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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, August 31, 2015

In A Vase On Monday - After the Storm

As children, many of us enjoyed going on nature walks.  For me, little has changed in that regard.  A walk on the beach or in the woods always yields a pocket full of treasures. Rocks, shells, a few autumn leaves, an interesting fallen branch (well, those are carried) are all be new found treasure. Horse chestnut's prickly pods that resemble jousting equipment and their shiny brown contents fascinate me  every fall. Yesterday, we had a rather strong windstorm, the likes of which we usually don't see here until November.  Lots of tree limbs came down, trees fell, fruit was blown from trees, and  there were power outages.  Luckily we had no damage other than a heavy pot being blown off the top of a column. The plant was fine but the pot's a goner.  That being said, it's no surprise that our evening walk through the neighborhood presented lots of interesting items for a magpie like myself to drag home.  I decided to put a few of them in a vase.  Is it cheating to use things that didn't come from my garden? 

Fallen cones from a neighbor's monkey puzzle tree. 


An interesting lichen/moss covered branch or two.


The thing that I was really pleased about was finding branches from the monkey puzzle tree of a neighbor who is pleased to have them taken away so they don't have to clean them up. 

My arranging skills aren't that great but here's some stuff shoved into a vase that's a bit too big to come inside. 


It certainly cannot live  here.

So it gets to stay in the room formerly used to store plants for the winter until I decide what to do with those cool monkey puzzle branches.  Spray painted gold and used with greens at Christmas? Giant antennae for jack o lanterns?  What would you do with them?
Thanks to Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for hosting In a Vase on Monday!  Check out her blog to find links to lots of great arrangements. 

14 comments:

  1. I love storms, too! How nice of you to show us the aftermath of the wind. Neat stuff. I have a tansparent bowl for such treasures found.

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  2. Hah, great minds think alike. My post this morning is also In a Vase on Monday, but it's featuring dead flower heads and branches that I cut before the storm. Love those monkey puzzle branches and cones! I'm a bit of a mgpie too.

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  3. You and Alison have great bookends to the storm. I too would have been thrilled to find the monkey puzzle tree branches, nice work Outlaw!

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  4. Very dramatic arrangement which will last and last. The green vase and green lichen stick bring the whole thing together. Lovely

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  5. Foraged finds like this are indeed welcomed and encouraged In a Vase on Monday - to encourage everyone (with or without blooms or a garden of their own) to realise the pleasure that can be gained from bringing material inside and enjoying it there as well as outside. And 'shoved' in a vase is good too - arranging is not a necessary skill and plonking and shoving are just as effective. I think your vase is reminiscent of some highly magnified arachnid - don't you?! :) Thanks for sharing today and do share again

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  6. If I had a room such as yours I would leave that fun arrangement right there, no gold spray needed. The storm knocked down my tall, top-heavy Dahlias. Usually I don't cut flowers to bring inside, but since it was going into the compost pile, I salvage the magnificent flowers and made an arrangement to enjoy indoors.
    Peter, I hope you are feeling better, and looking forward to the start of the new school year. Have a wonderful and fulfilling year.

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  7. I don't think you cheated in the least - and you helped the neighborhood clean up in the bargain. Your finds make a very attractive arrangement. I look forward to seeing the monkey puzzle branches reappear in different incarnations. They might be useful as Halloween, Thanksgiving AND Christmas decorations.

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  8. Your scavenger's bouquet is a beauty. future Monday posts spoken for?

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  9. Oh this is a perfect vase and we all break the rules and Cathy is very lenient with us! I adore all the bits and bobs you dragged home for your vase....very dramatic indeed. My favorite is the lichen branches....you have given me ideas for future vases once the sow flies here.

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  10. You picked up some good stuff. What ever you do with the Araucaria branches, it will be original and stylish. The vase arrangement is great.

    I'm wondering if I can spray-paint gold the giant Dasylirion flower out front--on the plant--for the holidays. That will make people look twice! Just have to figure out how to get a spray can to spray 12' up.

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  11. We have a lot of clean up to do after that storm, and so far we are still just looking at the mess. I don't think any of it will go into a vase, but the yard waste bins instead. I do still have vases full of dahlias and zinnias. How long will that go on now that the heat of summer is gone?

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  12. These are neat arrangements. It's the first time I found your blog, and I'm glad I did!
    I hope you'll link up at this week's Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) here:
    http://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2015/08/strange-visitors-in-garden.html

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  13. You managed to fit a lot of material in your tiny green vase, the monkey puzzle cones look great with the straw chair and also match the golden panes of stained glass so prettily. The branches would look great painted gold at Christmas, too! Great finds!

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