It’s a new week, so it is time for another In a Vase of Monday with Cathy at Rambling in the Garden! I have a very herbal vase this time, which feels appropriate for the warming weather.
Many Mediterranean plants grow quite well here. This fact further encourages my love of growing these sun-country herbs that thrive in dry, rocky soils while withstanding the depredations of rabbits. Not least among these are lavenders, thyme, and oregano.
Oregano will flower later in the year; but at present I have plenty of lavender in bloom, mostly Lavandula dentata, along with the darker-flowered L x “Goodwin Creek Grey”.
Both of these are combined with some long, wispy stems of thyme. Sadly I seem to have lost my lemon thyme (Thymus x citriodora), but this is the best stand of Thymus vulgaris I’ve ever grown. Hopefully it will continue to grow well and supply both vases and kitchen.
I love thyme’s tiny, pale flowers.
And then there is the South American native, tree tobacco (Nicotiana glauca). There were a few plants in place when we moved in. Initially I worried they would prove to be invasives here as they are in so many other places, but the word from the Spadefoot Nursery website (which I often rely on for such information) is that they are not a problem in this region. And certainly they seem to set quite a bit of seed without producing many seedlings to grow on.
The main plant grows in the shade at the north corner of the house. It is very nearly the height of a small tree at this point. I cut a stem with a few of its pretty yellow flowers and buds for the vase. And of course its large leaves are a special addition as well.
I used my hand-thrown stoneware vase to hold this fairly simple combination.
Do check the other posts linked to Cathy’s for more Monday vases, most of them a good deal more spring-like than mine. Conditions are inching toward early summer here.
The native thornscrub is still flowering heavily, though beginning to look a little tousled after all the blooming, the winds, and the bee activity. But it’s been a beautiful, bright yellow month across the foothills.
Happy Monday!
P.S. If you are interested in poetry from this corner of the world, here is a link to my recent collection Where the Sun Sings on Lulu.com
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