Just squeezing in late this week with my IAVOM contribution. Truth be told, I completely forgot yesterday, as both myself and my other half had the day off. It was a gorgeous winter day with SUN and I spent a fair bit of it outside working on the garden. Most of the camellias in our garden are in full bloom now, although there are a couple of late flowering varieties yet to open their buds.  The bowl was gifted to me by my MIL, who claims it is specifically a bowl for camellias - I'm not so sure, but they do display well in it. Blooms displayed include, 'Margaret Davis', 'Debutante', 'Bob Hope', 'Black Tie', 'The Zsar' and two unknown varieties.  I'm off to do a bit of work in the veggie patch today. Vegetable gardening - as satisfying as it is - also reaps financial rewards at this time. Our recent widespread Australian floods have resulted in a shortage of some vegetables, particularly lettuce, which are currently retailing at $10... e

Last week on my regular walk around the neighbourhood, I noticed the first almond blossoms just starting to open. This week, on a stroll past the same tree, I snapped off a couple of small branches for my IAVOM vase. This particular almond tree grows on a vacant block overlooking the city and I suspect its days might be numbered due to its position on prime land.  We have a large almond tree in the corner of our backyard too, however it is always slower to open its blossoms. I can't see any blooms yet. Also, most of our almond flowers are eaten off by resident possums and sulfur crested cockatoos - the blossoms are obviously as tasty as they are pretty! Cathy over at Rambling in the Garden is the creator and weekly host of the In a Vase on Monday meme. To see what other gardeners have filled their vases with this week, check out her blog here . Perhaps you have a vase of your own garden blooms to add, with hints of spring or otherwise?

Despite being mid-winter here in South Australia, there are little hints of spring here and there, reminding us that the demise of the current season is inevitable. Which is a-okay with this cold adverse gardener!  My arrangements this week are of 'firsts' and 'lasts': the 'first' newly opened flowers of jonquils and buddleja and the 'last' nearly spent blooms of strawflowers and roses. Paperwhites Narcissus papyraceus, Narcissus tazetta ssp. italicus, no ID buddleja and Helichrysum bracteatum A closer view My second bunch uses blooms I trimmed before giving the roses their annual winter prune: Rosa 'Candy Stripe', including the plain pale pink bud on the left - an anomaly I found when pruning A closer view It was so cold today that I followed my flower arranging with a brisk walk to get my circulation going. There were little signs of spring around the neighbourhood too, including almond blossoms, which are always the first blossoms to bloom in