In place of flowers

Belinda at Wildacre has left her Christmas jug of twigs on display http://t.co/Yyd2IU4e. This has made think about the birch twigs I used to display my hand sewn tiny hearts at craft fairs. I cut them down and put them in a cream metal jug. I like the contrast and it suits the room too.

I also have bottle of grasses collected from the garden in the kitchen.

For a touch of summer this bowl contains dried flowers and leaves from my garden

Flowers in the House

Jane is hosting the first anniversary of Flowers in the House.

I have a jug of Rhodanthe manglesii 'Timeless Rose' grown from seed last summer.

 
They were easy to grow and the slugs weren't interested. Even in the garden the flowers feel papery. I grew them next to the path and cut far more than I expected. I think I had about 8 plants.

I dried them in the garage along with Alchemilla mollis, Poppy and Nigella seed heads and Mint.

Seedheads and dried flowers

I have had seedheads and flowers drying in the garage for several weeks. I thought it was probably time I did something with them, especially as I had earmarked some for Christmas decorations.

The Anaphalis triplinervis has gone into a new pink jug.

These Nigella seedheads are a nice creamy colour....

.... I also like them sprayed silver for Christmas. The other seedheads are Poppy and Dill.

 
Some of the Nigella seed has been saved for sowing at the Environmental Centre next spring.

 

Winter Solstice today. Nights will start to get shorter (not that we will notice for a while)