Blooms are almost non-existent in the garden at the moment after several days of frost, but I had two options: another pelargonium from the Coop, or stems of the overwintering Salvia ‘Phyllis Fancy’ in the working greenhouse. The latter, which never made it back into a border last year after its previous overwintering, remaining in its pot in disgrace, won the toss. After continued underperformance, I have been on the point of banishing it altogether, but now plan to give it a reprieve, albeit keeping it in a pot rather than giving it border space. However, I am not holding my breath…
Making up for the paucity of blooms required a selection of twigs, each holding more promise than the salvia: Salix gracilistyla ‘Mount Aso’, with its embryonic pink pussies which may emerge early in the warmth of the house, witch hazel Hamamelis ‘Orange Peel’, always the first to bloom and with the teeniest evidence of orange shreds to come, freshly de-leafed stems of Cornus alba ‘Sibirica’ and with them the anticipation of their months of colour, and the distinctively bright seeds of stinking iris I foetidissima, the cheery result of many months of understatement.
My delightfully cute miniature IKEA bag proved the ideal prop, although not quite big enough to hold the vase, another IKEA purchase. To give you an idea of scale, the vase and contents stand no more than 12″ (30cm) tall.
It is clear from this post that our Monday vases do not need to hold blooms and winter months in the northern hemisphere provide opportunities for blue sky thinking, whatever the actual colour of the wintry skies above us. Twigs, grasses, foliage, dried material, fruit/veg, pebbles…nothing is out of the question, so do join us, leaving links to and from this post.
Rambling in the Garden 
That salvia is such a pretty colour… maybe it would do better in the border?
Haha, you would think so, but it never has done!
Maybe it’s a slow starter…
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I am in the same mood of looking forward this week, with hazel catkins in my vase today. So it is lovely to see your cornus and Pussy willows, and to hear your first witch hazel is showing signs of life! The salvia deserves a second chance, don’t you think? I give plants three chances here, before they go on the compost! Thanks, as always, for hosting! 😃
Doh – I meant to include some twisted hazel twigs in mine (no catkins yet though), but forgot… I am hoping the pussy willow might actually open in the vase, given a week or two. I will try the salvia in a bigger pot – mind you, the fact that it is so late flowering is another thing not in its favour. I first saw it on a other Midlands blog and he had a big clump which may or may not have flowered earlier, but it has never done so here, pot or no pot
Sounds as though S. ‘Phyllis Fancy’ has been given a partial reprieve but better get her act together! Her flower color is beautiful Cathy. Hope the pot will be a good solution. Have a good week! https://pbmgarden.blog/2023/12/11/in-a-vase-on-monday-cerinthe-and-calla/
She has certainly been warned, Susie! Have finally finished playing catch up this week, so it should indeed be a better week, thanks. Hope your week goes well too
I am a great salvia supporter! Looks good to me. I like the pussy willow anchor contrasting with the Iris berries, do they really smell bad? sounds terrible. Thanks for hosting https://theshrubqueen.com/2023/12/11/in-a-vase-on-monday-chasing-christmas/
I have never noticed a smell with the iris, Amelia!! It’s a shame that the flowers are so easily missed, as my original small plant has spread a lot over the years
Hmm, seems odd. I always avoided Stinking Hellebore due to the name when I lived further north. There is a plant here called Stink Vine, that actually stinks!
For what it’s worth, I didn’t have much luck with ‘Phyllis Fancy’ either; however, our climates are also very different. Nonetheless, the pickings are slim here too https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/2023/12/in-vase-on-monday-not-much-to-choose.html
Perhaps I ought to read up about Phyllis, and see if I am doing anything ‘wrong’ – it’s interesting to know that you have had little success too. Does she flower much later than your other salvias too?
As I recall, she did flower later. I didn’t keep her on, though.
Lovely mix from a late fall garden….I love the surprises. And that IKEA bag is adorable. I have a flower surprise too. Can’t beat the garden as winter looms. https://gardenseyeview.com/2023/12/11/darker-nights-and-fiery-days/
Yes, we just need to look a bit more closely sometimes, don’t we Donna. I love quiry miniature things, which I am sure you will have gathered from some of my other props!!
Lovely salvia…I always try to find colors in this periwinkle shade for my garden. I love periwinkle for so many reasons. I created a vase, but like you, nothing blooming now, and most everything else is looking haggard alongside the bright Christmas flowers. I used a bit of my pine and other evergreens along with some purchases. I’ll leave a link.
Oh poor old Phyllis – mind you I managed to kill mine off 😂 I was rather partial to her subtle colour though and will try her again. A trip to Chester today and then it was dark before I knew it so no vase from me today. I hope to be back next week.
Your vase is an inspiration to the possibilities that exist. I’ve read through your post and it is as if I have read a good sermon, encouraging me to look forward, see the light, and summons the dormant garden to bring forth a vase. I will try hard for next week. I happened to have a day chock full ending with the best part of the afternoon at the dentist, which is equivalent to my ‘sick note’ to teacher to be excused.
Is Salix gracilistyla ‘Mount Aso’ one of those odd willows that is difficult to grow from cuttings? I know that may sound like an inane question, but I did actually try to grow one of such willows because I did not believe that a willow could be difficult to root, but it was, and none rooted.
I soon found out when I first used it in a vase that it does root easily – but i don’t know if it goes on to grow into a decent new plant
If it roots, it would have no problem growing. Rooting is the limiting factor. Almost all willows root ridiculously easily, but the very few that do not are actually difficult to grow from cuttings.
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A delight to read! It only goes to show if one looks hard enough there is always colour to be found!
Oh definitely, Vanessa. I do a count of things in bloom in the garden on Boxing Day and some years it’s amazing how many there are, although last year there were fewer than usual
This year I will definitely be counting more seed heads than flowers! The flowering season started so early!
I have tried to add a lot of winter flowering plants, but it is always a pleasant surprise when they come, especially in a cold winter (quite mild so far this winter though)