A stat holiday for most people in Canada, Remembrance Day is a poignant day in most people’s lives with or without memories of war but there are far too many memories and days where war is experienced first hand these days. Being born at the end of the Second World War, I have only memories of rations and the blackout games we played as kids, hiding under a table with the dark green, heavy blackout curtains. The reality of what we see daily now is horrific and my sincerest hope is that my grandchildren and all children never have to experience any of the hardships and tragedies we see daily on news outlets. Am I asking too much in these difficult times? I hope not.

This week at the Gallery, our high school students are displaying their art work and with the theme of ‘Blue’, there are many interpretations. My contribution for the gallery flowers this week, in keeping with the seriousness of Remembrance Day and the theme ‘Blue’ is this:

Mourning Blue

Dried purple statice, Limonium my home grown blue tinged Eucalyptus, Horsetail gleaned from Christmas foraging and poppy heads.

Another little addition gleaned from the decomposing forest floor:

New Life

From the decay of Fir and Pine needles comes the beautiful new growth of mosses and new shrubs.

Rocky Mountain Juniper, Juniperus scopolorum, with berries, Sphagnum moss, Sempervivum from my overwintering pots and a little Harry Lauder Walking Stick, twig. Corylus avellana

Please head over to Cathy’s ‘In a Vase On Monday’ feature on her blog https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/2024/11/11/in-a-vase-on-monday-a-little-bit-of-what-you-fancy/

where you can see many other contributions of arrangements from our gardens inside and beyond the garden gate.