I dressed my vase in winter whites this Monday, adding a catapult of red dried Bromeliad foliage ribbon to sling purifying white crystal energy into this new year. The crystals are White Quartz; certainly collected in the field by my father, the geology professor. It seems White Quartz has the properties to purify negative energy and is recommended for spiritual healing. I am thinking of where to place these crystals for maximum effect. We have never needed the White Quartz more.
A closer view:
The white flowers and foliage are from Sweet Begonias, (Begonia odorata ‘alba’) a bulletproof perennial in my garden. These grow in sugar sand and near total shade, they are irrigated and flower off and on year round while lending coarse green texture to the garden. The Sweet Begonias amaze me, I would have wilted if left where they thrive. The red catapult is a remnant of my Christmas wreath. I wrapped the wreath with Bromeliad foliage and was left with some long dried curls – I thought they were kind of cool and saved them. The decorations would have lasted longer. Not wishing to tempt fate, I took everything down..is it only the American Deep South that thinks all decorations must be down before January 1st or bad luck will haunt you in the new year?? I am hoping for double good luck with the crystals!
Another view:
More winter whites from my garden. The spikes on the right hand side of the image are buds for the flower stalk of Snake Plant, Mother In Laws Tongue..etc. Sansevieria, if you want the Latin. The Snake Plant infests my garden, and it literally takes a bulldozer to get rid of it. The off white spikes are from Juba Bush (Iresine diffusa) a Florida native that just appeared one day. Ferns are Asian Sword Ferns, another lovely interloper.
Maybe I should put the White Quartz in the garden?
Happy Gardening and Happy New Year to all and Thank You to Cathy at http://www.ramblinginthegarden.com for hosting another year of In A Vase on Monday. To see more vases visit Cathy at the above link.
The Shrub Queen 
I hope the quartz work. We sure do need something. I also find over here that decorations go up at Thanksgiving or before and down at New Years. In New England decorations went up right before Christmas and stayed into January, then it snowed and they stayed until spring.
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I hope the quartz does something..and I never put up decorations in November. I think evergreen would stay fresh longer in New England. I always use fresh and two weeks max here.
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I love the arrangement with the curled leaf. Thanks for sharing the Christmas decoration removal thoughts, here they ought to remain up till twelfth night. I guess that so long as they are removed when you are ready and happy to do so, that is fine. Best wishes for the coming year.
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Thank you, Noelle. I agree and Happy New Year to you.
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We NEED all the purifying white crystal energy we can get this year, Amelia, so thank you! I love that curled bromeliad leaf, which was an inspired touch. I’ll have to see if I can get Phormium leaves to cooperate in that manner. I always try to get all my Christmas decorations down by the 1st of January but this season I was so anxious to see 2020 done, I literally stripped everything on December 26th. I hope 2021 will get better after January 6th and even better after January 20th.
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Thanks, Kris. Me, too! I am considering placing a crystal in front of the tV to reflect the energy back to DC. I love phormium, I think it might be easier to curl (no thorns!)
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We could definitely use healing energy as we head toward the finish line of 45’s term. May cool heads prevail.
I love the red curl tapping into the quartz energy, the froth of begonia and the vertical accents of fern and snake flower stalk. Perfect for the spa! 🙂
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Yes, Eliza. Cool heads, indeed. I guess the spa had to reopen for the new year.. needing some yoga videos 😁
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Love all the texture going on in the vase, especially the curl coming down. Happy gardening.
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Your arrangement is beautiful. I have never seen a snake plant blossom and also didn’t realize they were garden bullies. Here in the wintry north, they are only grown in pots as houseplants.
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Snake plant is not so easy to grow here. I do not know why. I suppose it can be damaged by frost where too exposed. Yet, even in Los Angeles, it is a mild mannered foliage plant. I have never seen it bloom that I am aware of.
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