In a Vase on Monday: Daffodil beauties

Tags

daffodils, Ice King, Narcissi Blazing Starlet

Narcissi Blazing Starlet

In all of Ireland, it feels like the flowers in our yard are the very last to bloom!  I still have plenty of daffodils that haven’t even thought about blooming yet.  But for today’s post of “In a Vase on Monday” I do have enough daffodils for a lovely bouquet of several different varieties (small prayer answered!).

Not quite opened … A rather triangle of a shape, don’t you think?

We’ve lived in our house for almost five years, and it has taken me all of that time to plant enough daffodils to be able to have a substantial bouquet!  I was a bit finicky about where to plant them, what kind to plant, and how many to plant.  I should have just gone with “everywhere, all kinds, and lots of ’em”!

Side views of Ice King and Blazing Starlet

I’m happy with the few different varieties that I have now.  The Ice King is by far my favourite.

the Ice King variety looks like a carnation

 

a very simple yellow and white variety up close

 

bouquet of yellows and creams

I caught the very tail end of the sun on the day that I cut the flowers.  I hadn’t paid close enough attention to the weather (read: I was deep cleaning the house because Easter is nearly here and God forbid anyone saw the state of what our house usually looks like!).  So I desperately tried to find rays of sunshine through the window the following day.  Unfortunately not only was the sun in short supply, the wind was too strong to photograph flowers in.

a hue more on the white side

But alas, eventually I found an opportunity to give it a lash.  I kept the flowers low to the ground in a protected spot.  The last thing I wanted was to have my vase fall over and break!

a hue more on the yellow side

The sun sure does make a difference!

Daffodil bouquet in the garden

 

prop!

See that poor little ugly duckling candle?  That is my only Easter decoration out so far! I came across him while I was cleaning … which prompted me to ask my son to bring the boxes of our actual decorations out of the attic for me.

could win an award for ugliest candle…

He was kind enough to oblige me.  Now I just need to get my act together and get those lovely spring items out (and quick!).

on the kitchen table

But for now we just have our cheerful daffodils (and the ugly duckling candle).

 

on the kitchen counter

Have you grown any different varieties of daffodils that you especially like? Please do share!

I hope you’ve enjoyed my “In a Vase on Monday” post.  You will find other lovely arrangements linked to Cathy’s Rambling in the Garden blog https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/2015/03/30/in-a-vase-on-monday-bluenwhite/  as she hosts this fun meme to see what everyone has in their gardens all throughout the year.  Maybe you’d like to join in?  Please do!

Happy Spring!
Dana

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In a Vase on Monday: In like a Lion and out like a Lamb

Tags

Anemone, Anemone Sylphide, daffodil Ice King, Daffodil Tresamble, daffodils, dwarf daffodil Velocity, paperwhites

A Lion & a Lamb & a Spring Bouquet

Are you smiling?  I hope so!  I had a little fun with this “In a Vase on Monday” post.  I came across these cute puppets last week when I was deep cleaning our playroom (read: went through all of the toys to get rid of what wasn’t played with anymore).  I’m hopeless though, and only a few things were actually taken away.  Items like these cute puppets were just squished into higher-up cabinets to have on hand for little visitors. (Did ya like that pun?)  Somehow, thankfully, the room did end up tidied and I found some props for my post!

full view

I really can’t believe it is nearing the end of March.  The weather was true to the expression: it was crazy at the beginning of the month and it has thankfully calmed down (enough to garden at least!).

Daffodil season in full swing (Ice King & Tresamble). These large daffodils have since turned a creamy white. the Ice King variety resembles a carnation.

We have collected quite a few different varieties of daffodils over the past few years and I am really liking all of them!

The small daffodils (Velocity) I bought from Mr. Middleton’s Garden Shop in Dublin. The  catalogue describes them perfectly: early dwarf daffodil with deep yellow strongly reflexed petals and an orange red corona.  So true!

pink anemone: Anemone coronaria ‘Sylphide’

I have only one pink anemone, but I thought it was stunning so I had to add it. It is my favourite colour of pink!  Just one little bloom for the vase. This little guy is planted in a container. He did really well last year, and I’m delighted to see flowers again this year.  I’ve read that the anemone will do better after several years. Lovely news!

Paperwhites (Narcissus papyraceus) were forced inside (and my family do not enjoy their scent!)

stacking the flowers on top of each other

We have been so lucky to have good weather on the weekends.  I have so enjoyed working in the garden!  The sunny days help to inspire creating an arrangement.

Anemones blooming all winter long

I was rather surprised to have enough for an arrangement.  If you looked at the yard you’d wonder where the flowers came from, they are spread all around, not really making an impact just yet (except for the purple anemones as they have been making an impact all winter.)

Anemone clump

Anemone beauty on a frosty morning

The Mr Fokker Anemone fade to a light purple as they age.  They start a lovely deep, dark purple.

Belleek vase seemed fitting for March (think St. Patrick’s Day)

I missed quite a few ‘In a Vase on Monday’ postings this winter.  I have to say it is nice to be back at it again.  I hope you will also join us!  Cathy at Rambling in the Garden https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/2015/03/23/in-a-vase-on-monday-between-sweet-williams-two-lips/  hosts this fun (read: addictive) meme. You will see some lovely arrangements when you stop by!

Happy Spring!
Dana

my favourite picture of the group

Fun, Funky, and Fast to make! A Crocheted Poncho

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crocheted poncho

color burst!

