"Did you paint them?"

Sometimes teenagers and "flowers" are an hilarious combination. I put "flowers" in brackets as my flowers this week are again a bunch of twigs. 

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One of our neighbour's tree produces really nice catkins in early spring so I cut a few overhanging branches in the hope that they -in the warmth of the house- will open in a few days. I combined them with dogwood (cornus) from a friend's garden and of course I have promised the friend at least one nice bunch this summer in return. For now though, things are pretty cold and this morning even covered in snow (which doesn't help capturing the colours of the stems, by the way.)

Inside the house the vase became a bit of a talking point, with one of the teenagers wondering if this was really nature. "Did you paint them?". I strongly denied that I got the toddler's paint out. Honestly, dogwood really produces these bright yellow-orange and red stems!

The great thing about seasons is that they come again!

The great thing about seasons is that they come and go and then come again. I'm so pleased that it is January because the Daphne odora Aureomarginata is in flower again. 

I took me a few days to make up my mind about my bunch for this week. There is plenty of interesting branches and foliage around like hazel catkins, ivy berries and various dogwoods, from bright yellow to fire red, to name a few, but with the Daphne in flower, I knew I had to do something with that. 

The flower of Daphne odora Aureomarginata are pretty nondescript, but they make up for that with their wonderful, powerful scent. I added some yellow roses that are still on my Golden Celebration bush - although I do doubt that they will actually be able to handle the heating inside. We'll see. 

I also added some viburnum flowers and for foliage, rosemary and fern leaves. The little vase is on the bar now and it's a delight to walk past it.

A bunch of dried flowers

Dried flowers probably remind people of rooms that are in desperate need of redecorating. Where one feels the urge to throw out the dusty bunch of pale dried whatsits along with the cheap brown furniture and the 1960s flowery wallpaper. 

However, in my opinion, dried flowers are great and they are underrated. Some flowers show off their intricacies much better when dried and they are perfect for putting flowers in those badly lit areas like for example our hall. 

For dark rooms fake flowers are of course also an option. Although they will remain "perfect" they will also gather dust and eventually they will no doubt start to bore you. Dried flowers are a much better option. They are the real thing and thus more environmentally friendly. Come next season, you can just replace them without feeling guilty at all!

So this week a bunch of dried flowers as indeed I have thrown out the bunch I had in the hall. Last year I specifically grew Statice (Limonium sinuatum) and Strawflower (Helichrysum bracteatum - see picture below) for drying. My first sowing never showed probably because of the slugs. The second sowing went okay. Although the number of harvested flowers was slightly disappointing, it still suffices for at least two bunches together with common yellow yarrow (Achillea) and seedheads of oriental poppies and Love-in-a-mist.

The trick with any flower that you want to airdry is to pick them at the right moment. For strawflowers this is not straightforward as multiple flowers are produced on one stem which inevitably means that the main flower is too far ahead at the moment that the other ones are just right ie just about to open. In my bunch I have used both the ones that are just right and the ones that are probably a bit too far ahead. It's nature after all. 

Interestingly, statice is often used in fresh bouquets, but strawflowers look really out of place in a fresh bunch - and believe me, I've tried. 

Maybe I'll be a bit more adventurous this year and grow more varieties for drying. For now, just a few pictures of my new little bucket of flowers for the hall. 

Note, I have used some grey oasis ie dried floral foam which, if I'm honest, is probably not very environmentally friendly. The picture with the wine glass is to show how small the arrangement actually is. 

A bunch of twigs for the first vase of 2015

That came around quickly. I'd given myself time off from gardening over the holiday season, thinking there was still an eternity to do everything that needs doing this winter. Looking at the calendar right now I realise that the eternity has been reduced to a matter of weeks or for some jobs, at least less than three months. 

I've decided that making a to do list is too depressing, so I am just going to focus on the jobs that are most urgent and hope that in that way I'll get everything done. At the moment that's sowing broad beans, another batch of sweet peas and also preparing for planting the new fruit trees that will be delivered next week.

It'll be no surprise that the flowers are few and far between. Even the winter ones like Helleborus and Daphe odora are not yet fully in bloom. The only ones that I could find on my allotment were some Euphorbia oblongata which, if I'm honest, are past their best if you look close up. I combined them with some globe artichoke leaves, curry plant branches and dogwood (Cornus) twigs, making a slightly more architectural bunch then one I would pick mid-summer. So it's mainly a bunch of twigs, but one that nevertheless makes a nice vase for inside.