Suddenly it is Monday again and here we have a spotty vase for IAVOM.
Inspired by the yellow spotty laurel Aucuba japonica and accompanied by my yellow spotty jug and a yellow spotty dice, the vase also includes ‘forced’ stems of pink pussy willow Salix gracilistyla ‘Mount Aso’ and, for a splash of colour, hips from climbing rose ‘Parkdirektor Riggers’. I read recently that there are male and female varieties of laurel, which I hadn’t realised; mine has the occasional berry, so is presumably female. The willow was cut several weeks ago and sprouted leaves before the catkins finally appeared, but they were worth waiting for and surprised me further when I lifted them from their holding vase to use for IAVOM, as the stems have all rooted!
I know that willow roots easily, but it certainly never crossed my mind that these stems would root, and I shall pot them up when this vase has done its duty and create more pink pussies for others tempted by their cuteness!
It has been a useful exercise featuring more foliage in recent vases, proving yet again that blooms are not essential. Perhaps you can find some to pop into a vase or jamjar yourself and join us for IAVOM?
Rambling in the Garden 
Simple but stunning.
Thanks Linda
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Looks especially nice viewed from above Cathy. And the spotty theme is clever! I don’t actually have a vase as such this week, but am joining you anyway. 😃https://wordsandherbs.wordpress.com/2022/01/10/in-a-vase-on-monday-carmen/
I wanted to use the willow stems before I potted them up, and the larel had been calling to me – I think another blogger had included some recently
I too like the theme and the yellow jug is very cheery. I had just one rooted cutting, from putting stems of the Mount Aso in the ground, but I am sure several of my friends would welcome a plant, so I shall be taking your tip on board. Here is my Vase this week:https://noellemace.blogspot.com/2022/01/in-vase-on-monday-new-vase.html
Thanks Noelle – I wish I had discovered how easily they root earlier, but I shall still see if anyone will buy very newly potted-up plants when we open in February!
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Adorable Pink Pussy willow! I am still just a little bit obsessed with Moss-on-a-plate: https://daffodilwild.wordpress.com/2022/01/10/in-a-vase-on-monday-15/
I was thinking of you when I rambled in the garden this morning and passed a lovely bit of cushion or bun moss!
Aw! That’s lovely! ❤
Delightful Cathy! The pink Pussy Willow is charming. I’ve only seen white. My garden mentor gave me pussy willow for my previous garden, but I didn’t appreciate it then as I have come to now. Aucuba is a great plant for the garden and quite useful in flower arrangements as you have shown. I have made a mental note to replace mine that was damaged by some tree work. https://pbmgarden.blog/2022/01/10/in-a-vase-on-monday-tres-chic/
The aucuba only came to me as it was £2 bargain some years ago that the Golfer expressed an interest in, but I tucked it out of the way in the woodland! Since IAVOM I have come to appreciate it for its foliage and do admire it in passing now!
I saw aucuba for years on campus and didn’t care for it much it. I’ve grown to appreciate it too.
Well yes, and there are other plants I could say te same about too!! 😉
Lovely to be back seeing your vases Cathy! I agree any little thing works. Right now my garden is bare and tiny so have a few vases from the fall….I explain it in the post https://gardenseyeview.com/2022/01/10/losing-my-garden/
It is so long since I have been blogging but love being back in its warm embrace and especially here to see all the gardens and blooms.
Oh hello Donna – I am thrilled 😊 to see you back here again and have thought about you in your absence! I hope all is well with you and your life 👍 Welcome back!
Thank you Cathy. I have missed everyone. I have been murky a bit from time to time when I couldn’t quite get back with more intention.
Hopefully more on an even keel now though? Take care x
Ha! When I first saw the lead photo on your post I thought ‘uh oh….a sick plant…’ Glad to further read it’s just a naturally spotted leaf! I love that pussy willow – remember seeing it last year, I believe. Pretty sure my plot gets too dry in the summer to keep it happy…
I thought I’d look back and share a pot of summer colour on the REALLY cold January day!
Haha, yes, I suppose it could look sickly when you see it out of the context of the whole plant! I don’t think this willow is as demanding as some in terms of moisture- I remember checking because where I planned to plant it was not too far from the house (and our neighbour’s!!)
