This mid-December vase features two fragrant seasonal treasures, sprigs of candyfloss pink Viburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’ and creamy white winter honeysuckle Lonicera purpusii ‘Winter Beauty’. I say they are fragrant, but I can’t smell them myself at the moment due to a bunged-up nose!
The stems are placed in a small Prinknash Pottery vase with its distinctive deep grey sheen, the roughly triangular shape loosely (and coincidentally) mirrored by the wiry Christmas tree beside it. This little tree, bendable into whatever shape you like, came from IKEA over 20 years ago and I still value its seeming uniqueness. It does light up, in a discreet and gentle way, in a static or flashing pattern, but sadly this was not evident outside. In a darkish cupboard, you can see how bright and colourful the teeny-tiny lights are!
Blooms may well be harder to find in many northern hemisphere gardens now, but there could still be many other options in amongst twigs and leaves, grasses and seedheads, so please consider creating your own vase and sharing it with us by leaving the usual links to and from this post.
Rambling in the Garden 
When you have two such special plants and it is the start of their glory days this is the time to show them. As for your little Christmas tree you’ve treasured it for a long time and thank you for sharing this with us all. Here is my IAVOM: https://noellemace.blogspot.com/2021/12/in-vase-on-monday-13-december-2021.html
I hadn’t noticed the lonicera, Noelle, so it was a happy discovery 😁
Love the vase and the tree. Sparkles and scents!
Thanks Sandra – and I am trying to remember if it is your time out from Christmas this year…?
The Christmas tree is cool! I had some of that Lonicera for a while. Love the fragrance, don’t know that Viburnum though it is very pretty. I have been making Elderberry syrup with local honey to help with allergies, it helps. Here is my vase, thanks for hosting. https://theshrubqueen.com/2021/12/13/in-a-vase-on-monday-sunspots/
You no longer have the lonicera? Sorry to hear you have allergies – anything specific (that you would admit to?) I tried making elderflower cordial (probably the same as your syrup) one year but found it far too sweet, and I guess the honey might make it even sweeter? Good to know it helps you though
The lonicera was a few gardens ago. I am too far south to grow it now. I am allergic to pollen (some) and a few other things. The local honey helps. I couldn’t drink the syrup, it is too sweet.
Cathy, I like the openness of this, the dots of color among the green and the strong shape of the vase. That unusual Christmas tree is just wonderful.
Thanks for hosting. https://pbmgarden.blog/2021/12/13/in-a-vase-on-monday-claret-with-age/
Thanks Susie – it is like meeting an old friend, taking this little tree out of its box every year 😊 It was intriguing how well the shape worked with the jug, something completely unplanned
I hope your stuffy nose clears soon so you can smell the flowers, Cathy. The tiny tree is cute and I’m amazed that the lights still work after 20 years. It always seems my tree lights die out in about 2 years, with one string or another generally going dark right in the middle of the season 😉 I scavenged my garden to fill one vase and to make up a wreath this week: https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/2021/12/in-vase-on-monday-scraps-from-garden.html
Yes, Christmas tree light can be a law unto themeselves, can’t they? I noticed there was a light or two out on our ‘proper’ tree, but fortunately it hasn’t affected the rest of the string. The non-replaceable bulbs on the little bendy tree are tiny, just a few mm across, but presumably don’t suffer the same sort of burnout as ordinary bulbs too
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How lovely to have scented flowers so early. Viburnum will not flower until March here. Hope your cold gets better soon Cathy, and you can smell them as well as enjoy the look of them, which surely makes you think of spring! Here is my very small offering for today: https://wordsandherbs.wordpress.com/2021/12/13/in-a-vase-on-monday-everlasting-light/
I wonder why your viburnum flowers that much later? Here, there may be blooms off and on from the autumn right through to spring. I am not normally prone to colds at all, but I had one 3 months ago too – its preferable to other things I could have had though! And the Golfer has had a chest infection for weeks…
Well, my own viburnums flower in March or April, and ‘Dawn’ might flower a little earlier, but would not do well if there was a big freeze. I have never seen a winter flowering viburnum or honeysuckle in a garden here, only once in a very sheltered botanical garden in Munich.
That’s interesting, especially as the lonicera is pretty hardy, as far as I know…just checked it: H6, and hardy in ‘all of UK and northern Europe to -10/15’ Would you be classed as N Europe? Blooms on the viburnum turn brown in adverse weather conditions (probably rain as well as cold), so close up they don’t always look pristine and picking perfect ones isn’t always easy!
It can get as cold as -23°C here, and permafrost and icy north winds put an end to winter flowerers so often. I rarely even see a winter flowering cherry here. So I think people generally just don’t plant them. A shame, but then we have warmer summers too, as compensation!
Yes, that IS cold!
Gee, there is not much to that honeysuckle. I suppose that is one of the features that I like about it. I am unfamiliar with it, but have observed that it seems to be rather subdued and perhaps able to hide in the garden. Japanese honeysuckle is the only sort that is common here, and although very delightfully fragrant (and one of my favorite fragrances), it leaves me wondering what the other honeysuckles are like. I brought back a species that is native to Oklahoma, and I am very fond of it because it came from Oklahoma, but it lacks fragrance.
These ones are very shrubby and woody, Tony, so very different from the clambering ones. The flowers are small too, about half an inch across
Ah, but fragrant! If it stays small and discrete enough, the lack of climbing vines make it easier to incorporate into a confined landscape. Japanese honeysuckle is very nicely fragrant, but is also aggressive, and climbs over other plants, or onto buildings and into trees. I need to cut it back so regularly that it can not bloom as long as it wants to.
These are not attractive shrubs Tony, as they get so woody, but pruning them back keeps them more shapely
Well, I have no problem pruning things back. I will be cutting the honeysuckle that I brought from Oklahoma back to the ground by the end of winter. It is a vining mess, but It is SO rad!
I must say I have a dream of someday getting to smell Viburnum ‘Dawn’ at least… in someone else’s garden, no doubt, as I won’t be able to grow it here! Seems like the winter flowers are often so elegant; it certainly applies to these.
I do love your little tree with its tiny lights; I’m curious how it’s powered? We actually have our tree up and decorated–the earliest we’ve done in years.
Here is my vase; we’re expecting some colder weather shortly, but it hasn’t arrived yet! https://smallsunnygarden.substack.com/p/in-a-vase-some-welcome-snippets
Yes, many winter flowering trees and shrubs seem to be fragrant. I meant to say the tree is battery powered – 2AA batteries. Traditionally our tree goes up at the eginning of Dec (I have a birthday around then!) although when I was a child it was Christmas Eve, and it always seemed such a shame not to enjoy it for longer!
Oh sorry to read about your reduced sense of scent Cathy and hope that it is soon restored to full working order. I will have to venture out now that it has finally stopped pouring down to see if my lonicera, a cutting from you, is in flower. Love the twinkly bendy tree – sometimes IKEA yields gems 😄
I love your little Christmas tree with its little lights. The two vases, one with the Viburnum and the other with the Lonicera are divine, I love them. Cathy I hope your nose is healed so that you can enjoy the fragrance of the vases. Cathy Merry Christmas !!!. Very affectionate greetings from Margarita 😘🎄⭐🎁✨
Thanks Margarita, my cold really only lasted a few days, thankfully.
Haven’t been to IKEA for years – with a judicious choice of visiting time, I always find it a treat…