If I were Cathy at
Rambling in the Garden, our host for "In a Vase on Monday," my post title would be properly illustrated with a wizard's wand and maybe a top hat. Unfortunately, I don't have Cathy's wonderful collection of props and, feeling as I do these days, any conjuring I might do would probably involve a voodoo doll or two anyway, but I don't have those on hand either. However, even if winter rains are expected to continue at least through this week, spring is definitely in the air. Sunday brought a welcome break between rainstorms, as well as snatches of warm sunshine. Birds were all over the garden, pecking at the earth in search of worms, splashing in the fountain, squabbling with one another at my feeders, and building new nests under the house eaves.
![]() |
| The feeders are dominated by sparrows and finches but the front yard had a flock of birds I was unable to identify hopping about |
![]() |
| I've cleaned out the nesting material crammed behind this light by the back door time and time again. In spring, it's a useless exercise as the birds just remake the nest all over again the moment my back is turned. |
But on to the flowers. When I prepared my
Bloom Day post last week, I completely forgot about the calla lilies flowering on the back slope. Spurred on by all the rain we've received this season (now officially triple the total amount we received during the entirety of the last season), the lilies look to be starting off a banner year. I picked an armful of blooms.
![]() |
| Front view, showing the lilies accented with fragrant Freesia flowers, which exploded into bloom last week |
![]() |
| A similar back view |
![]() |
| Top view, showing how last Friday's heavy rain discolored some of the white blooms |
![]() |
| From the left, the vase contains: Zantedeschia aethiopica, noID Freesia, Pyrethropsis (Rhodanthemum) hosmariense, and leaves of the Zantedeschia |
The second vase is a simplified version of an arrangement I created 3 weeks ago. My
Alstroemeria have started to bloom and I'd originally planned to go pink this week but, noticing that I had stems of flowering
Ceanothus dragging in the mud, I went with a blue and white color scheme instead.
![]() |
| It's hard to say which is the front and which is the back with this vase |
![]() |
| View from the other side |
![]() |
| The top view is my favorite |
![]() |
| Clockwise from the left, this vase contains: Anemone coronaria, noID Ceanothus, scented Matthiola incana, Osteospermum '4D Silver', and white Ranunculus asiaticus |
Can you conjure up something from your garden? If so,
join Cathy's cavalcade of vases at Rambling in the Garden! Here are mine in their places:
All material © 2012-2017 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
