{Easter Season}

• Just want to start with wishing all of you a very Happy Easter!
• Spring is here so it will be a great time to get into the garden and bring the blooms into the home.

• In my heart shaped tin, from Amaretti cookies, I do keep all the special window decorations to be hung up once again. 
• Also in that tin I do keep the organdy egg ribbons, I've made one year, to go around white and brown eggs.

•  These chicks also were inside the tin, waiting for their time to hang in the bay window of the kitchen and look into the garden where each day more and more green shows and where sun rays keep them warm.

• On the very bottom of that tin were the large egg shaped window decorations with the chicken and the bunnies. 
• Let's show them here...

• They are from Germany, made out of brass that has been polished and lacquered, to prevent them from tarnishing. They are hung from a silk cord, either from a suction cup or else. I found them years ago when we attended one of the International Mushroom Science Congresses in Regensburg, Germany. Of course one always finds some time to explore the city and its special gift shops. The owner of the shop did give me the information of the producer of these window decorations and I have ordered over the years quite some pieces. For Christmas they have a great variety too and they even will create your own design, provided you order a minimum of 100 pieces. For a club or special occasion that would work well. I did design a happy mushroom family, which I sold all over the world at congresses and such.
• Gut, für die deutsche Leserinnen hier die Info über die Jech Kunstgewerbe Fensterbilder 
• Okay, let's go into the garden and see what we can gather up in the special flower basket that Pieter, my husband, got from Erika Wald, with some packets of seeds...

• Here we are with the yield: some gorgeous blooming Obdam Narcissus and white Thalia "The Orchid Narcissus" for use in my Villeroy & Boch Easter eggs.

• In the basket are also some fresh sprigs of rosemary and double yellow daffodils to be used in the picture frames, for each table setting. I will introduce them to you, just be patient...
• Don't you agree that these Orchid Narcissus are one of the loveliest of all daffodils? Two or more graceful white flowers adorn each stem. The petals reflex slightly backward "like the wings of an angel". Of course these heirlooms are fragrant too!

• Here are the special Villeroy & Boch eggs that my dear sister Diny did find for me in The Netherlands after I'd seen them in a Dutch magazine. 
• You just fill them with water to become small vases and there are the Thalias... just perfect for that purpose. 
• I first put them in this large Gardenia Bowl from Wedgwood cream color on cream color, that I often use for floating candles together with fresh flower heads.

• Well, why don't we have some guests for dinner? The setting is just perfect so let's put the Le Jacquard Français tablecloth on and use the napkins with the silver napkin rings, the Baccarat Piccadilly glasses and the Wedgwood cream ware plates. The cute bunny that we did bring from Germany last year and the sheep to hold the place cards, get out of their tin as well; a different tin -- that held the champagne we received from Pieter's brother and his wife for a special birthday. Lots of stories to tell. That is the nostalgia of keeping traditions alive, each time you pass those special items through your hands, stories will come to mind again.

• Now let's see... I think I will set those eggs free. Isn't that sheep cute with the place card? And what a beautiful vase full of Obdam Narcissus in that Wedgwood cream color on cream color 8 oz pitcher which I use as a vase.

• Indeed, this looks better and even the sheep agree, as well as the bunny with the baby-bunny!
• Ah, now you can see those picture frames made of Delft white, they hold water and I've added in each a sprig of rosemary with one daffodil head. Using some paper towel to steady them works fine.

• Now, let Joe & Joanne come to share dinner with us...
• Always good to sit around the dinner table with special people to share a home cooked meal and to set the table in a special way.

Wishing each of you All Happiness For Easter!

{Fragrant Double Narcissus Obdam}

On March 15 we did enjoy our very first arrangement of Narcissus Obdam, a perennial bulb in double cream yellow. They make superb cut flowers and almost look like gardenias or roses. 

Here you see cup & saucers from Lady Alexander Rose by Queen Anne, England and available at Replacements Ltd. Hand crocheted tablecloth done by me.

We did have a second showing on March 20 and they looked even prettier and next day they opened up wider and fuller and changing color more to white.

The vase is a Mandalay Chartreuse by Mason
 available at Replacements Ltd.

This is one day later, see that they turn whiter as they open up fully.

Here they are in the garden, waiting to be taken home with us or to be given to a dear friend... Today Maria Runggaldier from Ristorante da Maria was the lucky recipient!

The fragrance only adds to the beauty!

