April 14, 2025 by Born To Organize

In a Vase on Monday: Freesias and Sweet Peas

Spring’s predictable garden bounty makes my heart sing. It’s a great time to plunk some flowers in a vase and a chance to use my pink ceramic chick.

Sweet peas are slowly emerging in several shades of purple. Conversely, the freesias are winding down, but several white varieties remain in bloom. I added freesias to my vase with cuttings from our Pittosporum tree. The greens are shiny this time of year, with subtle, waxy citrus-scented flowers which generate an intoxicating scent. I hope the arrangement holds up for Easter, but if not, I’ll find more for the table’s centerpiece.

If you enjoy arranging flowers from your garden, Please consider joining us for the occasional IAVOM (In a Vase on Monday). You can reach Cathy at the link below.

Thank you to “the Cathys” for inspiring this Monday series. You can visit Cathy at Rambling in The Garden at this link to see several stunning vases worldwide. Perhaps you would like to share one of your own.

March 24, 2025 by Born To Organize

In a Vase on Monday: Freesias and Muscari

Six weeks post-hip surgery, I’m finally free to bend my hip joint past 90%. It still hurts, but with a series of maneuvers, I can gather garden blooms. Spring is in full swing, so I had many lovely choices. I went with a white and purple palette, with plenty of green to add structure and balance.

White Freesia with a hint of yellow center balances the purple Muscari or grape hyacinth. The Freesia returns yearly in various colors, but the white and yellow blooms dominate. The Muscari is new to my garden, and it did not disappoint. It’s also reputed to spread easily through the garden, so I see more and more of it in my future.

I clipped a few sprigs of greenery from our Pittosporum tree and plopped the flowers in a recycled glass sauce jar wrapped in colorful fabric Washi tape from 49 & Market.

Thank you to “the Cathys” for inspiring this Monday series. It encourages me to bring in some of our garden’s colorful and fragrant goodness. You can visit Cathy at Rambling in The Garden at this link to see several stunning vases worldwide.

June 17, 2024 by Born To Organize

Gardenia’s in a Vase on Monday

Lucky me! After another wet winter, the gardenias put out plentiful, magical, scented blooms, just waiting to be cut for a vase.

I’m joining “the Cathys” for a weekly meme encouraging bloggers to share something “In A Vase On Monday” or IAVOM. It’s a mouthful, and it’s fun.

I’ve arranged five gardenias in a glass jar, some asparagus fern, and a few swigs of purple salvia. Gardenias don’t last long in a vase, but it’s still worth bringing a few indoors. They turn brown and droop, but the intoxicating scent remains. With greenery to keep the flowers company, I can overlook the droop for that scent.

Instead of a vase, I’ve arranged my cut flowers in one of my favorite glass jars. The Quattro Stagionioma sauce is long gone, but the beautiful embossing lives on. It’s challenging to take pictures of glass, but I’m hoping you can see a bit of the pretty pattern.

For some beautiful inspiration, check out some of this week’s vases.

Cathy, the gardener who started IAVOM, shares her gorgeous roses and a history lesson from her English garden today at Rambling in the Garden.

From Cathy’s Bavarian garden, a stunning purple arrangement at Words and Herbs.

Eliza Waters shares the last of her stunning peonies, which were grown in her garden in Massachusetts, US, creating a breathtaking arrangement.

August 7, 2023 by Born To Organize

Sake and Sunflowers: In a Vase On Monday

Cutting sunflowers for a vase was outside my plans. These lovely flowers attract birds, bees, and onlookers, and their presence is uplifting. I want the sunflowers to go to seed so I can offer them to neighborhood squirrels. Offer is a euphemism for “they’ll help themselves while I try to get photos.”

The flower pictured below, however, escaped from the bunch and gently curved across the sidewalk. I propped it up, and it fell again. The message couldn’t be any clearer.

