At last the sweet peas are blooming!
This is the heirloom mix "Old Spice", supposed to be much more reliably fragrant than modern varieties. So far, I have seen a pale lavender pink, plus the ones above and a deep burgundy, just visible below.
I started them from seed last autumn, along with Cerinthe major "Purpurea", also in this bouquet.
And then there are the roses: William Shakespeare 2000, one of my favorites for fragrance...
...and The Alnwick Rose.
Not to mention a couple stems of Salvia farinacea (yes, one more Salvia!), seen best in the top photo.
The vase from one side...
...and the other.
It has been a long Monday, starting Sunday evening, in fact, when my Labrador Retriever Bella suddenly began to be in a good deal of pain. We made it through the night, thanks to an on-call vet, then took her in early this morning. Apparently she had injured her back somehow; and she is feeling much better now, with medication to hopefully keep her out of pain as she heals.
Then there was a stop to get my brand new smartphone fixed (I had jammed the SIM card in it with a good deal of finesse, so much so that the card had to be replaced). Then, somehow, there was a stop at the garden center... The best part of the latter was waiting in the aisle, waiting while a tiny hummingbird sipped her fill from my new Justicia californica, still in the cart.
So please pardon the rather brief post; it has been a tiring day! But I saw the other Monday Vase posts coming up in my feed and decided I must go cut some flowers to share; after all, this is the first of the sweet peas!
Thank you to Cathy for hosting this lovely meme at
Rambling in the Garden!
Weather Diary: Sunny; High: 90 F (32 C)/Low: 54 F (12 C)
How lovely to be able to add sweet peas tou your beautiful roses - is this when you would expect them to start appearing? We will expect to see more of them in your vases in the comong weeks! The blues of the salvia and cerinthe works so well to bring out the different shades of the sweet peas. Thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteI haven't known what to expect with bloom time, Cathy; but honestly I think they might have bloomed even sooner if I had planted them in more sun. I meticulously put them in a shady spot, as I learned last summer that so many plants do better in shade here. But not winter/spring annuals that don't have to last through summer! Lesson learned, I hope ;-) In the meantime I'm enjoying all I can get of them and will certainly hope to add more to vases!
DeleteI started some sweet peas indoors some time ago but need to get them hardened off and outside, so I enjoy seeing yours already blooming, such a lovely color, Amy. More recently I planted some Old Spice outdoors, so I hope they will do well, I haven't tried them for quite a long time. the Cerinthe is marvelous with them too, and the salvia.
ReplyDeleteDo sweet peas last through the summer in your garden, Hannah? I expect mine to give out once the weather turns really hot; no telling just how soon now... I've been quite happy with Old Spice, but I do intend to try a blue variety next time too. And yes, doesn't the Cerinthe make a great combination with them?
DeleteSo glad your doggie is on the mend! Are the Cerinthe holding up well in the vase? It's one of those flowers I've never been sure about cutting.
ReplyDeleteSo far the Cerinthe is working very well as a cut flower! I think I've only had trouble when it had gotten too dry before cutting; then it dropped little purple bits around ;-) Thanks so much from Bella and me!
DeleteWhat a Monday! I'm glad your dog is doing better. I'm envious of the sweet pea blooms. The raccoons tore through 2 batches of seedlings here so I gave up on seeds and planted a few plugs late in the season, only to have the critters mess with those too. I have a few left but no flowers.
ReplyDeleteYes, still recovering here, I think - both Bella and I ;-) Too bad about those raccoons -- they are pests! I'm growing the sweet peas up through one of my shrub roses, which probably gives them a little protection, but admittedly I haven't seen a single raccoon since we moved out here...
DeleteLovely to see the sweet peas,our Autumn sown ones have just been planted out in the garden, hopefully they will be flowering for the open gardens in June. Thanks for the encouraging pictures.
ReplyDeleteI so enjoyed seeing sweet peas in other bloggers' vases last year. I didn't want to miss growing them this ;-) I'll enjoy seeing yours come June, when mine will be over!
DeleteBest wishes to Bella, I hope she makes a rapid recovery!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much RD! She has wanted to play frisbee the last couple of days, so we must be making great progress ;-)
DeleteDo hope Bella is doing better...always such a worry. This is a beautiful vase of flowers Amy with the most sumptuous colors. I can only imagine how it smells with the sweet peas and the lovely roses.
ReplyDeleteBella is feeling much better now - thanks :) I think this was one of my most-often-sniffed vases!
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