Wordless Wednesday ~ Just Buzzing

 

IAVOM ~ Heaven Scent

 At long last I have enough sweet peas for a decent sized Monday vase and that in itself is a cause for celebration. I can't describe how much joy picking a vase of sweet peas for the house brings me. It's not just the vibrant colours but the pleasure of the scent that makes me smile. It seemed that it would never happen. My sweet peas were sown in the greenhouse in the middle of March and once planted in the garden made painfully slow progress as our late spring/early summer was so cool and dull. They did have plenty of rain though. As usual I selected seeds from a number of varieties rather than opt for a mixed packet of seeds. This year's varieties included : 

• Stalwarts 'Erewhon', 'Eclipse' and 'Gwendoline'. 
• On their way to becoming regulars 'Piggy Sue' and 'Black Knight'.
• 'Indigo King' which I've grown for the last couple' of years instead of 'Matucana'
• New to me 'Chocolate Flake' (streaked flower) and 'Kings Ransom' which is initially a salmon pink but changes colour with age. 'Chocolate Flake' is definitely off the menu for next year but I have fallen for 'Kings Ransom'.

I'm already tweaking plans for next year's sweet pea magic in my head. As always a special thanks to Cathy who blogs over at 'Rambling In The Garden' and who enables us to get together every Monday to share our vases. 

We are in for a warm week this week so gardening activities will probably be limited to early morning and later in the day. Funnily enough my main task this week is repotting some of my potted snowdrop collection whilst the bulbs are dormant and as I do so the thought of snowdrops will definitely cool me down.

P.S.  I'm hoping to return to more regular posting and commenting soon when I've finished my Wordpress adventure.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Arley Hall, Cheshire, July 2024

 

Wordless Wednesday ~ Dahlia 'Night Silence'

 

IAVOM ~ On The Scent

 

It's Monday again and time for a vase to mark the start of a new week. In today's vase is a pick plonk mix of scented plants, some more pleasantly scented than the others :

• Astrantias - two varieties of this hardy perennial - one unknown and the other the dark red wine flowers of astrantia 'Gill Richardson', which has become a favourite along with astrantia 'Burgundy Manor'. The astrantias have been in flower for a few weeks now and will soon be cut back in anticipation of a second flush of flowers. The smell of the flowers reminds me of a damp face flannel which isn't the most pleasant of aromas so any vase containing them requires careful positioning. 
• Two vivid purple and magenta blobs of dianthus barbatus 'Oeschberg', which I grew from seed a couple of years ago and will be sowing some more in the coming week.  The seed only arrived in the post earlier this afternoon. Their scent is intense. Isobel Bannerman in her book 'Scent Magic' describes it as 'happy and typicallly of cloves and warm baking'. The flowers last for a good while.
• Some philadelphus also known as mock orange blossom. This shrub came to me as a cutting from my parent's garden years ago and I've never known which variety it is. It lurks on the outer edge of the garden looking insignificant for most of the year but bursts into clouds of beautiful white blossom every June. It has now reached about fifteen feet in height and causes himself some grief, as he has to duck under some of the lower branches when mowing our sad excuse for a lawn. The flowers are scented but I find the scent slightly overpowering whilst himself thinks that they smells like honey.

The vase was one that my mother had and passed on to me when she stopped using it.

Thanks to Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' who encourages to share our vases every Monday. I'm looking forward to seeing what is  other vases  today and will no doubt be adding more plants to the wish list as I do so. Wishing everyone a happy month ahead!