…well, not really, actually a vase of Helleborus ‘Double Aubergine’. With no real aubergines to hand, the flowers and an arum leaf are propped up by a few (shop-bought) sugar snap peas, and displayed in a slim-waisted dark green vase, possibly Caithness Glass.
I have read recently, as I know Susie of pbmgarden blog also has, that plunging hellebore stems in water up to their necks overnight, followed by slitting not their necks but their stems, will extend their vase life; it was also recommended they were picked just as the seed pods started to form but as mine are only just coming into bloom that is not going to happen for a while yet. For experimentation purposes I tried this technique out last week and, sure enough, the stem lasted for a good few days before the blooms began to droop. With some confidence, therefore, I cut stems on Saturday, ready to slit them yesterday morning, but woke up to find three extremely droopy stems waiting for the next step… Hmm, I really need to find that article (in one of my gardening magazines, surely) and establish what went wrong…
Fortunately, the plant the stems were cut from has been generous with her blooms, and I was able to cut more, but the ones you see have received no overnight soaking although the stems have been tentatively slit. How long will they last? Your guess is as good as mine… If you would like to join us today with a vase or jar of your own blooms, vegetables, sticks or anything else you can find in your garden or forage locally, then please do so by leaving the usual links.
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