Little White Jug

Here I am, almost one year to the day since my last post. How could so much time have passed? A longer break than I anticipated, but here I am feeling inspired once again and raring to go.

I thought I would mark the occasion with a blog about my little white Lord Nelson Pottery jug from England.  This jug is very special to me because it was a gift from my lovely friend S.  She and I were on an antiquing trip in Almonte, Ontario and S. found this jug at one of the shops, fell in love with it, bought it and took it home. Some time later, she surprised me by giving it to me, not because she did not love it anymore, but because she knew how much I loved it.  Now that, is a special friend.

I picked the flowers this morning from my garden. Alliums from the bulbs that I planted last fall.

 
Siberian irises, which I just love. These are a dark blue purple and the clumps that they form are full of spiky thin green leaves. They don't last long but their slender elegance makes them a favourite of mine.

And last, but not least, in this lovely trio is a perennial bachelor button, more larger and showier than the annual variety.  This year, mine are much larger than I have ever seen them grow in my garden. Their spiky spheres are remarkable.

Put all three together and they are even more beautiful.  Have a look and see what you think...

I think they work so well in contrast with the simplicity of my little white jug.  I also think that I will continue to make other flower arrangements in this jug and share them here so you can see just how versatile this wonderful receptacle is. I am willing to bet that the mood of the arrangement will change with the flowers. Time will tell.

Kaleidoscope Centres

Nature's Palette

No matter how often I remind myself to enjoy the season, to keep my eyes open and stay in the moment, I often do forget to take everything in. I almost did it again. I planted an iris last year and therefore have never really seen it in bloom. I looked out my bedroom window and realized that this particular iris had been blooming for the past week without me stopping to really study it. And now there was only one bloom left, the very last bloom of the season on this particular iris. I almost missed it! So I ran out with my camera before leaving for work to photograph it, the morning sun just catching the tip of some of its petals. It has such an unusual mix of colours... the faded dusty shade of pinky lavender of the bloom, along with the bright orange caterpillar-like beard. The two colours should clash horribly, but somehow they look just fine, beautiful in fact. Nature is a skilled artist, blending colours that either harmonize or contrast in the best possible ways.