I am a foliage lover for vases, this reminds me of Gold Dust Aucuba an old favorite of mine. What spotty fun. New plants from a vase are an added treat. Thank you for hosting. Here’s mine: https://theshrubqueen.com/2022/01/10/in-a-vase-on-monday-dombeyas-inverted/
Is the spotting the same on ‘Gold Dust’? That’s a good name!
Similar, looks a bit more like spray paint.
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Love the spotty vase and content especially Salix ‘Mount Aso’ which has been on my wish list but couldn’t find it yet around here. If you were nearer I’d pop over to pinch a cutting. 😉 Here’s my vase for today: https://personaleden.wordpress.com/2022/01/10/in-a-vase-on-a-monday-january-gems/
Haha – you would be very welcome, Annette! 😁
Playing off the spotted plant with a spotted jug is a nice touch! Like Amelia, I thought the spotted plant was Aucuba at first. Pussy willows are yet another plant I wish I could grow. Technically, at least some will grow in my climate but they require too much water to thrive so they’ve found no home in my garden. Thanks, as always, for hosting. Here’s my post: https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/2022/01/in-vase-on-monday-return-of-triplets.html
The spotty plant is aucuba, Kris, although I don’t know the variety. Pretty though the pink pussy willow is, I am sure there are far more deserving plants for your precious rain!
Oh that it’s a most spotty dotty vase indeed Cathy contents and all and I’m sure that there will be no shortage of good homes for such adorable kittens. My first vase of the year is here : https://greentapestry.blogspot.com/2022/01/in-vase-on-monday-just-dropping-in.html
Hopefully I shall have some pink kittens potted-up and available at our FEbruary opening 👍
Cathy, Happy New Year 2022 !!! Cathy I am very sorry not to have written in so long, but I am still very depressed.
The pink willow is divine, adorable, I love it. Yellow-speckled laurel is wonderful. I love the yellow vase with polka dots and it is charming with the plants and branches: it is a divine and wonderful arrangement, I love it. I really like the detail of the yellow dice. Cathy I hope that from the willow branches that have taken root, many branches will take root and you will have new saplings. Cathy I hope you and the golfer are in good health. Take good care of each other and be very careful with the omicron variant that is ravaging all over Europe. Have a good and happy week. I wish you the best. Very affectionate greetings from Margarita.
Good to hear from you Margarita, and I am so sorry to hear about your continued depression
Cathy I’m glad you like to hear from me. The depression has become chronic, but you have to keep living. And your wonderful blogs help me a lot as well as “talking” to you. Thanks for everything. Very affectionate greetings from Margarita.
I am sure it would help at least a little if you were able to get to your country house this year…
I hope so Cathy, spend the whole Summer in the country house, if no problems come …. Warm regards from Margarita.
That would be lovely if that’s what happens this year 😊
How fun! And your vase and arrangement are so pretty!
Thanks Beth, even just a bit of greenery or twig is attractive in itself
I do love your spots, and the aucuba/dice/vase combination definitely leaves me smiling. I also quite like the combination of rose hips with the rosy pussy willow buds–a little of the old year and a little of the new year together!
Even here in a mild-winter climate I’m falling back on foliage this week: https://smallsunnygarden.substack.com/p/in-a-vase-winter-fare
I did look to see if any of the heelbores had a bloom that would add the colour, but they are not properly there yet
How on earth did you happen to have a yellow die for prop use? Your ingenuity is staggering!
It is brilliant that your willow has rooted so easily. I bought a S. ‘Mount Aso’ after seeing it in a vase by Liz a couple of years back, unfortunately I left it in a pot over the summer and it didn’t like repeatedly drying out. It’s in the ground now, but in recovery. So it’s nice to enjoy it in your vase.
If your poorly Mount Aso didn’t recover just ask and I can send you either a rooted or unrooted cutting. I too bought it after being introduced to it through Chloris/Liz. I bought multiple dice in different colours when I was teaching (it was a small special needs class and usually easier funding useful things like the dice myself) – they have proved useful since , and not just for vase props!
Spotty laurel? That is a new one for me. I know it as gold dust plant. Some but not all of ours get plump red berries on them. Unfortunately, only a few perform well for us. Surprisingly, I saw some in Olympia in Washington, so they tolerate some degree of frost.