Today’s vase is a sake vessel known as a Shuki. Mike acquired it before we met nearly thirty years ago, and I assumed it had sentimental properties. When I asked him about it this morning, he said, “I have no idea where I got it.” So much for sentimentality, eh, and now I have another container for cut flowers.

Along with the small sunflower, I’ve added burgundy-colored foliage from our Chinese Fringe plant Loropetalum chinense and a few cuttings from a Nandina Nandina domestica. The fern in the back grows prolifically from a plant that once thrived on my nightstand. It moved from container to container over the years but now lives in the soil along the back fence. I’ve had it for 35 years.

Thanks to “the Cathys,” who inspires this weekly challenge to cut and display flowers from one’s garden in a vase on Monday. IAVOM

July 17, 2023 by Born To Organize

Gardenias and Memories in a Vase on Monday

It’s hot and getting hotter, so I had to dash for a few blooms to fill today’s petite vase.

I bought this tiny vase on a trip to Mexico several years ago. Mike traveled there for business, and I got to join him for the last few days.

Once again, thanks to this winter’s heavy rains, my gardenias have continuously flowered for weeks. I’ve been clipping three at a time to enjoy them indoors, deadheading as I go. Even after the blooms yellow and sag, the potent scent remains.

Today’s vase features gardenias, lavender, and a tiny purple flower I can’t seem to name. It grows along the edge of our deck, and most summers, it finds a way to take root and grow through one of the crevices. That always makes me smile.

If you recognize the name of this purple beauty, please let me know.

Please visit the Cathy’s to see what they and others have created for IAVOM.

April 17, 2023 by Born To Organize

In A (Tiny) Vase on Monday: Where Fairies Alight

A vase is a container used to hold cut flowers. Traditionally, they’re made from glass, ceramics, or non-porous materials; however, today’s vase is a shell.

It’s a tiny shell. A garden snail succumbed to its fate, leaving a bleached and hollow vacancy behind. I used a toothpick to remove the dirt, knowing the shell might be useful.

Scale is everything when you’re creating a vase. You want something tall in the back and a bit of green for contrast, allowing the flowers to be the main attraction. Following those guidelines, I’ve used asparagus fern for greenery and height, showcasing the lovely blue Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’ front and center.

Satisfied with my tiny vase, I snapped a few photos, then let “Bubba” have a sniff so you could see the true scale of the snail. Snail shell, that is.

The vase provides a focal point for one of my fairy gardens. I rearranged the lawn furniture, repaired (and then broke) the tiny door, added small pebbles, and returned my mostly rust-free garden gate.

This year’s garden features a tiny Alyssum hedge and a lawn of small greens, the name of which currently escapes me.

There you have it. The importance of a tiny vase on Monday to celebrate the opening of the fairy garden. The fairy garden sits beside the fountain’s right, surrounded by Campanula, commonly known as bellflowers. It’s a welcome respite for fairies and garden visitors alike.

Thanks to the Cathy’s of Rambling in The Garden and Words and Herbs for bringing us together.

April 10, 2023 by Born To Organize

In a Vase on Monday: One Becomes Two

Now that spring is underway; the garden is filling nicely with greens and flowers. So it’s nice to join the Cathy’s for some Monday cheer.

After gathering greens from one azalea and three calla lilies, I cut a handful of the fading yellow Freesia. Try as I might, though, I couldn’t get the flowers to work in one arrangement. I arranged two smaller vases, one with Freesia and azalea greens,

and the other with calla lilies (Zantedeschia) and Asparagus setaceus plumosus.

Over the weekend, I arranged another vase for a friend’s birthday. I wish all of my friends celebrated birthdays this time of year. It’s so cheering giving flowers from one’s garden.

Please follow this link to see the other In A Vase on Monday posts.

Thank you, Cathy, at and Cathy at Words and Herbs.

Fun facts:

A calla lily isn’t a true lily and an Asparagus “fern” isn’t a fern.

