February 7, 2012-- trees

This is where my head was today---looking at trees. In this jar are a stem of tulip poplar (with burgeoning bud), a stem of American beech (with dagger-like bud), a stem of red maple (with flower buds about to pop), and two stems of smooth alder (with both catkins and cones on the same twigs). All so beautiful and indicative of the season.

The most interesting part of this conglomeration, though, was an event that happened as I was moving these twigs from one container to another. The last remaining beech leaf on my twig dropped off (as all the beech leaves on these twigs will soon). I saved the leaf and displayed it as below, but the real magic of this is that I finally found the word I'd been looking for to describe beech leaf color at this stage. I'd heard someone else describe is as "parchment," and I'd once described it myself as "bleached blonde," but tonight I saw it as "palimino," which feel rightest of all.

February 6, 2012 --Vinca major

I was carrying garden debris--mostly dried ornamental grasses--to the burn pile this afternoon, when (on my third trip past it), I spotted this Vinca major (large periwinkle) blooming. So I picked it for my windowsill arrangement. I own a bluish vase that I really wanted to drop the periwinkle into, but I couldn't find it. Must be with the brown shoes I can't find. I was still bemoaning my misfortune (embarrassingly inconsequential), when I spotted this little pot on my vase shelf. Into it I dropped a really small vase that would hold the periwinkle stems in water, then I covered the top with a clump of green moss that, believe it or not, was sitting in my utility room sink. I had discovered it in a bowl under some bags of seeds I'd collected and saved it because, although dry, it was still a pretty emerald green. Have no idea what project I'd collected it for orginally. Anyway, I re-wet it and now it looks as fresh as it was when first picked. Through the moss I poked the periwinkle stems until they reached the vase of water below. So: now I'm glad I couldn't find my bluish vase.

February 5, 2012-- catalog inspiration

I had to use a catalog as the inspiration for today's arrangement, because I've been browsing seed catalogs almost all day. This one, from McClure & Zimmerman, almost always has a beautiful cover, and this year is no exception. The colors are sort of a tealy-turquoise with yellow orchid in the center. My arrangement is daffodils and stinking hellebore in a stack of small baking dishes. There's also a clump of red sacred lily berries in there, but you can't really see it.

February 4, 2012 -- February Gold

This is sort of a replay of my January 28 arrangement (February Gold daffodils in little industrial spools), but I like this one better. This time, there's a woody honeysuckle vine connecting the two spools (resting on top of and crossing between them), and inserted through gaps in the vine are daffodils and variegated Vinca (periwinkle) foliage. I'm always wanting to pull up that Vinca, which grows near Flower Camp steps, because it's sort of invasive and certainly not native, but every year I remember how useful it is as an arranging green and let it continue to grow. It often manages to look fresh even in the dead of winter, and I certainly enjoyed using it today. Execution again postponed.

February 3, 2012

This little green bottle is filled with red berries from sacred lily (Rhodora japonica), a little bunch of green hellebore flowers(left), and one hardy cyclamen leaf (right). It's the beautiful cyclemen leaf I like best. They are particularly pretty at this time of year, but will have disappeared completely by... when?... summer for sure. The pink blooms appear in the fall, before the leaves emerge.

I was trying to remember exactly when hardy cyclemen bloomed and realized I could consult my own blog for the answer! Found this photo posted on Nov. 21. Here the cyclamen flowers are combined not with their own foliage (which comes up later), but with foliage from Pieris japonica. It's sort of strange that I used the same vase both times.

February 2, 2012 -- snowdrops

It was hard to photograph this because the white snodrops are so small (and don't want to show up against off-white woodwork. This is the best I could do. In the brown bottle with the snowdrops are some wild onion greens.

I was a little reluctant to pick the snowdrops, because I don't have as many as I used to, but I was glad I did when I looked at them up close in the bottle and was reminded of something I once knew about them: that each flower has a little green heart inside.

February 1, 2012-- celery leaves!

This is why I love windowsill arranging. It stirs up the most interesting things! I had put some pansies in this little sugar dish but thought them too dull, so I replaced them with a couple of daffodils and some winter aconite. Still needed some bright green foliage. Where oh where had I seen bright green foliage recently? On celery stalks! So the foliage here--such a bright, fresh green--is celery leaves. This arrangement now somehow seems connected to soup I made yesterday, because without it I wouldn't have had leftover celery stalks!

And about this vase: I bought it at River Time Antiques for $5 (reduced from $8), and it had this message on it. "Circa 1949-54, as is, hairline crack. Franciscan 'Tiempo sprout.'" Have no idea what that last part means, but the hairline crack seems to be no issue. I think it's above the water line.