‘Thalia’ is the last of the daffys to bloom (and my favorite). Normally I would cut only a few to enjoy indoors but heavy rain had beaten many of them down. I consider this a rescue mission. The vase was spotted at our everything store, where they have started adding more than the plain glass ‘hospital vases’ we are used to. It goes nicely with the tea light holder gifted to us earlier by a house guest.

It is necessary to get right up close to detect the light fragrance, which is just how I like it.

The arrangement at work needed plumping up, so out with the Hellebores and in with a couple of branches of Corylopsis and some evergreens. The Pieris ‘Karenoma’ is still hanging on, bless its heart, as is the Arum italicum leaf. The barn turns into a wind tunnel most afternoons, so to keep the vase from toppling over I placed it inside this larger, black pot and filled the space between the two with gravel to weigh it down. Spring makes for some exciting posies over at Rambling in the Garden, so don’t miss it.

Now…if you are moved to leave a comment (and I adore getting comments) please do not be put off by the ominous “fatal error” message. I haven’t the skill to fix this annoying problem. On the up-side, your comment will appear nevertheless, so please ignore the nasty warning. Who knows what WordPress is up to here: seriously, if you have any ideas for a fix I will be eternally grateful.

Back to creating bouquets for Joy Creek, where there is so much material to work with. The star of this one is Pieris karenoma, whose vase life is so long that we will tire of it before it conks out.

This is what it looks like in situ, a mature specimen topping out at 6′. I was never drawn to Pieris until I fell in love with this one.

At the other end of the spectrum are the Hellebores, notoriously short-lived. I expected to need to trade them out after only a few days but they surprised me by still looking pretty good after more than a week. I was able to manipulate the blossoms to show their faces by winding them through sturdier stems.

One Arum italicum was all it took to complete the picture.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, R has been doing a prodigious amount of pruning. He brought in an armload of branches and stuck them in a gallon jar…unpretentious beauty at its best.

Will those little swelling nodes amount to something? We shall see. While we’re waiting, let’s pop over to see what Cathy’s meme has attracted this week. See it HERE.

Now…if you are moved to leave a comment (and I adore getting comments) please do not be put off by the ominous “fatal error” message. I haven’t the skill to fix this annoying problem. On the up-side, your comment will appear nevertheless, so please ignore the nasty warning. Who knows what WordPress is up to here: seriously, if you have any ideas for a fix I will be eternally grateful.

I watched through the kitchen window as Richard struggled with this mix of greenery, trying to get it to do his bidding. He’s an artist so eventually he coaxed it into a pleasing configuration. If you have been following Cathy’s In a Vase on Monday meme, you would be forgiven if you assume that this flower arranging gig is easy-peasy. After all, the many participants consistently come up with gorgeous arrangements. To be fair, the flowers and greens themselves are pretty enough to carry the day if all you do is plunk a handful into a jug and call it good. Many of the Monday entries are real works of art and their creators often are generous with tips and tricks employed to get them there.

Those greens were still looking fresh even after sitting on our deck since the holidays. I decided to piggy-back on that success story by adding some sprigs of Nandina and three stems of Hellebore…sorry, I don’t have a name for this one but it endears itself to me by holding its head up high to show off its sweet coloring and pattern rather than nodding shyly as so many of them do.

Interesting (to me) how different it looks in different lighting situations.

Now here’s a closer look at those peachy Hellebores.

I can’t resist giving you a peek at my Valentine tulips. They were tightly furled when they arrived and looked like they would be solid red. What a pleasant surprise to see the delicate white margins as the petals opened. I’ve had mixed results from transferring potted tulips to the garden but one can hope. Speaking of hope: I hope I have convinced you to visit Cathy’s Rambling in the Garden and even to join in the weekly fun and games.

Now…if you are moved to leave a comment (and I adore getting comments) please do not be put off by the ominous “fatal error” message. I haven’t the skill to fix this annoying problem. On the up-side, your comment will appear nevertheless, so please ignore the nasty warning. Who knows what WordPress is up to here: seriously, if you have any ideas for a fix I will be eternally grateful.

