fell on my face when I opened the drapes one morning, scared the daylights out of me. Here is my vase Happy Monday https://theshrubqueen.com/2020/11/23/in-a-vase-on-monday-summery-winter-flowers/
I know spiders are sometimes found on imported bananas in the UK, but I have a feeling they have been a more dangerous variety. I haven’t encountered any though , and despite tolerating native spiders I would be more than wary of one of those… 😉
Another beauty.
Thanks Sandra
I adore your spider chrysanthemums, Cathy. Sadly, I can’t find blooms like this even in the floral shop attached to my grocery store much less locate plants for sale in my local nurseries. It IS getting harder to round up flowers even here in La-La Land but I didn’t have to dig into my succulent collection this week: https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/2020/11/in-vase-on-monday-bouncy-blooms.html
I have bought these fantasy ones as rooted cuttings from a dahlia/chrysanthemum specialist (Halls of Heddon). I have checked and it seems they will export but orders for 2021 outside the EU are closed for 2021. I suspect it might prove prohibitively expensive though
Those are ethereal and lovely Cathy! Never seen a white spider but I have to say that if I saw a black spider that looked like these I would probably run a mile! Hope you are well and have a good week. Amanda
Haha – yes, that would be a lot of legs!!
Pingback: A Week of Flowers – Day Two | Eliza Waters
My favorite style of mum, these are exquisite, Cathy. Your arrangement allows them to stand out in all their glory!
My vase this week is one from Oct. that I never shared, paired up with Cathy’s Daily Flower meme: https://wp.me/p3O3z4-2DI
They are pretty astonishing aren’t they? I shall stop at just these 2 varieties though, as they take up such a lot of space (heightwise that is!)
Cathy I love your spider chrysanthemums, they are divine, magnificent. They look spectacular in the black vase. And I love the little “spiders keep out” sign. Your Chrysanthemums are a treasure Cathy. Have a good week. Take good care of the golfer and you. Very affectionate greetings from Margarita.
They are such unique blooms, aren’t they? Hope you and your Mum are keeping as well as possible
Cathy thank you very much for your kind words. Yes, they are unique and very special flowers, magnificent, I love them. I have never seen anything so beautiful. My dear Mother and I continue to go to doctors, but we are going ahead. Take care. Very affectionate greetings from Margarita.
Good to hear you and your Mum are making progress
Not a spider fan – in fact I scream before running and wait for himself to remove spider before I will return. Your spider chrysanthemum is rather special though – so delicate looking.
Thanks Anna, and it has got better during the week, unlike Salhouse Joy whose flowers were probably already mature when I picked them
It’s an exquisite vase, Cathy! Truly. But it did rather remind me of how guilty I felt when I got my hoover out to get rid of all the autumn spiderwebs in the house.
I tend to gently prod them so they run away – and apologise for disturbing the webs!
There are so many here – and I’m much too impatient. But will employ a little kindness next time, thinking of you!
Those are really unique. I remember spider mums, but these are unusually finely textured.
I do like this white one a lot – just SO tall a plant and so ungainly too!
They were likely developed for the flowers more than their practicality to the garden.
I guessed that would be the case!