I am issuing a hearty welcome to 2023 by ringing in the New Year with a vase on Monday. A bit of a poem by Tennyson, written in 1850, celebrating the church bells ringing at midnight.
Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow;
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
This is a high concept floral creation. The pen holding up the bell is for writing New Year’s resolutions. It has not been used – yet! The silver bell is for ringing in (and out). The flowers are fireworks and the shells are grounding it all. Design school rearing its ugly head again.
A closer view:
The pen is a freebie I picked up at a lecture about controlled burns in the nearby state park. It is from the Florida Forestry Service and looks like a stick. The bell is one of many collected by my husband. It is an annual silver bell engraved with the year. After about 30 years you really don’t need any more bells. The grey plant in the background is an Air Plant; known around here as Ball Moss (Tillandsia recurvata). These can grow almost anywhere and are sometimes seen on power lines. This one is flowering and I think it looks like fireworks.
The red fireworks are actually buds from ‘Maui Red’ Ixora. The Ixora is a shrub that is very intolerant of cold – being a perverse plant it has started flowering after being exposed to the coldest temperatures it has ever experienced last week. Shells are from our local beach and the moss and the vase are from recent floral gifts from friends.
Happy New Year to all and a big Thank YOU to Cathy at http://www.ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com for her years of hosting In a Vase on Monday. Follow the link to see more vases.
The Shrub Queen 
Your arrangement is so clever with the bell. I think this coming year will be much better.
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Thank you. I am definitely up for a better year.
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Such a clever arrangement, and very pretty too. A lovely composition to ring out the old year and welcome in the new. Happy New Year to you both.
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Thank you, Noelle. Happy New Year to you..
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Nicely put together. Happy New Year
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Thank you, same to you!
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Terrific! This brought an instant, “Ah,” of delight out of me. So clever. It’s inspiring. I love both bells, have over forty hanging from my porch lights, and shells, well, at times I live for shells.
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Thank you, it is a trial for me to think of things to do with all the bells…I had a row of them on green velvet on the table this year.
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What a great idea, Amelia, and really makes the point. How intriguing to think of tillandsia growing on power lines…
So, you have a collection of 30 bells, do you..? Do they actually ring, I wonder, and are they tuned so you could play a little musical piece once you had amassed an octave or so…? Just teasing, but it’s a thought! 😉
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Thank you, Cathy. I was just packing most of the bells to put them away and they sound dreadful.
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We have little tinkly bells on the Christmas tree, and they are quite tuneful, so it’s always a pleasure to brush past them…😉
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Perhaps these are less tuneful! I meant to tell you, I think the images look better on the Block Editor after fiddling around with the Classic Editor.
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Really? In what way? Doesn’t seem a logical reason for it if they are…
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I like the images to be the same size as the copy and if I enlarged the images they lost clarity. no idea why. Classic works fine with smaller images.
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No doubt there is a logical technical reason for it!
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The reason is probably me.
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I love this! Wonderfully creative, Amy. 🙂
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Thanks, Eliza. A fun assemblage.
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Oh that makes for a most striking vase Amelia. The body of the pen looks like a twig to me, with tillandsia flowers as the celebratory fireworks. I love the thought of a bell collection. I just have two from my childhood days displayed on a dresser – both are small replicas of cow bells, one my father bought as a gift from me when he visited Norway and the other was another gift from Italy. Wishing you a happy and healthy new year!
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Thank you, Anna. I have bells from my father as well – He served in India in WWII and I have his temple bells, one of my favorite things.
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What a great vase Amelia! I love the bell suspended across the top, reminding me of the huge bell I rang one New Year in Japan. (We had to drink some rather yukky fermented rice milk too!) The red really does look like fireworks. You are an artist – it’s wonderful! Happy New Year to you and yours!
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Thank you, Cathy. You reminded me of the fantastic bells in Japan and how yukky some of the food is..bean pastries! Ugh. Happy New Year!
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I struggled with a lot of the food but I actually loved the sweet bean paste! LOL!
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LOL, and the chocolate is great.
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I love this, Amelia! Clever, and well executed. I took the Ixora as chrysanthemums at first.
I hope the last line of Tennyson’s poem becomes a reality in 2023. It’d be a nice change from the events of 2022 (and 2021). Best wishes for a very happy new year!
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Thanks, Kris. I have high hopes for 2023!
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Okay, that is, . . . unique. Hey, you know I am merely a horticulturist. I am unqualified to comment on design.
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No mugo pine!
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Well, I got that, . . . but we have a few that will go into the landscapes before the end of winter though. I will put them into situations where they can grow naturally, without abusive pruning that ruins their natural form.
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Fun! I can’t help wondering if the bells all sound the same.
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Thanks and Happy New Year. The bells sound the same – tinny.
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I knew you’d come up with something special – love it. Happy new year to you 🙂
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Thank you, Annette. Happy New Year to you.
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