April 3, 2023 by Born To Organize

In a Vase on Monday: Sunshine and Scent

Cathy at Rambling in the Garden arranges flowers in a vase year-round, and posts her creations each Monday. I’m always impressed with what she pulls together. In addition, several bloggers join the creative process, posting there In a Vase on Monday and linking to Cathy’s blog.

I discovered Cathy at Rambling in the Garden through Cathy at Words and Herbs, yet another example of how I love this blogging world. I like to refer to them casually as The Cathys. I hope they don’t mind.

I filled today’s vase with my beloved Freesia in yellows and whites. Then, I clipped some greens from our Pittosporum (Pittosporum tobira). The Pittosporum, sometimes called mock orange, is one of two trees that preceded our move to this house 27 years ago.

Rounding out the color are a few orange nasturtium (Tropaeolum). The stems are weak, but I couldn’t resist their vibrant color. They self-seed all over the garden this time of year in reds, yellows, and oranges.

I found the vase at a vintage shop a few years ago. I bought it for a song, telling me it’s neither vintage nor valuable, but with a ceramic cat hanging from the edge, it’s priceless.

Please visit Rambling in the garden to see what other bloggers have arranged In a Vase on Monday.

May 28, 2018 by Born To Organize

In a Vase on Monday: Scented Sweet Peas

Sweet Peas in Assorted Glass Jars

I’m joining “The Cathys” once again for their weekly feature, In a Vase on Monday.

My swoon-worthy sweet pea jungle has returned. It’s colorful and wonderfully scented. Sweet peas seem to remind every one of their grandmother’s garden. They evoke a wonderful nostalgia.

This year I’m seeing more variegated colors including lavender with white and pink with white. That’s new and fun.

Sweet Pea Jungle

I save glass jars throughout the year, and sometimes supplement with a few jars from a local craft store. I found some this year on clearance for fifty cents. I cut flowers for my Pilates classmates, a group who loves to chat about gardening, and for my neighbors and friends. Last week I cut some flowers for a woman walking her dog and she said I made her day. I got to pet the puppy and she went home with some sweet peas. It doesn’t get better than that this time of year.

Sweet Peas Arranged by Color on my Potting Bench

Sweet Peas with Some Nigella Sprigs

We’ve had a mild May so the flowers have lasted longer than usual as well. Sunday was the start of our first heat wave with temps in the mid-eighties or (30C). I’ve really enjoyed the cooler temps.

Fuchsia sweet pea closeup

Lavender sweet pea underside view

White to pink sweet pea

Variegated purple sweet pea

Variegated pink sweet pea

Lavender sweet pea and Nigella foliage

Dark purples with a spring of Nigella

Water color-like sweet pea

Sweet Peas Growing Near the Little Free Library * Mouse the Cat on the Path

Click on over to see some of the other beautiful vases featured on In A Vase on Monday.

Anna at GreenTapestry

Christina at Creating My Own Garden of the Hesperides

and more.

Thank you Cathy at Words and Herbs and Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for your ongoing inspiration.

I think I’ll celebrate my WordPress anniversary with some freshly cut sweet peas.

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January 22, 2018 by Born To Organize

In a Vase on Monday: A Tiny Treasure from my Travels

This week, it’s all about the vase. I don’t generally buy travel souvenirs but how could I resist this charming little vessel?

This vase from Puerto Vallarta is pretty on all sides (That’s Tessa our cat walking away in the background)

I spotted the vase on our final day in Puerto Vallarta. It’s small, perhaps the size of a tall shot glass. Once wrapped in protective paper and I stashed it in my purse for the trip home.

Scale is everything with a vase this small. I scouted my limited winter choices and decided on three white camellia camellia japonica and a few sprigs of my beloved fern.

Camellia Japonica

Camellia Japonica bud

The petals were already dropping, so I don’t think the arrangement will last the week, unless this pretty bud opens up. I love that faded pink on the tips.