Friday, June 3, 2016

Celebrating Sweet Peas

sweet peas, old spice mix, small sunny garden, desert garden, amy myers, photography
An initial note to apologize for my failure to reply to comments over the past week or more, not to mention my general absence from the blogosphere!  We live on "borrowed time" with the internet out here in rural Arizona, e.g. data caps must be kept an eye on; and somehow we found ourselves approaching the max well before the end of the billing period.  It's just possible that a full blog redesign helped run the count up, of course!  While it is pleasant in some ways to be away from the internet for a while, it is not so pleasant to have it happen unexpectedly! At any rate, I am back and looking forward to catching up as much as I can over the next few days.

Meantime, the sweet peas put out a luscious burst of bloom.  It will probably be the last since summer is now here in earnest (the temperature as I type this is 111 F/43 C), but they have bloomed over a much longer period than I anticipated, so no complaints!  I thought it would be a shame not to have some pictures, so here they are...
sweet peas, old spice mix, small sunny garden, desert garden, amy myers, photography
sweet peas, old spice mix, small sunny garden, desert garden, amy myers, photography
sweet peas, old spice mix, small sunny garden, desert garden, amy myers, photography
sweet peas, old spice mix, small sunny garden, desert garden, amy myers, photography
sweet peas, old spice mix, small sunny garden, desert garden, amy myers, photography
These are from the old heirloom strain known as "Old Spice", preserved for its intense fragrance as well as the classic flowers.   I started them indoors last winter and planted them out to grow up through rose "Wollerton Old Hall".  As the rose is growing just below the patio eaves, this meant they received quite a bit of shade, which I feel slowed their start and reduced the number of flowers initially, but I suspect it has allowed them to continue longer as days heated up and sunlight grew more intense.  So perhaps it's an either/or decision.  I'm trying to decide now where to put next year's batch - planning for next time is one of the pleasures of the off season - which is June here in the desert!
sweet peas, old spice mix, small sunny garden, desert garden, amy myers, photography
Weather Diary: Sunny and very hot; High: 111 F (43 C)/Low: 75 F (24 C)

10 comments:

  1. 111F! And here I am whining about hitting 90F. (In my defense, the local forecast was substantially lower.) I cut another batch of my sweet peas this afternoon - they'll be fried well before Bloom Day in all probability.

    I hope you get a break from the heat next week. The forecast is for a drop in temperature here, although why I should believe the forecasts, I can't say...

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    1. Our forecasts are pretty reliable at the moment lol - very hot and sunny! But we're expecting a break day after tomorrow... good thing as I don't like standing in the garden just watching things turn brown :( Like you, I doubt I'll have sweet peas left by the 15th! They've been a bit more heat-tolerant than I expected; I'd forgotten the original sweet peas came from Sicily ;-)

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  2. Last summer I never would have believed I'd be envying you your heat. But it just rains endlessly here! Not nice at all. The sweet peas are just lovely - perhaps we'll see them in a vase on Monday?

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    1. Poor you! I've been worried about how bad the weather might be in your area! At least summer heat is normal here, so one knows to plan for it... There's just a chance the sweet peas will last till Monday, but I'm not counting on it as we've had hot winds frying the plants generally.
      As I can't leave comments on your blog, I'll leave a few here :) I think your garden has filled out so nicely - romantic is definitely the word for it! I've been nervous about mixing my plants as closely as I am (I've never planted like this before) so it's inspiring to see it done successfully in other gardens though I'm sure it will take me some time to get it right. I did so enjoy seeing your irises; I'm hoping to get some in here in late summer this year. Your lovely "Carnaby" is quite a stunner - even stronger in color than the somewhat similar "Grace Abounding" which I used to grow and love. But mostly right now I feel a need to get more blue into the garden and cool things down a bit ;-) Your shots of Crarae Garden were so refreshing! And who could resist that sweep of Meconopsis...? And then your Delphiniums: on my to-grow list if ever I garden in a cooler summer climate - no plans for that at the moment though ;-) so just enjoying your pictures!

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  3. It is sweet pea time here in the uk, they are a must have plant.

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    1. I have all my UK garden-blog friends to thank for the fact that I tried them so soon in this garden! It's been great to find that I could grow them successfully here, so they can be a staple plant -- even if the seasons are a bit mixed up... ;-)

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  4. I agree with Brian, I could not imagine not growing sweet peas - so glad you can grow them in the desert too :)

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    1. They're such special plants, aren't they :) I'm planning to try even more next year as these were so successful!

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  5. So lovely Amy! I envy your gorgeous sweet pea blooms but you have inspired me to try again. This is a beautiful variety and your photographs are perfect. I can only imagine how wonderful they must smell.

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    1. They do smell wonderful - or rather, did! The heat has finally taken them out, but what a long time they lasted! I do think that perhaps the heirloom types may do better in our hot-summer climates, on the theory that they are closer to the originals from Sicily. Just a theory ;-)
      Your success with other annuals makes me realize there must be all sorts of possibilities, if one can only get the growing schedules right!

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