Flowers for my Mum this week. There’s nothing as beautiful as spring bulbs and ranunculus are among my favourites. They are easy to grow. Plant them 8cm deep and the same distance apart in bulb fibre or John Innes compost. I grow mine in pots, starting them off in the greenhouse for an early crop. But they can be grown outdoors in full sun and well-drained soil. Plant them with the “fingers” facing downwards. The RHS has a sale on – 12 corms for £1.60 instead of £4. Aviv Rose is an excellent variety. I also grow Purple Heart . They last for a week in a vase. I made a small posy for the kitchen table with mine.
Red tulips look fabulous with blue hyacinths. I’ve placed these with lots of twigs from the garden. I’ve got grey catkins, red dogwood, spirea, and field maple. Some of the stems came from my new “Hedge in a Box” kit from Hopes Grove Nurseries. I wrote about planting my new florists’ hedge Here.
In amongst the stems are daffodils from Waitrose, grown in West Cornwall. “Surprise Bouquets ” contain 30 different stems for £4. You can’t tell what they are while they are in bud. The mystery is only revealed as they open. I love something a bit different and new marketing ideas to promote British flowers. Greenyard Flowers have been supplying Waitrose with daffodils for 23 years and grow more than 1,000 different varieties.
Some of the daffodils open up with creamy- white outer petals and a darker lemon trumpet. They have a delicate scent too.
All my bouquets for friends and family contain some of this evergreen glossy-leaved shrub that originally came from my Grandfather Ted Foulds. It’s called Euonymus Japonicus. I loved his visits here each week. He would always bring a little pot of seedlings from his garden, or a cutting from one of his plants. It’s lovely to walk around the garden now and remember him from all the flowers and shrubs in my garden.
There’s nothing more cheerful than popping a few twigs in amongst the spring flowers and watching them burst into leaf in the heat of the windowsill. This one I think is common field maple. The lime green leaves are almost as beautiful as any flower.
Thank you to Cathy at Ramblinginthegarden for hosting this meme. Why not go over and see what Cathy and all the others are putting in their vases this week. It’s an international favourite.
Bramble Garden 
Karen apologizes that she has not written in your blogs but with the transfer to the country house we need a lot of time to gather all the things and the car is going to overflow. I’ve been here since the 23rd and it’s wonderful. Your photos are magnificent. How nice it is to make a bouquet for your mom. The Ranunculus Aviv Rose is beautiful. The red Tulips with the blue Hyacinths are wonderful. The Daffodils are beautiful: cream the petals and lemon yellow the trumpet. How nice it is to have your grandfather’s Euonymus Japonicus, it is a beautiful memory every time you use it. The gray catkins, red dogwood, the spirea and the field maple: all those branches are divine. It is a magnificent bouquet, beautiful, I love it. By the way, have you grabbed the kit “Hedge in a Box?” Who can resist the Surprise Ramos for 4 pounds, I could not Karen if you want to see my garden you can do it at https://margaritaexam141.wordpress.com Love your Mother Karen for you love and all the best Take care Greetings from Margarita
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What a wonderful variety of flowers and foliage–and stories to go with them. “Surprise Bouquets”–what a clever idea!
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I love ranunculus too, they come in such amazing colours. Lucky Mum x
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Thank you Gill. I love the way they just keep unfurling. Lasts for ages. xx
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You make ranunculus sound so easy, Karen! I have always struggled with them, both inside and out, but will certainly be including them in the new greenhouse next year – or perhaps this year if you bulbs are still available? Isn’t it lovely to have memories attached to our plants? I must remember about the potential of trees in the garden for vase material – your twigs certainly enhance the lovely blooms. Thanks for sharing
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Thank you Annie x
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Lovely post and pictures. xx
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Thank you Mike. Hope you are getting some sunshine now. Enjoy your week. x
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Lovely photographs – the surprise idea is a good one
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Thank you Derrick. Hope you are getting some sunshine now. We had our first nice day of the year today. Warmth much appreciated.
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Same here, Karen – and today. Many thanks
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Lovely post
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Thanks.
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My mother really like rananculus too. They supposedly look ‘French’. I do not know what ‘French’ looks like, but I do not argue. They are like annuals here. They rarely bloom the second year. So are the others in your vase. Only daffodil naturalizes here.
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Wonderful blooms as always Karen, ty x
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Thank you Annie x
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A beautiful bouquet, Karen. I like the use of twiggy branches just unfolding.
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Thank you Eliza. The fluffy willow catkins just keep getting fatter and fatter. They are a lovely foil for the flowers. Plus cost £0 🙂
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I love looking down into the centre of that red tulip and seeing yellow!
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Me too. It’s been fabulous watching them open up today- our first really nice day of the year. They look like silk scarves waving in the wind.
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These are a spring delight…so many wonderful favorites for your mum!
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Thank you Donna. She was really pleased with them x
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