In a vase on Monday

What a fantastic weekend we have had weatherwise. I'm sorry if yours wasn't so good. We had warm,even hot, sunshine and have been able to spend to whole weekend outside. There was plenty to do and we end the weekend tired but satisfied that we have made a huge difference by tidying, burning, clipping, trimming and generally fettling. Not to mention weeding, of course. If only it would stay tidy.
There was plenty of time to look around and decide what to put in a vase for Monday.
I chose this Spirea foliage. (Again).

 Some of it is reverting here. I think so anyway, I hope someone will correct me if that is not the case. So I thought I'd prune out the darker branches and use them in vases. Though they are beautifully coloured too, I'd hate to lose the bright reds and oranges. Perhaps I'll try rooting some bits. I have had good success with sticking twigs in the ground. Probably about 50:50 with things rooting or not, so it's worth a go.

 

 
I'd already chosen the white bells and a few other bits. In the end though I left everything else out as I think the white flowers against the dark foliage are perfect on their own.

I've also got these tulips on my kitchen windowsill. So far they are behaving well. They are tightly packed in. These are more Darwin Hybrids and I chose all the salmon ones.

 
Last week I picked tight buds and arranged them with foliage to hold them in place. What I didn't realise was that tulip stems continue to grow after they've been picked. I learnt this from Julie at Peonies and Posies.

So even though I did chop some off the stems they became rather unruly.
Look how beautiful they were though! They were like silk dresses. I kept them until they were very far gone. Definitely growing old gracefully.

For colourful and creative vases visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden. In a vase on Monday.