In a Vase on Monday: Keeping Watch at Twilight

As was clear from many Six on Saturday posts this weekend, spring is very much on its way in the UK and some other northern hemisphere gardens, so spotting signs of it is a doddle, with spring bulbs very much to the fore. It was only after I snipped the contents for today’s vase that I remembered my intention to pick some of the double Narcissus ‘Tête Boucle’ from the baskets usually hanging at the front of the house, but removed to allow installation of external installation (delayed numerous times, unsurprisingly due to the weather) and now languishing largely unseen at the side of the property instead. Perhaps they will still look as good next week?

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Sadly, there were neither blue skies nor sunshine yesterday, when I created this vase, and if I had checked the forecast when I first got up I would have searched for and picked blooms, popped them in a vase and photographed them first thing, when it was at least dry. As it was, however, with other commitments later, I found myself dashing out in the rainy late afternoon to find something I could quickly cut and display and photograph.

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Like last week, I hadn’t a clue where to begin when I began my hunt for the contents of today’s IAVOM, but was prompted by the arabis shown on yesterday’s Six on Saturday, one clump of which grows close to the back door. The arabis firmly fixed the scale of the vase as ‘small’, making the rest of the task suddenly easier, as I cut unnamed pulmonaria and Cyclamen coum blooms, adding slightly reddish sprigs from Nandina domestica ‘Obsessed’ and an unlabelled heather that had been included in baskets at the front of the house to provide some height.

The great diving beetle is one of Britain’s largest beetles, with an olive-brown, oval body up to 3cm in length. It’s found in large ponds and other bodies of water, including swimming pools, and is easy to spot as it rises to the surface of the pond to replenish its air supply, which it stores beneath its wings.

Many people think of daffodils as the harbingers of spring, but we gardeners know there can be many other early spring treasures delighting us before most of the daffodils begin to emerge. Whatever we think of yellow blooms, however, there is still something pleasingly cheery about daffodils and narcissi of various types although personally, I prefer the smaller varieties and those that are – yes, I have to admit it – less yellow.

…well, not really, actually a vase of Helleborus ‘Double Aubergine’. With no real aubergines to hand, the flowers and an arum leaf are propped up by a few (shop-bought) sugar snap peas, and displayed in a slim-waisted dark green vase, possibly Caithness Glass.

I know I'm in the minority here, but Valentine's Day is my favorite holiday. I love the cheerful pops of red and pink it offers after a cold and gray January.

Courtesy of Shawn Johnson / Target

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