In our garden we do have one spot with Narcissus Snowbird and they do resemble the Obdam  like a twin.  When we bought them the description read: Captivation! Opens lemony yellow and quickly lightens to pure white with a hint of yellow in the center. Strong 20-inch stems withstand bad weather  and make long-lasting cut flowers. Midseason. All that is TRUE, it is a very pleasing, maybe the very best and longest lasting of Narcissi!

At McLure & Zimmerman you can find this Obdam Daffodil. Strange is that they have them listed as being not fragrant and they are highly fragrant! If you do like these, don't forget to order them for fall planting  in order  to start enjoying this spring show annually.

Related links:

MASON'S PATENT IRONSTONE 'MANDALAY' 20th CENTURY | Christie's
{Daffodils in a Vase on a Dark Day...} | previous post by me showing Mason's

{Fragrant Paperwhite Narcissus flowers in early December} | previous post by me with MASON'S

{Our Garden's Winter Blooms for Christmas} | previous post by me with MASON'S

{Enjoy some Fig Cake with Tea Jelly!} | previous post by me with MASON'S 

{TIP New Purpose for Cigarette Holder} | previous post by me with MASON'S 

{Wishing YOU a Happy 4th Advent 2012!} | previous post by me with MASON'S

{Our Nativity & Angels from Italy} | previous post by me with MASON'S 

{USEFUL TIP: Peppermint Tea for Anti Bloating} | previous post by me with MASON'S

{Fragrant Paperwhite Narcissus flowers in early December}

Just want to show you these beautiful Paperwhite flowers that we had in a vase the first week of December. They are the very first bulbs in our garden to show their flowers and their fragrance is heavenly.

For our local paper The Courier Herald I did write on December 24, of 1985 an article about color and scent of flowers making them truly great gifts.

In The Kingdom of The Netherlands they have brought via mass-media this slogan to the notice of the Dutch people: "Do it naturally, make life green and flowery".

The Netherlands may be rightly called the country full of flowers.

World famous is the Keukenhof -- the greatest bulb-flower show on earth! During only two months of the year, in April and May, a grand bulb flower exhibition can be admired in the Keukenhof in Lisse, in the western part of The Netherlands, the province of South Holland in the west of the country.

In The Netherlands there is always room for flowers for all seasons and plants are used for atmosphere. Especially around Christmas time we "say it with flowers." Beautiful centerpieces with "real" greens, holly and some orchids, completed with candles will be the finishing touch of a nice Christmas dinner.

Watching flowers and plants is an agreeable occupation for many people. Yet, this pastime is not given to everybody. The visually disabled normally have no opportunity to admire the many flowers and plants. But also the fragrance of flowers and plants often means a pleasant experience. Consequently, for the visually disabled people many highly fragrant plants and flowers are placed together. Usually the varieties with vivid colors are chosen for this purpose. The high fragrance and the vivid colors together make people with poor eyesight also enjoy flowers and plants.

High fragrance plants include waxplant (hoya carnosa) stephanotis, gardenia and bulb-flowers such as paperwhites, hyacinths and freesias.

So also for blind people a gift such as hyacinths in a planter, will make a nice present for the holiday season. It is also a great gift idea for elderly people in nursing homes, or our loved ones in the hospital. Add some color to their lives and at the same time the scent.

These are two solid silver boxes with roses, from my private collection. The one on the left is from France from the end of the 19th century and the one on the right is from the Netherlands.

For Johanna Gehrlein, here at Mandalay Chartreuse by Mason's you can see the details about the above Mason Mandalay China vase from. It sure is a lovely pattern!

Related links:

MASON'S PATENT IRONSTONE 'MANDALAY' 20th CENTURY | Christie's
{Daffodils in a Vase on a Dark Day...} | previous post by me showing Mason's

{Fragrant Paperwhite Narcissus flowers in early December} | previous post by me with MASON'S

{Our Garden's Winter Blooms for Christmas} | previous post by me with MASON'S

{Enjoy some Fig Cake with Tea Jelly!} | previous post by me with MASON'S 

{TIP New Purpose for Cigarette Holder} | previous post by me with MASON'S 

{Wishing YOU a Happy 4th Advent 2012!} | previous post by me with MASON'S

{Our Nativity & Angels from Italy} | previous post by me with MASON'S 

{USEFUL TIP: Peppermint Tea for Anti Bloating} | previous post by me with MASON'S