In a vase on Monday: Cooler

In hindsight, I rather wish I had taken a shot of today’s vase at a slightly higher angle, to show it as I saw it when it was first made; this would have perhaps given a better idea of the contents. Instead, the main photograph was taken, as usual, at eye level from a squatting position, with the vase positioned on fabric draped over a sheet of MDF propped up against the back of a bench in the garden. Unless it is very wet or windy, this is the default photoshoot location.

If you look closely, however, and study the shot from overhead (below) you should be able to make out the sunniest and hottest blooms I could find (in no particular order): sunflower ‘Velvet Queen’, unknown single yellow dahlia, Dahlia ‘Bishop of Llandaff’, Rudbeckia ‘Irish Eyes’ and ‘Marmalade’, Calendula ‘Indian Prince’ and ‘Snow Princess’, yellow, orange and ‘Dragon Fire’ helichrysum, and Amaranthus ‘Hot Biscuits. My go-to sunny vase is this yellow spotty jug, which worked perfectly for this sunny but cooler collection, reflecting conditions since last week’s heatwave, mainly in the low 20s but often overcast and breezy – a relief, after Monday and Tuesday’s extremes.

Today’s prop, standing in for cooling ice cubes, is look-alike optical calcite, which naturally cleaves into these geometric shapes. Spiritually, this crystal is believed to awaken consciousness to the self-limiting beliefs and fears we hold to enable forgiveness and establish harmony, peace and joy. It is also believed the Vikings used it to fix the bearing of the sun, even when obscured by clouds, to within a single degree of accuracy. More prosaically, calcite as a whole has more applications in the construction, agriculture, chemical and pharmaceutical fields than any other mineral.

I hope the weather this Monday is proving more equitable for all readers of and contributors to IAVOM. If you are in the latter camp, finding material from your own garden or foraged locally to pop into a vase or jug or jamjar, then please share it with the rest of us by leaving the usual links to and from this post.