Easter weather has been very mixed here in central Italy with Friday being quite sunny and pleasant, Saturday and Sunday cold, windy and wet and Monday is forecast to be sunny but with very strong winds; so not really ideal for enjoying the garden.
Ami majus inject lightness into the arrangement
Both my vases today were actually prepared for a dinner party on Friday evening but are still looking lovely; in fact by Saturday the tulips were actually standing up better than they are in my images taken on Friday.
The Tulips were in a pot that was outside on the terrace for most of winter, the bulbs had not been pre-chilled and then placed in the greenhouse about a month ago, they are very slightly earlier than the same variety planted in the garden but those are about to flower demonstrating that the chilling is the critical factor in when tulips flower.
My favourite flowers – tulips in an angular vase
Tulips and Cerinthe
Cerinthe helps support the tulips in the oblong-shaped vase and as the pink is a slightly blue pink I think the colours complement each other.
The other vase is actually a metal bird cage a friend gave me for Christmas (she was one of the dinner guests so was pleased to see her gift being used). Inside I placed a round glass container into which I placed a block of oasis.
Birdcage flowers
White Ranunculus
Wall flowers are used around the base
Again there are a mass of different colours and types of flowers including, Wall flowers, Ranunculus white and orange, Larkspur, Ami majus, a couple of stems of Cerinthe and deliciously perfumed Freesias.
White Ranunculus are the dominant flower
Around the table I used my little Campari bottles yet again with the same flowers as in the birdcage so that every guest had a small arrangement close to their wine glasses.
Thank you Cathy for hosting this addictive meme; do visit Rambling in the Garden to see what she and everyone else who has been smitten with this idea has found for their Easter Vases. My very best Easter wishes to you all, Christina
Creating my own garden of the Hesperides 
so beautiful!
Cerinthe and tulips are a wonderful combination, I love the colour of those, and the bird cage is a great contrast, fun and a riot of spring colour. Lucky dinner guests!
The pops of orange in the birdcage vase make this an especially pleasing combination.
I love both your arrangements. The tulips are such a gorgeous colour, which variety is it? The bird cage arrangement is stunning. What a beautiful combination of colours. Do you grow the Ranunculus in pots or in the ground?
That is a gorgeous arrangement in the birdcage Christina! All those lovely spring flowers look beautiful together and it has such a happy springy feel to it. And the tulips and cerinthe are wonderful too. I bet your guests were impressed! 🙂
That birdcage looks sensational Christina, the dark blue larkspur looks particularly good. Warm and sunny here, so gardening in a t shirt and shorts!
Icy wind here, a fleece or padded jacket has been required today.
Both arrangements are lovely, but my favourite has to be the birdcage arrangement. It is so pretty. I love the white Ranunculus with the blue Larkspur. I might see if I can get some Larkspur seeds as I have never grown it.
Both arrangements are wonderful, Christina. I love the simplicity of the tulip arrangement, which allows those gorgeous flowers to shine. The bird cage arrangement is ingenious. It’s a clever way to give the flowers additional support, although I’m wondering what effort it took to get the flowers jutting through the bars in such a balanced way. You have me regretting that there are no larkspur or ranunculus in my garden this year.
The cage was fiddly to put together. The top opened so the lower flowers could be positioned using one hand inside the vase and one outside; once the top was on, it wasn’t so easy and would have been easier with flowers with stronger stems. If I use it again I must try to remember that.
Sempre splendidi i tuoi mazzi di fiori: ma la gabbia con i fiori colorati supera ogni immaginazione!!!
Grazie Lidia, sono contenta che tu sia piaciuta.
Yes, the tulips are a gorgeous pink, so do let us know what they are – but the birdcage!! Wow, Christina! It’s amazing – you and your dinner guests must have been thrilled at the result. The range and colour of the blooms and the whole concept are fantastic – what a brilliant idea. Thank you so much for your enthusiasm and creativity 🙂
I’ve been searching for the name of the tulips this morning as it is one I’ve not grown before. It is Jazz from Peter Nyssen. I have to admit that the Monday (or sometimes weekend) vase have become a very important pleasure in my life; I am very grateful for your encouragement and support of others who have taken up this meme with such enthusiasm.
I tried to reply from my phone, but don’t think it sent. Just wanted to say how pleased I was to read that the tulips were Jazz as I am growing these too so am thrilled that they meet our joint expectations!
The form is like China Pink but the colour is stronger with a hint of blue and a very pretty ‘crease’ in the centre of each petal. I will certainly grow it again.
So inventive! The birdcage acts almost as an external frog. As I read through comments, I can see that we are all bowled over by it.
I’ve had the cage for ages and haven’t really known how to tackle an arrangement in it but as the gift-er was one of the guests I felt I needed to make an effort. I’m happy everyone liked it so much.
Beautiful Christina. The tulip color is really lovely and that bird cage is a stunner with so many flowers peeking out. You have out done yourself. We actually had similar weather this weekend, but we are headed to a warmer week thankfully.
This week is forecast to be cold, last night the temperature in the greenhouse was down to 2.5°C. I removed the heater last week, which may have been a mistake! Plants in the ground outside don’t seem to be damaged so I imagine the ground-level temperature wasn’t quite so low; I think the tuffo holds onto heat and so the plants close to it are kept a little warmer.
Both these vases are just wonderful, Christina! I love the way the cerinthe works with the tulips. And the birdcage arrangement is a marvel!
I’ve neve really rated Cerinthe very much as a garden plant but it does work wonderfully well in a vase, bringing different colours together and forming a framework.
What an unusual and beautiful display. Many, many colours and textures while managing to remain perfectly coherent. The tulips are quite wonderful too.
It was lovely having so much choice at just the time I needed flowers for dinner and lunch parties.
Your tulips look dazzling in that oblong vase. They’re such a pretty color. And like everyone else I’m blown away by the arrangement in the bird cage. Spectacular!
The tulips are amazing, I will certainly try to grow more forced tulips next year, these weren’t forced in the sense that they weren’t chilled before planting but were put in the greenhouse to encourage earlier flowering after chilling outside. The birdcage was quite fiddly to do and is almost impossible to add water too so not something I’ll do very often.
Stunning, Christina! Your dinner party must have been a delight, with your lovely arrangements. I love the idea, too, of the individual matching posy at each placing. You have put in a lot of effort. And what about the food? 😉 The birdcage arrangement is so inspired. I particularly love the white ranunculus. They would make a lovely arrangement on their own, with just the Ammi for company – must seek some out!
I love white flowers together too, I think there should be more Ranunculus and certainly Ami for a vase on their own. The food? Well for Friday evening I did a Thai feast and for Monday just lots of everything including some vegetarian dishes and Hot Cross buns – my favourite.
Oh the birdcage is a work of art Christina! You must be blessed with both nimble fingers and much patience to have created it. I was going to ask about the name of the beautiful soft pink tulip but see that Cathy has. Name noted for possible purchase this year 🙂
Jazz is a good colour and the bulbs all opened together which is good if you want to cut them for the house.
These are both such lovely arrangements. I’ve never thought of Cerinthe with tulips but it works brilliantly. And your birdcage is a gorgeous explosion of colour. Wow!
I’ve never thought of using Cerinthe like this before either but they work really well.
Oh my the birdcage arrangement is a stunner. I would love to see that on my table. Brilliant.
and it just about lasted until today (so a week), even though it was very difficult to give it water.