“Cornucopia of flowers,” between 1820 and 1890, an American watercolor by an unknown artist (possibly related to this?), via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
I wasn’t able to make my own flower arrangement this week for “In a vase on Monday,”‘ but to see what other garden bloggers have created, please visit host Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
A repeat post from April 2013. . .
Our two days in Chicago were windy (of course) and occasionally damp, and very few trees had even begun to leaf out.
But I was taken by this arboreal display of blue outside the Fourth Presbyterian Church on Michigan Avenue.
The ribbons were tied in the trees and along the fence in memory of the 28,828 children of Illinois who were abused last year.
April is Child Abuse Prevention Awareness Month in the U.S. You can get more information here.
ADDENDUM: The blue ribbons are in the trees outside the church this year (2017) as well.
this is the garden: colours come and go,
frail azures fluttering from night’s outer wing. . .— e.e. cummings, “This is the Garden“
I have a new old salt-glazed pottery crock from the Stuttgart Saturday flea market — just the right size for a supermarket bouquet of tulips.
The market always has a lot of these pretty blue and grey pots, which were made in the Westerwald* region of Germany and range in size from egg cup to several liters. They are very affordable: normally about €5 to €12 for those big enough to hold kitchen utensils. I haven’t found anything particularly useful online about how to assess their age. The woman who sold me this one pointed out the circular ridges on its bottom as an indication that it was “very old.” But I’ve seen other pots labeled “antique” (late 19th century) on websites that have smooth bottoms. I think you just have to look for a pleasing pattern and patina combination.
To see what other garden bloggers have put in vases today, please visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.
*between Bonn and Frankfurt.
Irises along the embankment, West Potomac Park, Washington, D.C., 1921, a hand-colored glass lantern slide by Frances Benjamin Johnston, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing
A flowery band to bind us to the earth. . .–John Keats, from “A Thing of Beauty“
Iris garden beside water in Japan, probably Yokohama, ca. 1910, via University of Victoria Libraries Commons on flickr.
The hand-colored glass plate slide is from a collection of “Yokohama photographs,” sold to foreign tourists between about 1868 and 1912.
enclos*ure 