I’ve been in Suffolk for the last four days and as expected when I walked around as soon as I got back early yesterday evening everything had changed! Irises were flowering and those not flowering were full of bud. Dianthus were filling the air with their cinnamon perfume and the Clair Matin roses on the pillars of the terrace were in full flower.
The irises I had thought I would be able to use for my vase for today’s In a vase on Monday hosted by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden had already finished; so what to choose?
Heavy rain is forecast for later today so I decided to pick some tulips that might well be ruined by the rain. I toyed with the idea of creating the feel of the spring walk in a vase but in the end chose T. ‘Curley Sue’, tulips planted last year in the spring walk that has returned well this year.
Tulip ‘Curly Sue’
In the cuttings bed the Antirrhinum planted last year were shouting out to be included, I picked white and dark pink but the others should be picked soon I’m sure so that that continue to produce flowers for a while longer. Antirrhinums planted out a few weeks ago from an autumn sowing are also flowering.
White and pink Antirrhinum and Ami majus
From the greenhouse I picked the last of the white Ranunculus, I will now plant the pot into the border somewhere and hope they will flower again there.
The last few white Ranunculus were included
Ami majus, again from an autumn sowing is providing masses of flowers, I like the airiness they add to the composition.
A little bleached in this image T. ‘Curly Sue’
To hold it all together I again used Cerinthe major which is producing lots of material in the garden borders, I may decide to sprinkle some seed in other places as it reliably seeds freely in the garden and is a great foil for other plants in the border and in a vase.
The vase is on the sideboard in the sitting room
Do visit Cathy to see what she and others have found for their vases today.
Creating my own garden of the Hesperides 
GORGEOUS I love the tones of the tulip ‘Curly Sue’ picked up again with the cerinthes.
Thank you, yes, I did actually pick the Cerinthe first and thought how well the ‘Curly Sue’ matched the colour but it was too dark without the addition of some white.
Lovely vase, Christina – the tulips are luscious – and lovely to see snapdragons so early. I remember liking your white ones last year and thinking I’d sow some – but I forgot.
The tulips do have a lovely depth of colour. I am really surprised that the Anthirrinums survived the winter outside, we did have quite a few nights with temperatures below zero.
Your tulips are beautiful Christina. Such a dark rich color and the snapdragons add even more zing. My snapdragons began blooming last week and I am surprised at how well they overwintered, but I see from the comments above you had even colder temperatures than we did. Hope the rain treats the flowers tenderly.
So far the rain is holding off although I would be happy to have some rain as long as it isn’t so hard it is damaging. The tulips are a wonderful colour and all those I planted last year have come back.
Bentornata!!!
Nice! You’ll enjoy that all week for sure!
I hope so.
Those fringed tulips and the rich colours of the snapdragons are gorgeous. I find the fringed tulips are good at coming back, even here in wet clayey soil.
Some colours better than others I think.
Those tulips are really lovely in color and the way the petal edges are tattered. And perfect addition of white flowers to bring out the deep purple. My Antirrhinum were just transplanted yesterday and are still small but I hope they take off soon. I need to start them sooner next year. One of my very favorite flowers my mom used to plant every year.
I haven’t used antirrhinums for years, in fact I’m not sure I’ve ever grown them, I didn’t used to grow annuals before the cutting garden began.
It’s another pretty mix, Christina. I like that you used the Cerinthe as an integrator between the dark tulips and the bright Antirrhiniums. I love snapdragons and the photos of yours make me regret that I didn’t try growing any this year – they’re a magnet for rust here, even when watered from below and given plenty of air circulation.
As this is the first time I’ve grown them I don’t know what problems there might be, these have been in the ground since last August (or maybe July) and seem healthy at present.
That deep pinky purple tulip is gorgeous with the Ammi, and the pink Antirrhinum is a lovely bright contrast. I have never seen white Ranunculus before… lovely for using in a vase!
The tulips isn’t really pinky at all, that was just the effect of the flash and dark conditions, but it is a beautiful rich purple.
That is so beautiful, Christina. The tulips have such a rich colour, but the Ammi gives it an air of lightness. Now that I’m getting in to growing flowers for cutting, it’s time to consider Antirrhinums again – the ‘mawpy moos” (Scottish for snapdragons, but I can’t spell it!!) of my childhood! They’re obviously beautiful as well as intriguing!
It’s fun to learn some of the local names for plants; “mawpy moos” sound very intriguing in comparison to ‘snapdragon’. They were very easy to grow with a high germination rate.
It means something like “gaping mouths”, and used to amuse us as children!
That makes sense.
Beautiful! I have Curly Sue, I adore fringed tulips. They look lovely with the Ammi and Antirrhinums.
I love all tulips, as you know, but the fringed ones are very special. There were some amazing ones in the pack of mixed bulbs I planted last year but of course I don’t know what they all are!
Absolutely beautiful, Christina! I like the deep purple shade of the tulips together with the froth of ammi majus – so pretty. I have raised some antirrhinums from seed – can’t wait to pick a few for a vase too.
The Antirrhinums that were left in the ground all winter are now producing masses of flowers to pick and the ones soen early this year are also flowering but the plants are not so large.
I love this arrangement Christina, its so generous and beautiful colour combination. My Ammi majus are still seedlings, I really hope I can get them into flower, they really are lovely in a bouquet.
The Ami seem to be really tough so you can probably start them in autumn rather than spring; I’ll try planting some out much earlier next year.
As ever your garden is so far ahead of mine Christina – I am waiting patiently for all those lovely annuals that you have in abundance. I do have cerinthe flowering though – it is a plant that works wherever you put it & I think I will follow you & spread some seed around in new areas this year. It was lovely to show you round last week – I hope you had a good trip! Well done on another excellent vase.
I very much enjoyed seeing your garden Julie and you have inspired me to try to find more space for cut flowers, all your tulips were fabulous. I assume I need to cut the annuals as much as possible to keep them producing flowers for as long as possible. We have returned to weather that is cold and wet so the afternoon with you seems idyllic by comparison.
A bouquet fit for a bride!
I always think of bride’s bouquets being white or cream.
That selection is divine and makes me wish I had started my annuals off in the Autumn.
As I have so many vegetables to sow and grow in winter it is easier for me to sow anything I can in autumn.
What a gorgeous array of flowers Christina, it will be months before I have the beautiful airiness of Ammi to add to a vase, like cerinthe it is a perfect “bring it all together” plant. I love that tulip. So many tulips, too little space!!
you’re right about the tulips! It gets more difficult each year as I see new ones on other blogs that I want to have.
that’s a lovely combination of flowers -and that ‘curly sue’ tulip is lovely (made a note about that one) the white and purple look great together. I like the vase too – haven’t got any this style – yet! ha…
If you can go to an Ikea, they have a huge selection of vases that are simple (I prefer) and inexpensive.
got to love ikea 🙂 im lucky my chap works for a florists wholesaler (everything except the fresh flowers) so I’ve got quite a few vases but bigish ones for bouquets from florists… my collection is growing because of the ‘in a vase on monday’ meme 🙂
When I’m buying vases I’m always attracted to the larger ones, when in fact the smaller ones are more useful.