The cold weather is hanging on. Someone needs to send Mother Nature a memo that we are quite finished with this cold spell.  Spring has sprung!  I’d like to spend more time in the garden without freezing my fingers off!  The only benefit of this cold weather  is that I can still wear my ‘made this season’ poncho.

the start of the cowl neck

When I saw this yarn in the This is Knit shop in Dublin (https://www.thisisknit.ie/index.php)((I really like this shop as the yarn I’ve bought there has been that little bit different.)) I didn’t even think twice, I straight away bought it … without having any idea what I was going to do with it.  Can you say “impulsive”???

cowl neck growing

The colours are just so fun! The yarn wasn’t cheap, so I was stingy in the amount that I bought. I would, of course, regret that later.

the poncho is growing

Right, so after buying the yarn I spent hours on Pinterest, as you do, looking for ideas of what to make.  I don’t even think it is possible to go onto Pinterest for just a moment, actually.  It completely sucks-me-in to looking at millions of different pages!  I love it!!!

bobbles

Yes, yes, I do have a Pinterest Board ’cause where else am I going to put all of those fabulous ideas???  https://www.pinterest.com/danasheridan/

So the idea for the poncho was born, but I didn’t actually find a pattern that I loved completely.  I bought the pattern for one, but I only used the cowl neck portion of that pattern. Then I roughly followed the ‘much too difficult for me’ pattern of another, improvising along the way out of necessity.

poncho body improvised

The cowl neck took way more yarn than I would have liked.  I probably should have used a smaller hook. I’m sure you’ve guessed by now that not only did I run out of yarn too soon, the shop had sold out of it. But not to worry!  The distributors of this brand of Katia art wool at the Trim Wool Shop ( http://www.trimwoolshop.ie ) had this same colour in stock and would mail it to me.  They were super nice on the phone, and I was delighted…  Only the dye-lot was different; it was quite muted compared to the vibrant colouring of the neck.  I think the good news was that it toned down the poncho!

funky colours

It was fun to make and figure out what I liked, and what I didn’t like.

Finished!

The finished product is rather funky and fun and I can wear just about any colour with it!  I have to say that I really like it.  It is definitely a “one of a kind”!  🙂

Even though I love still getting a chance to wear my new poncho this season, I’d really like for the warm spring weather to arrive!

Peace,

Dana

a belated Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

In a Vase on Monday: Yellow and Blues from the Garden

Tags

daffodils, Pulmonaria, Tete-a-tete

a few Tete-a-tetes  transplanted from my friend’s garden (accidentally came with other gifted flowers!)

It has been quite a while since I’ve joined the meme “In a Vase on Monday” with Cathy at Rambling in the Garden https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com .  This weekend just allowed me the time/energy/ability to gather together a small vase of sweet flowers, so I thought I’d humbly join back into the group.  Feel free to join in, or just go and have a look at what others have in their vases. There is always something nice to see!

the vase in among my allium greens

We live in what we describe as a “wind belt”.  It is always windy. Really windy.  So I feared my wee little vase wouldn’t stand a chance and would be knocked over before I could even take a picture.  My solution was to partially push it into the soil of the garden.  I think that provided rather nice surroundings, too. 🙂

lovely colours together

My friend Susan also gave me a Pulmonaria plant and suggested they look well with daffodils.  I couldn’t agree more.  I have them planted in among my daffodils, but my daffodils come up so late!  So I’ve cut some of the Pulmonaria and thrown them in a vase with my early blooming tete-a-tetes to enjoy that lovely colour combination.

a bit of sunshine

The sun came out for a total of five minutes (after I had taken loads of pictures, of course).  I’m used to how this works, so I grabbed the vase and ran outside and took a load more photos!

full size & tiny size

You can really see the size difference in this photo. I should have put the full size daffodils in a separate vase, but I only had two to work with.

Tete-a-tetes with Pulmonaria in a Vase

so tiny!

enjoying them inside

I hope you enjoyed my arrangement. Thanks for stopping by!
Dana

My First Weekend in the garden and boy was it lovely!

Tags

Anemone, Hellebores, primrose, Pulmonaria

Pulmonaria

What a wonderful weekend I had in the garden!  The weather was perfectly spring like.  There was so much weeding and cleaning up to do it was a bit overwhelming at first.  Ever feel that way?  All I could do was start with one little job at a time.

Primrose

There are lovely signs of spring.

Anemone Mr. Fokker

I also had some new plants to plant, and others to move around the yard. My husband is very good and does the planting for me, even the movings around of plants (sometimes more than once).

Anemone

I had forgotten that I had some very pink anemone growing in a container.  What a lovely surprise to see them this week!

Anemone

Our strawberry plants are in a mess.  You should really clean up the plants around September.  Some how our schedules got in the way of our gardening last fall.  So we  are now in the process of cleaning them up and what a job it is!

Strawberry beds in need of attention

I cut back all of the green leaves of my Hellebores. Some of their leaves were turning black and it wasn’t pretty.  They have been flowering all winter, so if you are looking for a winter blooming plant, this is definitely one to get (and so many colours to choose from).

Hellebores

Our winter garlic is finally up, growing and doing well. And look at that, another strawberry bed in need of attention!  (arg!)

Garlic bed

Garlic

This is the first daffodil in my yard.  It is kind of lonely all on its own. Hopefully the others will be up soon!

Daffodil

I’m so happy to have had time in the garden this weekend! I hope spring has sprung for you, too (or will soon)!

Happy spring!
Dana