Having planned to pick stems of muscari for today’s vase, both title and prop were still missing but, as so often happens, it all fell into place. Joining the muscari were stems of unnamed pulmonaria, adding a different shade of blue, and then foliage for contrast – foliage of Pittosporum ‘Gold Star’ and tadah! a prop! A sheet of sticky gold stars left from a Christmas project…
Finding a vase was the hardest part, as the stems needed to be pulled together into a posy to get the best effect and emphasise the complementary contrast between the blue and green, requiring a fairly narrow (but not too narrow)-necked vase. The stems literally had to be ‘shoved’ into the white Caithness Glass vase and water trickled into it.
You will be interested to hear that last week’s hellebores are looking just as fresh as they were when they were picked, unlike most hellebores, perhaps the result of the thickened stems that each carry several blooms. If this is the same for all ericsmithii hellebores then, along with their multitude of blooms, they have even more to recommend them. Sadly, I am sure I have read somewhere that the actual plants are more short-lived than other hellebores, although I am not aware of anyone who has actually experienced this.
If you would like to join in with IAVOM today or any other Monday, then please do so by finding material in your garden or foraged nearby and pop it in a vase and post it with links to and from this post. You might also want to put the date 16th April in your diary, when we will be holding another virtual meet-up of blogging friends.
Rambling in the Garden 
Reblogged this on https:/BOOKS.ESLARN-NET.DE.
Lovely, My muscari are only just peeping out.
It is just one clump Rosie, but probably quite well established – thers are not so far on. I need to add some to pots foor next year, as I have a grouping of pots for blue and white blooms and muscari are so reliable
I followed the thread of how your arrived at your Gold Star…nicely deserved and with such pretty foliage and flowers. Your round up of the performance of last week’s hellebore too was interesting. After a couple of weeks of busy times, it is such a pleasure to be able to have time to write and link in with my posy too: https://noellemace.blogspot.com/2023/03/in-vase-on-monday-follow-thread.html
You have Gol Star too, don’t you? I had to cut mine down by about half as it was getting really tall and leggy – it certainly looks better for it. Hope you and your health coped OK with your busy period
No I don’t have that one, two pittosporums in a small garden is plenty! Yes I am going through a good patch and my knees are back to normal thank goodness. Doing a full day too next Saturday at Yeo Valley where Somerset HPS are holding their Spring Plant Fair.
Must have remembered wrongly, Noelle! Good to know that your nees are behaving themselves and I hope you had a good day at Yeo Valley yesterday
I love how at ease these two colours are with each other, Cathy. In my mind, they’re working together in a similar way as the two forms – roundish leaves and spikey Muscari – complement each other.
No fresh blooms here, yet, but I’ve been remembering last year’s garden with this collection of dried stuff…
https://wp.me/p50zvt-2Qi
I agree Chris, they really do work well together – and of course you have the bobbly bits of the muscari to reflect the rounded leaves 👍 Well done for remembering to use dried material – so often I forget!
I love the touch of pink in this collection…
It’s just a hint, but it really does make a contribution, doesn’t it?
Oh what a fabulous vase. That foliage is perfect for the light purple-blue blooms, in adding a deep plum purple and almost a blueish green. Here today we are finally turning toward spring weather wise. Can’t wait. https://gardenseyeview.com/2023/03/20/open-every-door/
Thanks Donna – and I have just come across vase today that would have suited the blooms better…serves me right for not ever ‘cataloguing’ all the vases I have. Glad to hear spring is on its way for you!
There is nothing like a vase of blue flowers on a Monday morning to perk things up and another Pittosporum I have never heard of. Gold star! https://theshrubqueen.com/2023/03/20/in-a-vase-on-monday-boing/
Yes, I was really pleased to be able to pick enough muscari for a vase – blue in a vase always seems such a special treat somehow
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A lovely Pulmonaria Cathy. Blue flowers in spring are always very welcome and the dark green foliage sets them off nicely. Pittosporum isn’t hardy here, so I am not familiar with it. Does it flower in spring too? My vase contains two very well-known shrubs today:
Thanks Cathy!
Although pittosporum do flower, they don’t do so reliably – not here, anyhow. I don’t think I have ever seen flowers on mine! They are brilliant shrubs for foliage though
You have the most interesting Pittosporums. I’ve yet to see one like ‘Gold Star’, or that luscious dark variety you grow, in nurseries here. I had vase/support issues myself yesterday – maybe that means we both need to find a few more vases for our collections 😉
I went overboard again this week: https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/2023/03/in-vase-on-monday-its-spring.html Thanks, as always for hosting.
Haha – I definitely don’t need any more vases Kris, I just need to know what I have got!!
Loving the blues and gold stars too Cathy 😀 I wonder whether the supposed shorter lives of the ericsmithii hellebores might be down to all those blooms 🤔
I have wondered that too, Anna – wish I could remember where I read it… I shall have to have a word with Mr Google!
Cathy, you are the gold star for bringing so many gardeners together for your weekly meme.
Aw, thank you – it’s my pleasure 😊
Not to change the subject; but if I had done a vase, I might have done hellebores also. They are sturdy enough for a vase rather than a bowl, . . . although I suspect that they would face downward anyway. Hellebores have never done so well here. I think they enjoyed the crazily wintry winter. I doubt that they are comparable to yours, but they are excellent for here. If the individual plants of particular cultivars do not last long, why do those who grow them not grow pups prior to the demise of the original plants?
They do self seed here Tony but are notoriously promiscuous and seedlings are often nondescript faded purple colours
Yes, that is what they do here, . . . except they do not typically perform so well in this climate, regardless of their bloom quality. Do they grow well from division of pups? If any here were worth bothering with, I would want to grow copies of them before the original plants died naturally.
Not sure how well they grow from divison Tony, as my borders are generally so stuffed I wouldn’t know what was a divison and what was a seedling!
I do not know either since I do not need or want to grow any more than what is already in the landscape.