In a Vase, on Monday – Rust & Indigo

Chris Mousseau

I was out for a run a few months ago and came across a box of assorted small jars and bottles left at the side of the road. The rust coloured stains on this one immediately caught my attention – a good friend is a ‘marker of cloth’ and her business is called ‘indigo + rust.’ – she finds fabric and spends a lot of creative time marking it with various things, in various ways, to produce indigo blue or rusty, burnt orange designs.. Then she sews the fabric into much sought after clothing, hats, bags…and much more.

The perfect companion to this rusty jar was, of course, the indigo blue blossoms of Muscari latifolium. I love how the tiny individual flowers are deep indigo near the bottom, then much lighter at the top. Also interesting is how different each flower can be. I paired the Muscari with three Leucojum stems (L. aestivum ‘Gravetye Giant’) just now coming into bloom, and a few of the first flower stalks from the many clumps of chives I have around the garden.

A close-up. Turns out the PERFECT lighting for this small vase comes from the seed-starting stand I have set up in the kitchen. Tomato seedlings in the background!

Many thanks to Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for hosting IAVOM and giving gardeners around the world an opportunity to share their floral designs. Have a great week everyone – and stay safe!

15 Comments

  1. Those muscari look stunning, their colour is amazing! And in your arrangement the snowflakes look remarkably majestic. The indigo-and-rust look is really great Chris!

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  3. It is gratifying to see that both grape hyacinth and snowflake are getting some attention this year. How odd that they were so unpopular last year, while snowdrop was much too popular.

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  6. I like your thought process whilst creating this vase, Chris – and what a pretty result. Blogger Sandra, of Wild Daffodil, likes experimenting by making marks on fabric from rusty metal to create her own artwork – have you come across her?

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  7. It’s interesting how inspiration can come from all sorts of connections. I think you did a great job interpreting your friend’s creations in floral terms.

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    1. Thanks Kris! The neat thing is I washed out the jar, of course, but the stains persisted. Now they’re forever part of the jar’s story, and I’ll be thanking the people who left if at the side of the road!

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