Garden treasures
It’s been over a month since I last posted on the blog! Welcome to the new people who have subscribed to my email list since then. I’ve had a busy few weeks as I prepare for the next growing season, spending lots of time in the garden and potting shed. I’ll be catching up on blog posts over the next few weeks as we move into the fall.
This was my final (and perhaps smallest) arrangement on my desk from last month. I wanted to use some glass ‘treasures’ that I found in our garden, so I created a tiny arrangement that would fit into a small, green glass bottle that I unearthed while working in the garden.
For this little bottle, I chose flowers in shades of blue and white and kept the arrangement simple, using cornflowers (Classic fantastic seed mix), catnip (Six hills giant), feverfew, and achillea (A. ptarmica ‘Double diamond’).
There aren’t any distinctive marks on this bottle, so I can’t really guess what its age might be. Judging by the size (it’s only four inches tall) and the sharp edges on the rim, it could be a shear-top ink bottle. The ink would have been sealed inside by pinching the bottle neck closed while the glass was hot, and the bottle was then opened by breaking the neck, leaving a rough edge. However old it is, I’m amazed I found it unbroken, with only one crack in the glass!
I’ve occasionally found marbles in the garden, and until recently, I thought they were all just standard playing marbles. However, from what I’ve read online, these glass marbles are likely to have come from Codd-neck carbonated drink bottles which used glass marbles and rubber washers to stopper the bottles. Apparently, children used to smash the bottles to get to the marbles so these days, intact Codd-neck bottles are rare finds (I’ve only ever found the marbles).
I loved using all these little treasures - both glass and floral - from the garden for this tiny desk arrangement!
