In a Vase on Monday: Chilling Out (And a Greenhouse Update)

An unusually early hard freeze took us by surprise last week.  Although temperatures often dip this low mid winter (and even much lower), the -11°C at night and  -4°C daytime high on Sunday signalled an abrupt end to the gardening season. All the lovely Chrysanthemums I was counting on for indoor colour are probably history, but when they thaw out perhaps I will be able to salvage some. (Always the optimist!) In the meantime I found some other materials for a vase this week, as I join Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for her weekly meme.

This lovely pansy was looking sad in the greenhouse, so I picked one of the last remaining flowers. I hope it will recover and carry on flowering a bit longer as it is well protected.

I actually found two Scabiosa ochroleuca still intact, with one of the pretty seedheads too.

Then I added the Allium seedheads (from A. ‘Millennium’ I think) and a sprig of Perovskia and one of Miscanthus.

And now a brief update on the greenhouse for those interested. Well, my main goal of extending the season was achieved. But early last week, on seeing the forecast, I decided to bring all my Pelargoniums indoors and placed them on the cellar windowsills where the room temperature should remain below 16°C. The Cyclamen had already found a new home on a cool windowsill, as had the Echevera. The Lemon Verbena plants came in the following day, and my perennial seedlings were moved to a slightly ‘warmer’ spot next to the house. So my treasures are safe and sound. Originally I hadn’t actually intended to heat the greenhouse for long anyway, and had hoped for a mild winter (). Without the gas heater overnight in the last few weeks though, my flowery oasis would not have lasted this long.

Photo  taken on November 4th

 

And on November 24th….

Frost on the inside of the windows at the weekend

However, on Saturday, while the thermometer outside said -1° C, we sat in the greenhouse in sunshine at midday and it reached 22°C in there! So I am looking forward to sitting out there and ‘chilling out’ when snow is on the ground – I hope we get plenty of sunny days this winter.

Wishing you all some winter sunshine too!