A few limbs of Acer palmatum 'Sango-kaku' (Coral Bark Maple) fell and were the inspiration for today's arrangement. Joining a few tips of one of the limbs are a few golden bamboo branches stripped of their leaves. About half of the golden bamboo grove in the parking strip snapped in half. The blue evergreen bit are a few branches of Cupressus arizonica var. glabra ‘Blue Ice’ that needed trimming away from the street.
During the snow, birds were hunkered down somewhere as their food sources were covered. The garden was strangely devoid of most bird song except the hummingbirds who were happy to find that the feeders were kept from freezing. Warmer weather and available water has caused the garden to once again be filled with the songs of our avian friends. What could be better to warm one from the inside after a few hours of working in the snow? Soup of course. What better vessel for today's arrangement of salvaged sticks than an old soup tureen?
The coral sticks are much more vibrant in person than in the pictures.
Joining the arrangement are a trio of Goebel birds that I've had since I was in the seventh grade.
In a Vase on Monday is hosted by Cathy, Rambling in the Garden, who is experiencing "Glorious February Days." Click here to see more Monday offerings.
Seriously, I love this better then flowers, it's so lush and vibrant and the soup bowl makes everything stand out nicely.
ReplyDelete"Six truck loads and eight yard waste dumpsters"??? astonishing.
Yes, there's still a lot to pull out but the garden needed some editing anyway.
DeleteSix truck loads and eight yard waste dumpsters full of debris! That's most people's entire gardens right there. Lovely to see you able to play with your garden's offerings again.
ReplyDeleteStrangely, the garden seems just as full as it was before. Here's to overplanting to compensate for ma nature's editing!
DeleteI absolutely adore your arrangement of the little birds with the tureen. You did an excellent job without a single bloom!
ReplyDeleteThanks Sue!
DeleteGeez, where does all your energy come from? The most I've been able to muster is to go out to the greenhouse to sow a few seeds. I picked up a few fallen limbs, but a big cleanup hasn't even started. I look out the windows and sigh. I still have snow on some of the beds, and lots of mud. This soup tureen arrangement is very colorful, and doesn't need flowers at all. I love the wee birds. My garden right now is full of robins and varied thrushes.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like a lot of energy but I've only spent a few hours hard at it. Tom has loaded the truck and taken it to the yard waste place so I could continue clearing.
DeleteVery nice, I love colorful winter twigs and always wished for a Red Osier Dogwood.Rumor has it Arizona Cypress will grow here, but I am not so sure. Isn't is amazing the debris generated by storms? I still find bits from past hurricanes.
ReplyDeleteThe perfect container for your display. It's amazing what colour we can find even after snow.
ReplyDeleteEverything from the plant material to the container to the sweet bird accents is perfect. My hat's off to you on the clean-up operation - I can't imagine the scale of the mess you've had to face.
ReplyDeleteThat is a lot of debris to be hauled off. How's your back? Too bad you didn't have an industrial chipper/shredder to make free mulch!
ReplyDeleteHope everything in your garden is back to 'normal' soon.
Love your arrangement and what it is in. I am a soup tureen lover. Of course I love birds too so this was a double hit.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you are having some spare time to work in the garden. That is a lot of take aways. Don't over do those winter muscles.
Very nice. I can't imagine hummingbirds surviving in snowy weather. I love the collection you've put together and the beautiful soup tureen. And the sweet little birds at the base of the arrangement...priceless.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you have had quite a bit of damage. We still have a lot of snow and haven't begun the clean up yet. It will be a big job, but it can wait until it's warmer and the snow is gone.
ReplyDeleteSurely your 'Six truck loads and eight yard waste dumpsters full of debris' was said with your tongue firmly in your cheek - you can't possibly have had so much debris to get rid of? Surely not? Would you have expected quite as much damage from the snow, Peter? I love the way you always tie your components together for IAVOM, with the damage, the birds and the soup; brilliant as ever, thank you
ReplyDeleteThat is a lot of Debris Peter. Have a good day finishing the tidying up. Love your arrangement again this week. I haven't seen a soup tureen in years!
ReplyDeleteThe amount of debris you are hauling away tells the story. Yikes that is a lot! I am always a fan of foliage arrangements - and soup. So this is my kind of display.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful representation of your garden clear.up. I love the colours of the Acer stems, it was a plant I often selected for clients gardens as it adds such wonderful winter colour. I found it hard to imagine the amount of material you had removed from the garden. Hope your follow up day proved successful.
ReplyDeleteThat soup tureen is lovely! Not "old" but antique!
ReplyDelete