In a Vase on Monday: a Witch’s Spell for the New Year

eye of potato, monkey’s tail….

Sorry, but I am not at liberty to divulge the rest of the spell…

Having spent a number of hours yesterday working with the Golfer to complete the greenhouse reglazing, preparing a vase for today was very much a last minute affair, achieved in the final dying daylight hours. In my mind, I knew it would focus on witch hazel, but that was as far as I had got, so in the absence of a plan I headed straight for H ‘Jelena’, my largest specimen, knowing I would find some criss-crossing twigs to snip, and cut some ever-useful twisted hazel stems too.

Also from the recesses of my mind came the thought of sticking the stems in a potato – I am aware ‘old wives’ (‘old gardeners’ more likely) suggest sticking rose cuttings in a potato to help them root, but has one of our blogging community used a potato recently to support stems in vase, or am I imagining that? Having removed a thin slice from the base of the potato to make it more stable, my next thought was to hide it in a vase, but instead chose to leave it exposed, to give me the ‘eyes’ of a witch’s spell. In the absence of frogs, bats and newts, I added what I think was designed to fit on the end of a pencil, a little monkey, a lost or discarded item I picked up from the playground or pavement to add to my quirky collection).

So let the fire burn and the cauldron bubble, bringing you all Health, Happiness and Good Gardening for 2024. If you would like to start your year off with a vase, then please join us on IAVOM by leaving links to and from this post.