About my garden

Monday 30 October 2017

In a mini Munchkin vase on Monday

The inspiration for this came from visiting our local hospital. They had a full size pumpkin on the desk with Autumn coloured Chrysanthemums in it. I stole the idea and scaled it down a little. 


You'd think this would be quick to do but it really wasn't. A certain amount of fiddly poking of stems was involved. 
There is a tiny foil candle container inside the Munchkin. I'll probably find all the flowers dead in the morning due to lack of water as it hardly holds any. 
There are flowers and leaves of Tagetes, one of the Gem varieties, and Euphorbia foliage. 


I've been growing these Tagetes in my poly tunnel as they are supposed to repel whitefly. In fact all this season's plants have self sown themselves from last years seeds. 
 And the whitefly? I've never seen so many. As soon as the tomato plants are out, I'll be going in with garlic smoke bombs to try and get rid of as many as I can. 

For plenty of creative and inspiring vases visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden  - In a vase on Monday. 

24 comments:

  1. Looks like you have taken Cathy up on her challenge for two weeks time already! It is a lovely idea; would the pumpkin not have held water without the addition of a container inside? I'm just wondering, I don't know.

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    1. Yes, it probably would have but if it had leaked on the table, I'd have been in trouble! The Munchkin is starting to go over anyway which is why I tried this.

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  2. I love the pumpkin, did one last year it took hours - but so cute. Guess not for the marigolds and whitefly. I used a shot glass inside mine.

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    1. At least this didn't take hours. My shot glasses were too tall, I did think of it.

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  3. Yes, you were clearly slacking in carving out the centre of your pumpkin - you could have easily fitted in a bigger container for water if you'd worked at it a bit more!!! :) Regardless of that, the tagetes and euphorbia make a great contrast and the idea of using the pumpkin was great - even if you pinched the idea. Now, you just need something different for a fortnight's time...

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    1. I considered trying to carve a pattern but decided it was beyond my patience and skill levels! Also I know I've got some googly eyes but don't know where to start looking.
      Now I've peaked too soon and I'll have to have another idea. :-)

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  4. This is a wonderful vase....and a great use for one of my munchkin pumpkins....I am showing them off today too.

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    1. It's fun isn't it. I'm on my way to have a look at yours.

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  5. Such a sweet arrangement...you can guess what I did with my little pumpkin from the market...stuffed it with dried figs and walnuts and baked it. Great pudding!!!! Still one cannot live on just pudding, flowers are quite the thing to feast the eyes. I think the idea is that you have to brush the tagetes to make a smell which masks that of the tomatoes etc!

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    1. Plenty of brushing goes on but I don't think the whitefly died off over winter. I'll try and kill them off so I can start without them next year and plant the Tagetes outside around the doors as well as inside. One problem is that there are always plants in there.

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  6. The fragrance of the gem tagetes is one of my favorites. Your pumpkin arrangement is very sweet and I hope the flowers last so that you can enjoy it.

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  7. Wow! What a beautiful arrangement Alison! Gorgeous as always!

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  8. What a great little treat for Halloween! When I re-read your post, something that stood out was how much care hospital staff take - and how they inspire us all, in so many ways. Being stupid (and understanding the nice reference all the same) - is 'Munchkin'a new pumpkin variety that's passed me by because I'm not in the UK anymore?

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    1. It certainly brightened the ward. I'm not sure if it came from the staff or maybe a visitor but whoever it was yes we should certainly be inspired by these carers. Especially as they are so overworked.
      Yes 'Munchkin' is a variety. Not terribly new, I don't think but not very widely available. I probably got the seeds from Sarah Raven. The fruits are about the size of a large apple and have grown with absolutely no attention this year.

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  9. So cute! Last year I decorated a pumpkin by gluing succulent cuttings to the top - no carving required. I had vague plans to do something of the same thing this year but I left the pumpkin outside and the squirrels carved it for me. Perhaps you need a squirrel assistant too? Of course, they're not very neat with the work...

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    1. I have squirrels but I have kept the pumpkins away from them so far. I'm not sure I'd be very neat either.

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  10. This is so cute! An idea worth copying.

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  11. Very pretty! The Tagetes remind me of Sweet Mace which I've been wanting to grow because I read somewhere that it smells like Root Beer (and because they are so pretty too)!

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    1. That sounds fun. We look forward to seeing it on your blog next year!

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  12. Lovely! I admire your patience for getting the flowers to sit perfectly in such a small container too! Garlic smoke bombs? Sounds like a great idea. Do you make them yourself?

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    1. No, I don't I buy them. It's my fist year of trying them. They are the organic version of sulphur candles (which I have never used) and do go off rather like roman candles. I'm sure my son would be up for the challenge of making one!

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