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Today’s vase of flowers reflects what is growing and blooming in our garden indoors.
We were thrilled to see the Impatiens, tucked into a pot of Caladium tubers back in November, in bloom this weekend. These are the first Impatiens flowers we’ve seen since autumn. We expect these cuttings will root and grow on through the coming summer.
The Caladiums have also decided to offer some fresh winter leaves. I selected two tiny ones for this vase. A few Cyclamen flowers and a Jewel Orchid stem complete the arrangement.
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We are happy to enjoy a vase of these bright summer flowers, knowing that at least a few of these stems will grow roots and live on. Our indoor garden offers enough flowers to get us through until the garden outside wakes up to spring.
Today’s vase was purchased from the potter at a show a few years ago. It is very ‘handmade,’ and eccentric, but we admired its free form exuberance and bright glaze. Sadly, it is signed only with an initial, and I don’t recall the artist’s name.
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The glass ball off to the side is by Portland, Oregon glass artist Paris Birdwell. I met her at a show in Oregon last September, and had to bring this unusual piece home.
You can see our stark winter garden through the window. The hazel tree is absolutely covered with little catkins dancing around in the breeze.
It just looks cold, doesn’t it?
Our garden is frozen rock solid now, after a winter storm front swept through Saturday evening, leaving Arctic air in its wake. Our high today was around 20 F, and all of the waterways around us are freezing. The Violas I had hoped to cut for the vase today have collapsed in the cold, and snow will cover them by nightfall. They are hardy, though, and can perhaps be cut next week, instead.
Today we are content to stay inside, where it’s warm enough for flowers, cats and people to grow on happily, and in comfort.
Please visit Cathy, at Rambling In the Garden, to see the beautiful vase of early spring flowers she brought in from her garden today. Cathy hosts this Monday Vase challenge each week, and you’ll find links in her comments to vases arranged by many other enthusiastic gardeners.
This is an international challenge, and I always find it interesting to see how the seasons are progressing, elsewhere. If you’re feeling even a little inspired, please pull together a little vase of your own with whatever you can scavenge locally. Wonderful surprises wait for you to notice them…..
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Woodland Gnome 2015
Forest Garden 
Hi
Where do I buy black jewel orchid t small on eday and also t little and high
Believe it or not, I found it at Trader Joe’s grocery store about 5 years ago! I’ve also seen them at the Great Big Greenhouse in Richmond. If you run an internet search, especially using its Latin name, you will likely find some current sources for it. I hope you find a strong plant to enjoy. Ours is coming into bloom again, now, and is so lovely.. Merry Christmas! WG
I wish they had one,but if y kmow anyone please let me kmow
thank y
merry xmas to y too
Indoor gardens are almost unknown here in Italy but I can fully understand the need to beat the winter a little where you live. your vase is very pretty with some lovely foliage as ell as flowers.
Thank you 😉
Lovely vase arrangement today! You have so many great indoor plants – love the jewel orchid and the color on the impatiens compliments the orchid and cyclamen. So pretty! Thanks for introducing us to this meme. It is fun to see what folks are arranging, esp. where there is little happening in their gardens.
Nice touch to place the vase near the window where we can see the contrasting weather outside. I see that you are getting a storm 3-6″ – luckily, it should melt fairly quickly for you. Stay safe and warm!
Thank you, Eliza 😉 The house is absolutely full of overwintering plants 😉 I’m always happy when some of them are in bloom. You just amaze me, Eliza, that you have joined in the vase challenge with wonderful blooming Forsythia! I really enjoy clicking the links each week to see what others are growing, and always see new and unusual plants from other regions. It expands my sense of what is possible 😉 We now have maybe 2″ because the snow is so fine. They keep changing the forecast, but I believe the ice/snow line is still to our south. We would rather have a little more snow to avoid the freezing rain. Thank you for the good wishes 😉 It is so pretty in inches… not so much when it’s in feet…
Lol – yes, not so much fun in feet! We have been lucky this year in that, despite the volume of snow, it is light and fluffy, so easy to move. Heavy & wet would be a whole different story. >:-(
Harvesting from your indoor garden garnered some delightful results.
Thank you, Rickii 😉
That is a beautiful vase. I would have bought it for the same reason. Your flowers and plants are lovely, too. The snow finally reached us here, and I’m looking forward to going out and playing in it tomorrow. Varying reports say we’ll get either 6-10 inches or 12+ inches. Our waterways are mostly frozen now, too. I was just down at the point and it looks like the ice extends out to Tangier Sound.
How long do you guess it’s been since the Bay froze, Robin? The Elizabeth River in Norfolk is frozen today, too. Looking forward to your snow photos! I just added a photo to the post showing snow accumulating in our back garden. I hope yours stays at a manageable depth, Robin. Thank you for the kind words. The potter was so friendly that we chatted with her for a long while. All of her work was lovely, but we could only bring one piece home. We enjoy it 😉 Best wishes, WG
The Point where we go to watch the sunset overlooks the Manokin River and Tangier Sound and then, if you have binoculars, you can see the Bay. Yesterday it looked as though only the river was frozen. Now the ice extends so far out that I’m not sure if it’s made it to the Bay or not. Makes me wonder if the Smith Island mail boat is running. That’s a good indication of how much ice is out there. If it’s not, the Bay is frozen.
I would be interested to know how far out it is frozen today, Robin. We’ve heard the lows coming mid-week are the coldest it has been here since 1904. Brrr! Did you get a lot of snow overnight? Hope your power is on and that you are enjoying the beauty of it all. WG
That freeform vase is gorgeous, WG, and it makes the contents look almost jewel like, appropriate for your orchid! Is the jewel orchid the tall spike? When I focussed mostly on house plants many years ago I used to hanker after caladium but never came across then so it is lovely to see you using it here. Thanks for sharing and for your kind comments about the meme – as you say, it is intriguing to see what people are finding in different places and how they cope with the different conditions.
Thank you, Cathy. Yes, the tall spike is the jewel orchid. Its mother plant grows further down this windowsill. I order Caladium tubers from a grower in Florida, then try to keep them over winter. It is fun to see them leaf out in the middle of winter indoors. It is endlessly fascinating to me to see what others grow, and how they use them in an arrangement 😉