I liked the way the Heliantemum maximillianii yellows pick up where the yellow in the Dahlias leave off.

A touch of Autumn enters the picture with a branch from the sourwood tree. It will flame out in brilliant red as the days grow shorter.

More russet tones compliments of the crape myrtle.

A branch of dogwood yielded up a few of its little red fruits.

I had to take a few steps back to include the Solidago ‘Fireworks’ shooting off in every direction. I’m a day late for Cathy’s ‘In a Vase on Monday’ but you can still get in on the fun by clicking HERE.

The matte finished pot suggested a bouquet of pale colors, a bit of a surprise in this season of bold, burnished hues. Delusional Drive was getting overgrown, reaching out to snare visitors as they struggled to reach us. My pruning efforts yielded plenty of material to work with.

Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ was beginning to color up, giving me a nice pale pink to pick up the color of the Hydrangea quercifolia. Some variegated Euonymous provides two shades of green, with the last blossom of Kniphofia ‘Percy’s Pride’ sporting almost the same color as the vase.

A few dangling blossoms of Fuchsia magellanica ‘Alba’, also known as ‘Maiden’s Blush’, complete the picture.

Oh, wait! There’s also a handful of Miscanthus ‘Morning Light’ to add a linear element and one huge leaf from the rice paper plant.

Cathy of Rambling in the Garden hosts In a Vase on Monday weekly and it is always worth a visit. I put this arrangement together two weeks ago and the only things that petered out and had to be removed were the Kniphofia and the Fuchsia. It needed to be an outdoor arrangement because the Hydrangea immediately began to drop teensy seeds all over the place. Being outside in the cool probably contributed to its longevity.

My friend Susan B gave me this rustic metal tray filled with five vases.

What fun it has been, cruising the garden in search of just the right materials. Here we have chive blossoms, sprigs of Euphorbia ‘Fen’s Ruby’, Geum ‘Totally Tangerine’ and an Iris that shall remain nameless.

Taking a break from working at Joy Creek for health reasons is a sad state of affairs, but let’s look on the bright side. I can get back to blogging a bit more and participating in Cathy’s In a Vase on Monday meme.

Here’s the last bouquet I did for Joy Creek, where bouquets come together nearly effortlessly, given the wealth of materials to work with.

Anyone else feeling downright giddy with the early signs of spring?

Bits of this and that: some Téta a Téte daffodils, always the first to bloom; a couple of Hellebores; one tiny sprig of Stachyrus praecox (on the shrub, those racemes of pale yellow buds would be dangling downward); foliage of Brachyglottis greyi and Cotoneaster; three sprigs of pussy willows. The nearly heart-shaped perfume bottle was added to pick up the color of the Hellebore and in recognition of Saint Valentine’s Day.

The sweet pussy willows deserve a photo of their own. A friend gave me a few stems in a bouquet, which I enjoyed indoors for a long time, then stuck in the ground. This is the first year they have produced stems to spare.

So Welcome, Spring! Hope you can stay a while! Cathy, over at Rambling in the Garden hosts In a Vase on Monday, where she rounds up many bloggers’ vases for your viewing pleasure each and every Monday of the year.

…I’m late for a very important date.

…late in so many ways. I’d been eyeing the bright red new foliage of Photinia for weeks but never got around to cutting it for a vase. As it transitioned from red to green, it passed through this coppery/bronze stage. One opportunity lost, another presents itself.

It seemed like the perfect foil for my favorite of all the Alliums: A. siculum bulgaricum.

Here’s a closer look, without the background noise. See why I like it?

An oddball iris with an oddball name: ‘Alley Oops’ (who thinks of these things?) made the cut as well.

A handful of pebbles serve the dual purpose of holding the stems in place and acting as a design element. Now I’ll send you to Rambling in the Garden, to see what Cathy and friends have found to put in a vase this week. About that very important date: it’s Monday of each and every week, for the punctual among you.