I have missed joining in with Cathy from Rambling in the Garden’s In A Vase on Monday meme for a couple of weeks, thanks to half term and last week a rather wonderful study day at Great Dixter which was a Christmas present from Mr Carrot.
So I am glad to be back today with a simple arrangement of late winter pickings from our garden, in the robin jug again as I feel he is the right chap for this cold snap. The snow has not arrived here yet in Sussex, but is forecast for tonight.
For foliage I have used a sprig of variegated ivy that is growing under our fig tree and a couple of cuttings from the box, or should I say ex-box. This shrub has dominated our back garden ever since we moved in nearly two years ago and I have ummed and ahed about what to do with it.I can see that it must have been planted as a visual divider to make the garden look bigger, but it had been allowed to become very overgrown and was shading the summer-fruiting raspberries growing behind it, not to mention squeezing out the Choisya ternata beside it. I have read that you can cut boxes back hard in late February, so I took out my hand saw and got going. Soon I had gone a little further than planned and taken almost the whole thing down, save the stump and a few branches. It will remain to be seen whether these will regenerate, but I am pleased as I have opened up a whole new south-east facing bed which I can tidy up and turn into a hot bed with red hot pokers and Helianthus alongside the existing purple Buddleia.
For blooms I have taken three flowers from our one clump of snowdrops. They are nearly on the way out now and after this cold snap I am going to lift and divide them and replant some in a new shady border I am planning under our west-facing fence. At Great Dixter last week, head gardener Fergus Garrett said that there used to be hardly any snowdrops there, but they lifted and divided those they had until now they have a generous carpet, which is growing every year.
There are also three crocuses from our lawn. I have tried picking one which had already opened up to the bright sunlight we have this morning, but I don’t think it is very happy about it. The crocuses are the only nice thing about our lawn at the moment. I am waiting until the temperature rises to reseed it and hopefully next year we will have a nice healthy turf for the bulbs to emerge from.
To see what vases others have come up with visit Cathy’s Rambling in the Garden blog.
Carrots and Calendula 
Mr Carrot is obviously a man of good taste.
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He was acting on clear instructions😉
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What a fabulous way to study. The little robin is adorable with your snowdrops and crocuses.
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Thank you – we have a real little robin in our garden who hops around after me, so this jug reminds me of him.
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Haha – the box! And now the X box!! 🙂 As you say, you have created a great visual opportunity cutting it down. Your last gasp blooms are so sweet, and your robin jug is definitely the right sort of receptacle, particularly with the forecasted snow
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The blooms are sweet, but I am loving that darling vase!
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Thank you for the morning giggle (X-box.) What a sweet way to bid adieu to winter’s beautiful blooms.
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Lovely! Love your adorable vase too. Happy gardening 🙂 x
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What a wonderful present…congratulations to Mr Carrot…lucky Mrs Carrot. Nice vase and story….my vase consists of prunnings too!
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Yes the boy did well and it really was worth it – I learnt so much. Came back feeling much more confident about pruning.
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Lovely seeing these sweet flowers as mine are not growing yet…..but they will show up in about a month!
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Thank you. Your flowers will arrive soon Donna, not long to wait now!
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How lovely to go to study at GD. I visited for the first time last year after reading many of Christopher Lloyds books. Your jug is very pretty with those special little blooms. Destruction is good in a garden and usually opens up new opportunities. You won’t regret it.
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Thank you. I would highly recommend the study days at GD. Can’t wait for the warmer weather now to get going on this new bed.
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I have thought occasionally about putting Crocuses in our lawn, but we do have a lawn cutting service, and I fear they would not be kind to them. I don’t like travel, but I would give up a LOT to go have a study day at Great Dixter. Love your sweet robin jug!
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Lovely, the robin vase is perfect. Sometimes an ex-box is a good thing.
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I love that robin jug and it fits the snowdrops well. I can identify with the ex-box experience too – it’s so easy to get carried away when pruning…
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Snowdrops are finally OVER!?
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We are on the south coast of the UK where the climate is very mild most of the year (although we have snow today).
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That’s mild? We have not had snow since about the last Ice Age.
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The designer in me is very sorry about the box; you could have cut it back to a manageable size in tow or three attempts. Box is so threatened by blight and the box moth it is sad to remove a healthy one. Love how you’ve used the last of the snowdrops and crocus.
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I know what you’re saying but we inherited a lot of overgrown shrubs and I want to make the garden my own.
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That’s a good thing.
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