This past weekend has been glorious; sunshine that was actually warm; too hot for a fleece! I weeded and tidied the evergreen shrub beds and while doing so discovered the shoots of tulips pushing through the earth. I think the tulips in the garden will flower earlier this year because they have had their period of chilling before Christmas rather than having to wait for January and February. But sadly no tulips yet for my vase although next week – maybe.
As my title suggests it wasn’t easy to find material for a vase today.
In a vase on Monday
The vase itself usually sits on top of the bookshelves in the kitchen with dried Alliums; it is the ideal shape to hold just a few stems.
Today I again used Teucrium, to which I added a single flower of Honesty, a single flower of Sweet Rocket, Salvia horminum, Salvia ‘Indigo Spires (a cutting flowering in the cold frame and last week’s seed heads of Fatsia japonica.
Honesty
Sweet Rocket
Salvia horminum – a little tinged with brown from the frosts last week.
The Annual salvia horminum is very tough, the flower is from plants which had self-seeded last year if we have a few more warm days I think there may be quite a few flowers.
I will be visiting other contributors to Cathy at Rambling in the Garden‘s Monday meme where she challenges us to find something in our gardens to pick and enjoy in our homes. Why not do the same, or perhaps you can find something to pick and share too.
Creating my own garden of the Hesperides 
Sei riuscita a fare una bella composizione lo stesso!!! Il titolo significa un po’ di questo ed un po’ di quello??? così imparo un po’ di inglese!!!
Sì, justo.
You must have happy bees in your garden – all such bee favourite flowers! – or is it too cold for them to go out in winter there? Have a lovely week,
There are bees around but mostly bumble bees, most days it has been too cold for honey bees.
Beautiful choices today. Your vase looks like a painting! It’s exciting to think of your tulips readying themselves to delight us all.
The tulips in the greenhouse are on the point of blooming, I did hope there might have been one or two today but maybe later in the week. You can be sure that if they open, I’ll pick some and post about them.
You have managed to find quite a bit of colour for your vase – the close ups of the flowers are wonderful! Jealous of your good weather – it rained solidly all weekend here in southern England, although the sun has come out for us today.
The joy of living in Italy is really the winters and autumns; summer is just too hot. This year it has been much colder than other years but there have also been some warm days to be able to enjoy being outside in the garden.
Oh how lovely to garden….it certainly can sing to our souls. And I adore your vase….shades of purples, green and silver…mixing to add color in a winter garden. I look forward to seeing your early tulips.
Donna@GardensEyeView
Having, even such a simple vase to look at when I’m in the kitchen is a great source of joy, Donna.
What an apt title for the vase and for the time of year, Christina. Envious of your good weather…I can only dream of working in the garden. I’d probably get stuck in the borders!
It was another good gardening day again today but not as warm. But you can work in the garden in summer, which I can’t because it it just too hot for at least 6 weeks. The time now is the best and I hope to achieve a lot in the next couple of weeks.
Diminutive and delightful! I’m looking forward to dry days to play outside but currently it’s quite soggy here.
It is rarely to wet to work in the garden here, the soil is so free draining! Good in winter a disaster in summer!
Oh tulips soon – how exciting! Mind you, there is evidence of them poking through here, but flowering will still be a long way off. I love the squat shape of this vase – have we seen it before? Your bits and bobs work really well in it although I am surprised that your fatsia seedheads are still bearing up after a week in a vase. Do you cut a whole stem, and do you condition it?
Yes, I did cut a whole stem last week but those I used today were the single ones I used in the Campari vases. I think I’ve used the vase before, I have three of them so they work as a group or a line on the table sometimes. This one has had Alliums in it for a couple of years and so has become a bit invisible to me.
I need to look at my fatsia more carefully – will go back and check out your Campari vases too. Sadly I have lots of ‘invisible’ vases too… 😉
Christina I am glad that you had a lovely day to work in the garden and you enjoyed it despite the weeding (which is what I like the least) and you have discovered tulips struggling to get bigger. The vase is really beautiful: I really like all the flowers and seed heads of Fatsia Japonica last week. The Sweet Rocket is beautiful with its pure white color. Salvia horminum is divine and looks a lot like a “weed” that grows in my garden. I am going to investigate why my weed is included in small vases that I make with daisies and dandelions and other wildflowers before passing the mower. Sorry for this parenthesis on my garden. I love your vase today and soon you have tulips to admire them. Have a good week with good weather. Greetings from Margarita.
Don’t apologise for talker no about your garden, Margarita. I love hearing about it. The Salvia is definitely growing like a weed!
Thank you very much Christina for your kindness. Now I am in Madrid, but when I go to the country house I will tell you about the garden and all the plantation projects that I have and I hope to be able to carry out. I bought many seeds of plants that I had never grown, I hope the seedlings come out. And I will have to weed everything because it will look like a jungle! I will make several publications with many pictures of the before, during and after the garden. Sorry, again. Thanks Christina I consider her a good friend. Greetings from Margarita.
I hope we are friends Margarita.
Christina thank you very much for your words. I also want us to be friends. Greetings from Margarita.
Interesting that even in winter, your arrangement just says ‘spring”. I love the dainty feminine flowers. So pretty.
Teucrium flowers all winter every year, the other blooms are just one offs. Thank you for visiting My Hesperides Garden.
I grew what I think is that same Teucrium (T. fruticans?) in my old garden until the area became too shady for it to be happy. Recently, I’ve been wondering if it might be happy on the back slope in my current garden. The fact that it makes nice vase material might just push me toward trying it there.
I would think that Teucrium fruticans would grow very well for you. It is one of the very few plants that never needs water in my garden.
A very pretty delicate selection. I’m just wondering if my Sweet rocket, planted to overwinter and provide early flowers, has survived the freeze. The winter has been colder than expected. I’m hoping to grow more salvias this year. They are such good value flowers. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Karen, I grew the Sweet Rocket to flower last year, so I hope it will flower well this year.
Mum grew ours in summer and we planted them out end of September. Do hope yours flower and mine have survived. They smell wonderful.
I can’t really smell this one, but I’m looking forward to the rest when they flower in spring.
Lovely flowers this week Christina – soft colours and textures. Enjoy your sunshine and being in the garden!
Another day outside today, but it wasn’t so warm. It’s a good feeling to be getting the garden ready for spring.
I got back out in the garden today, warmer weather here, too. The colors in the vase of some of my favorites – I wonder if that Salvia would grow here – I have S. luecanthemum, similar color, but it is new and I am not sure what it will do. Trying to find Fatsia, because I love those seedheads!
Most Salvia should be ok in your climate but none like drought until they are very well established.
I had this one further north – it got so big it was asked to leave the garden.
Most Salvias take to being cut back quite hard.
That Salvia is new to me, I like it.
Although described as as annual, it has survived countless nights of frost.
I’m envious of your working in your garden already, to smell the earth -ah!
Yes, I’m at my happiest when my hands are in the soil.
Same here. Gardeners we are!
You have found lovely dainty summer flowers for your vase this week. I envy you being out in the garden. We are longing for some decent weather here, the weekend was atrocious.
Looking forward to your tulips.
Winter is usually a good time to be in the garden here, this year it has been much colder and more dreary.
I’m feeling warmer just reading your post Christina although I was able walk round the garden yesterday afternoon without a coat. I like the subtle colours in your vase this week.
The warm days have finished for a while but I’m encouraged to keep working outside now.