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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Monday, December 28, 2015

In A Vase on Monday

In a Vase on Monday is hosted by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.  Do click on over to her blog to see her vase this week and links to those of other participating bloggers.

Today's dash out to the cold wet garden, foolishly undertaken without a coat or gloves, left me chilled!  I had to run my hands under hot water for a bit to warm them up.  There wasn't much blooming that wasn't already used last week so greens it would be.

Since we have a 12th night party at our house for my church choir,  decorations continue to be dragged out of the basement and attic and the scent of fresh greens is always welcome at this time of year.

Once I started playing with the cuttings, it seemed clear that this vase, chosen first, wasn't ideal

 so I switched to this crystal bowl from Russia.  While I seldom use oasis, this large opening really needed some help and there was a block of it left over from our Thanksgiving centerpiece, the gift of my niece.

View of the back side.

Front side.

Everything's always better with a bird or two, right?   Throw in some sparkly pipe cleaners left over from a gift and a few cones  and here you have it.  The sparkly things need to go away.

Currently the arrangement is sitting in the music room hovering over the remains of the poinsettia challenge entry.


15 comments:

  1. I like this. Cold down here, too, 37F at 7 am. But certainly not soggy. The red compound leaf in the center, what is it? And the grayish-bluish conifer? They look frosty. At first I thought the birds were flowers, they are very appropriate and tie in all the colors. Nicely done.

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    1. The red leaf in the center is Mahonia aquifolium (Oregon Grape,) a west coast native that was growing in our parking strip, probably bird planted, beneath a lilac. The grayish-bluish conifer is Cupressus arizonica var. glabra 'Blue Ice' (Blue Ice Arizona Cypress)

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  2. Cold, blowing and snowing here so I am definitely not venturing into the garden or anywhere else. The variety of foliage color and texture in your garden is so rich at this time of year that you can make my fave bouquet: all foliage. Beautiful.

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  3. Lovely foliage combo Peter! Who needs flowers anyway?

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  4. Okay, that is lovely. All I have are drooping poinsettias languishing in their pots, dropping curled leaves. I should take better care.

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  5. Stunning array of foliage perfectly put together in that stunning Russian bowl!

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  6. Absolutely wonderful contrast and lovely foliage. Love it.

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  7. Winter foliage bouquets are a good thing. Yours is wonderful!

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  8. Such wonderful textures and colors - a beautiful display!

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  9. It's really beautiful, Peter! It's wonderful that you have "greens" in so many colors. You did well in balancing those colors in your vase - I'm suitably impressed!

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  10. I'm with Loree: with all these amazing shades of greens and different textures, who needs flowers. I spent a couple of hours this Saturday strolling in The Seattle Arboretum Winter Garden. There were some of the usual winter blooms but mostly it was green and invigorating.

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  11. Such a choice of great foliage...but the art is in the arranging, and you have tweaked this one to perfection...I'm sure this will be greatly admired by your guests. We have had two robins in the garden...I just hope that they are only courting and do not start to nest build just yet!

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  12. Happy New Year! Nice that you are carrying the torch (in a vase). I'm too overwhelmed with holiday stuff.

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  13. It's wonderful how many different evergreens you could find and while freezing your fingers off too! Your arrangement is magnificent, and the red berries add a lot, as well as the birds and pine cones. Your choir must have enjoyed the festive party. I had the same thought about how to continue with IaVoM during the winter- those lovely evergreens.

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.