Monday Vase: Gold and Silver

Two roses created the idea for today's vase: Sterling Silver and Sun Flare.  Both are classic hybrid tea varieties developed forty to sixty years ago.

To the roses I added some violas...

...and a few sprigs of pigeonberry (Duranta erecta).

All went into a lovely little bone china teacup given to me by my sister.

I have no wisteria flowers to match those on the cup and saucer, but the colour of "Sterling Silver" is actually quite a good match, I think.

Some rather cool hues - just the thing for early summer!

Don't forget to see all the other Monday vases at Rambling in the Garden...

Happy Monday!

ed.  I remembered belatedly that "Sun Flare" is actually a floribunda.  It does sometimes throw roses on single stems (just as "Sterling Silver" will happily throw buds in clusters!) - as was true of these that I cut.  But technically it is a cluster-flowered rose...

Weather Diary: Sunny, High: 94 F (34.4 C)/Low: 59 F (15 C)

Monday Vase: Monday in Miniature

Four small rosebuds and a daisy went into today's vase.  This is a tiny one, made up in a miniature creamer with its own saucer.

The little pitcher is all of two and a half inches high (about 6.5 cm), and the saucer extends to 5 inches (12.5 cm).  Both are adorned with bright blue forget-me-nots, while butterflies and a dragonfly also make their appearance.  The set was given me by my sister, who has an eye for ferreting these things out in the most unpromising shelves of  "stuff".  (For those interested, both pieces are stamped "Limoges/France", and I have no idea on the date.)

As for the contents of the bouquet, the yellow floribunda "Sun Flare" gave a few buds - smaller than they were a month ago, but still nicely formed.  And since I recently planted a little marguerite daisy (Argyranthemum frutescens), I had one bright daisy for today as well.

The foliage is also from a new addition to the garden: a young pineapple sage (Salvia elegans), whose aromatic leaves have a good yellow glow to the green.  The petioles are purple-red, providing an additional colour accent.

 So for today, just a tiny little display of bright yellow in a jaunty, old china creamer set.

As always, it's great fun - if sometimes challenging - to join in Cathy's Monday Vase meme at Rambling in the Garden: a good place to go check out what others have created this week!

Happy Monday!

Garden Fragrances: Winter Foliage

I adore fragrance in the garden.  So I was delighted to find that there is a new theme in the making: a monthly report on garden perfumes, thanks to Wellywoman.  I promptly set about to check the available fragrances in the small, sunny garden, only to find a curious fact.

As I say, I do love fragrant plants.  But oddly enough, although some are in bloom at present, they are nearly all plants in which the foliage is more noticeably fragrant than the flowers.

There is, of course, the Spanish lavender (Lavendula stoechas "Madrid"), still blossoming sturdily away and feeding pollinators.  But now I have a question: are the bees drawn by the odour of the leaves or of the flowers, or perhaps the deep colour is still the most obvious attraction.  (For pictures of the enthusiasm shown over the lavender on the first really warm morning after some frost, check my earlier Wordless on Wednesday post.)

Two other fragrant plants have a few blooms at present.  The Salvia greggii (Autumn Sage) "Autumn Moon" is nearly at the end of its three month blooming extravaganza.  Mostly there are only the maroon-coloured bracts left.  Fortunately, the foliage is still as fragrant as ever, with its minty sage smell, indistinguishable (to my nose) between blossom and leaf.

Salvia greggii "Autumn Moon"

Salvia greggii "Flame"

And there is rosemary.  Given the size of the flowers, I assume most of the scent is coming from the leaves.

With some plants, there is no question.  The lemon thyme is bloomless; even the wonderful foliage fragrance is only released if the leaves are rubbed.

And the Chrysactinia likewise...

Such is my first fragrance tour around the garden proper.  On the patio, however, it is a different matter.  There the rose "Sun Flare", in full bloom just now, has a light, sweet fragrance deep in its classic yellow petals.

But for all that, the best scent in the entire yard comes from neither leaf nor flower, but from fruit.  The sweet fragrance of ripe oranges is rich around the laden orange tree.

Monday Vase: Winter Roses

Just before Christmas the big rose bush on the patio began sending out a bloom or two.  Now it is loaded with blossoms so I've cut four for today's vase.

The bush in question is "Sun Flare", a floribunda raised in 1981 by Warriner.  Despite its character as a cluster-flowered variety, many of the blooms just now are on sufficiently long stems to cut and slip into a small glass.

I'm afraid I am the sort of person who finds it easier to buy for herself at Christmastime; I do attribute this in part to having hard-to-buy-for people in the family!  At any rate, when my sister and I dropped into our little local resale shop a month ago, trying to find something for Mom, I spotted these small glasses - not so well designed for wine since the stems are open and difficult to clean, but very handy for flower stems!

My sister actually beat me to arranging roses in the glass.  It was such a perfect match that I made up my own grouping today.  Just four roses...

I tried briefly to add a couple of stems with yellow leaves from the pomegranate tree (bush, to be honest!), but they were extraneous to say the least!

So for today just four roses - still with this morning's raindrops on them - in a small glass.

Linking today's vase - as always - to Cathy's meme at Rambling in the Garden, where a few lovely flowering branches are hinting that winter doesn't last forever...!  Here in the desert, however, we are not in a hurry for summer... not with roses like these!

Happy Monday!