In a Vase on Monday: Abundantly Clear

I absolutely love outdoor decorations that use wine bottles! Especially blue bottles, but those can be harder to come by. I have colored bottles before using Modge Podge and food coloring for a transparent bottle, or with spray paint for an opaque one, but I wanted something different this time.

Balcony gardens can be quite valuable for those living in urban areas with little outside space. They might not be big, but when they are carefully designed, balcony gardens can be truly magical spaces—bringing nature to the heart of a town or city. If you have a sliver of outdoor space by means of a balcony, here is what to think about.

For the last few days I have been envisagingthe creation of a vase of red blooms for today, which we duly have, although I am far from satisfied with the end result. Sadly, there weren’t as many of the small decorative Dahlia ‘William Kent’ fully open as I would have liked, and seeing the photographs I regret not cutting the stems shorter, to allow the blooms to hug the rim of the vase more. But at least it is a bountiful vase of red blooms, which was my overall aim, so that’s a positive!

The jewel-like colours of the dahlias were calling me today, but having featured ‘brights’ in recent vases I decided to go for more pastel shades instead. Although I started with cosmos (not as tall as some years, not a bad thing, and certainly bushy and reasonably floriferous, which they weren’t last year), cutting a few stems of each variety, they have largely disappeared amongst the other contents. Having discovered another Double Click variety, I have grown all four this year: DC Cranberries, Snow Puff, Rose Bonbon and Bicolor Rose, the latter being the newest one.

A beautiful Florida landscape might bring to mind visions of heart-shaped Caladium leaves, oak trees draped in Spanish moss, and colorful dahlias—all well-suited to the Sunshine State’s unique subtropical climate and sandy soil conditions. How can you ensure success in your Florida garden? 

When I popped blooms into the test tubes of one of the stands we had for sale today at our open garden, it made me think straight away of ‘three little maids from school’. The original picking was of three different calendula – Indian Prince, Sunset Buff and Snow Princess – but the latter two were looking a little fraught after a day in the sun, so for my IAVOM contribution I replaced them with more Indian Princes, in a move that made me think of some oriental magic show, transforming Indian princes into schoolgirls (or maybe it is the other way round?). The schoolgirls are certainly of the undisciplined sort, refusing to stand up straight and smile for the camera.

The title of this post is more of an afterthought than anything else, but if you are wondering why I refer to golden arrows when the arrows are anything but golden, all will become clear in due course!

The clients that I was at both these mornings only need me for a half day at this time of year. Give it until next month and I’ll be back to full days. But that means I have the afternoons to myself. So after popping along to our local independent garden centre to buy 6 more bags of compost and running a few other errands, I was then home in time for lunch and the entire afternoon was spent in my garden doing all sorts.

Pink and white in a Victorian cranberry vase

If you love growing blooming plants and want to try something unique, these Water Flowers that Grow in Containers and Vases should be your pick.

Vases are a fun way to showcase the beauty of flowers or propagate plants from cuttings as they take up so little space. Just immerse the nodes or the end of the stems in the water, add some pebbles for decoration, and you are done! Here are some Popular Indoor Plants You Can Grow In Vases without too much trouble!

Recycle a tetra pak or juice carton to make a cool DIY flower vase from it. It won’t cost you a dime and your decor item will be ready. Keep a fresh cut flower in it or use a faux flower, it will look beautiful.