I was excited to arrive back at the garden and see all of the new tulips out and drifts of Thalia narcissi under the citrus trees. Friends were having a memorial so I made one vase with mostly pale colours: Tulips White Liberstar and Camargue, Freesia Symphony, Iris Apollo, Narcissus Thalia and Early Cheer, Lupins, Scilla, Iceberg Rose, and Hellebore x sternii.
More absent than normal this week, I’m in Vietnam, travelling down the Mekong on a boat. Like Cathy at Rambling in the Garden, this week I’m sharing Other People’s Vases. People here may not have a lot of things, but flowers and bright colours are everywhere – I feel like I’m filling up with colour.
Many of the fishing boats have vases of flowers lashed to a prong at the bow; our guide tells me that these are for the water gods. Chrysanthemums, Marigolds, and Tuberose are popular.
Arriving this week I was greeted by lambs on the lawn and the first of the ‘new’ Dutch Iris, “Autumn Princess”. I grabbed my camera to capture both before the lambs and mothers were ushered back into the driveway to make their way back through the fence.
The new Tulips are starting to bloom too, with Daydream opening a surprising lemon colour. It seems that the honey and apricot tones I was expecting only develop as the flowers age. Continue reading “In a Vase on Monday. – Spring Bulbs and Lambs”
The morning was so sparkling that I stopped for a photo opportunity while loading the car. It was -3 according to the new thermometer – it almost never gets this cold. In the greenhouse the poblano/ancho chillies are still producing. The lambs seemed happy enough – after weeks of rain and wind sunny and cold is probably preferable.
Continue reading “Spring flowers in a Vase on a chilly Monday”
The Early Cheer and Tazetta type Narcissi are starting to flower and the Hellebores are out as well. It’s amazing that they look so fresh and unblemished when the howling gales and hail have torn half the leaves off the lime trees. The Michelia ‘Bubbles’ is covered with sweet scented flowers which are being torn up as they open so I picked a few buds in the hope they might open indoors. (not yet)
Continue reading “In a Vase on Monday – Narcissi and Hellebores”
It’s over a month to the first official day of Spring, but the very first daffodils and hyacinths and the first muscari are blooming, and in the space of the weekend 3 new little lambs appeared in the field next door.
My tulips are up. I’m especially happy with these because they are the ones which I’ve dug up and chilled each year for the last 3 years. I know this because all the new bulbs are still small leaves, whereas these red ones are all blooming. I think this is because my fridge has glass doors, so they probably had more light than they should have had during the chilling process.
Continue reading “Winter Tulips and Honeysuckle in a Vase on Monday”
This little pink Chrysanthemum is the only one I have been able to find until this year – I’ve just found a yellow one and ordered it. I’m envious of all the lovely Chrysanthemums that seem to be available outside of NZ.
Continue reading “In a Vase on Monday – Autumn Roses and Chrysanthemums”
Salvias, Tithonias, and Dahlias are the stars of the Autumn garden. The bees love them, so I took only a few of the Salvia mexicana and mixed them with purple Salvia officinalis and variegated sage leaves. Continue reading “In a Vase on Monday – Salvia”
A few unknown Dahlias and a Gertrude Jekyll Rose in a jam jar – we’re going through the new pear and cinnamon jam very quickly.
Absent Gardener 