A surprising language all their own

During the Victorian era, it became especially popular to attach significant meanings
to flowers and plants.
Also known as floriography, the language of flowers
was a very useful means of relaying important messages ...

Pine Cone (Pinus)  . . .  Conviviality, Life

Mullein (Verbascum)  . . .  Take courage

Poppy (Papaver)  . . .   Fantastic extravagance

Often, the meanings were positive and affirming,
but some were not - quite to the contrary, in fact.

Clematis (Clematis)  . . .  Poverty

Pansy (Viola)  . . .  Think of me

Lavender (Lavandula) . . .   Mistrust

The next time I assemble a bouquet I certainly won't be viewing the arrangement

in quite the same way as I did before reading this book  ...

The Language of Flowers, by Vanessa Diffenbaugh, had been on my library "To Read" list

for so long I'd almost given up hope of getting my hands on it [perpetually checked out]

so I was ecstatic when I found a used copy at the thrift store.

It has been much loved with many dog-ears & now I can understand why.

Every now and again a book crosses my path which feels like its my

destiny to read.  The best writers can make their readers feel this way, I think.

Without giving too much away, the heroine of this story is Victoria, a young woman

who's been in and out of foster care her entire life but has one all-embracing solace ...
a deep love of plants.

As a child she learned this Victorian language of flowers -  an era when every blossom was

assigned a deeper meaning, then used as a way to express sentiment and romantic emotions
since more outward signs were restricted - and since Victoria can't [or won't]
express her emotions either, flowers become her vehicle.

That's only a tiny nutshell of a description ... the story is beautifully complicated.

Filled with symbolism and filled with historical references,

I've barely been able to put this one down.

Amaranth (Amaranthus)  . . .  Immortality

Victoria decides at one point to assemble her own reference collection,

 so she carefully & methodically teaches herself the parameters of photography [film, not digital]

and sets out to capture her subjects with great dedication & perseverence.

The book is set in the San Francisco Bay area of California

and she visits many spots familiar to me

such as the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park,

along with other locales I know and love oh so well [and miss to this day].

   

At the back of the book the author has included

Victoria's Dictionary of Flowers

and as I was perusing the list, recognizing many names of plants I've grown in my own garden

at one time or another,  I got the crazy idea to take a backwards gander at my own photo files

to see if I could find some items from Victoria's list.

If nothing else it would be a fun exercise in learning those elusive floriography terms.

I soon discovered flowers that one might expect to have, well, a more "positive"

emotion attached to them, 

but do not at all ...

like these two.

Currant (Ribes)  . . .  Thy frown will kill me

Rose, yellow (Rosa)  . . .   Infidelity

I just love books like this

where I'm introduced to a whole new way of looking and thinking

about something otherwise so familiar.

Rose, purple (Rosa)  . . .  Enchantment

Rose, pale peach (Rosa)  . . .   Modesty

Scabiosa (Scabiosa)  . . .  Unfortunate love

Dog (Canis lupus)  . . .  Undying devotion [my floriography]

oh hi.  how'd you get in here?

Just making sure you folks haven't fallen asleep in the petals yet ...

[chuckling happily]

Cherry blossoms (Prunus cerasus)  . . .   Impermanence

Of course, I'm a tad partial to the next one

Sweet pea (Lathyrus odorata)  . . .  Delicate pleasures

and as it happens, I have quite a lot of this next one in my garden.

Yarrow (Achillea)  . . .  Cure for a broken heart

Hmmm, what can it all mean?

I'm looking forward to spring and making that next bouquet ...

: : :

Wishing all of you who stop by here a most lovely season

of joy and beauty

P.S.   WAIT!  Have I got the holiday gift for you!   Just as I was finishing this book-related post, 

my masterful dye friend, India Flint, announced that she has put together a NEW BOOK ... 

In her words:

"it contains a technique you can do even in the smallest of apartments

and that I think you will want to do over and over again."

stuff, steep + store

Go see ~ there's a preview & you can buy it now ...  over HERE on Blurb.

I treated myself to the hardback  ;>]

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Wearing her flouncy June dress ...

I really shouldn't be sitting here writing a post

when there is a mountain of work to be done out in the garden

but

it's a little rainy today and she was looking so nice in the subdued light,

I just had to make a record ... for posterity ... now, while the early summer blooms

are looking their best.

I'll want to remember the garden dressed up like this

when the January winds blow hard and long.

Hope for the future and all that ...

She's laden now, positively falling over with her big skirts,

spilling over the wall with self-seeded abandon,

filling every nook and cranny

offering up some feasting for the hummingbirds

and catmint landing platforms for the swallowtails.

I think there's still an arbor under there - but I dare you to try & make it through to the front door.

Gone a bit nutso, this shrub rose [when did THIS happen?] and she'll have to be

reined in for next season.  Still, something charming about 

this wild misbehavior ...

If you did make it through the arbor, you'd be be met with a frothy tangle  -  sweetly scented

Philadelphus scrambling through a purple-leaved Clematis recta ...

Oh June, you are a month of the sublime.

Thank you.

You are most definitely your own English rose

... no other month quite compares to you.

A few late afternoon rays help 'Night Owl' flaunt her petticoats.

And although I'm starting to feel terribly guilty about undone chores,

I feel so grateful for this abundance.

Sometimes you just have to stop and, well, you know ...

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Gone vertical

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The sweet smell of ... hollyhocks?

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On the move

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Texture Tuesday...that kind of faith

These beauties were not growing naturally on my land although at one time, there were multitudes

 found growing on these islands.  No, I planted these bulbs a couple of years ago

when I held high hopes for cultivating a native wildflower meadow.

These camassia were as far as I got.

So it goes.  Not unlike so many things.

Still, they make me SO happy.  The clumps are thriving, the bees love them, they add stature

to the garden when it's still a bit early for anything else

and they require zero maintenance or attention....

the perfect recipe for garden plants, if you ask me.

: : :

It's another Texture Tuesday over at Kim's place.  Do pop in over there and check out the creativity

from the texture-loving crowd...better yet, join in with us.  So much inspiration!

For today's photo I used two of Kim's textures...'grunged up 2' and 'yesteryear.'

: : :

Besides TT, the other really cool thing that happens on this day each week is 

Maya Stein's 10-line Tuesday.

I've been following her for awhile now...she is, oh, so good...

each week, a new poem in my mailbox...more inspiration.

And somehow she always gets me thinking past whatever is holding me up.

Here's what arrived today:

the juggler

At some point, of course, your own stamina will fail, and the rhythm

you began with will splinter, then collapse.  But that first belief that thrust

your hands in motion - I want to say something about that.  This was not some whim

or fantasy of epic talent.  It was your cells talking, trust

threading your very bones, your hopes held high as clouds.  That kind of faith

is untouchable, regardless of all those balls tumbling earthward.  Remember

where you started, those inklings that led you to practice your lofty art

on a busy sidewalk, color pinwheeling around.  That's the necessary ember,

the tiny fire churning,

your naked courage daring you to sing.

: : :

Till next time, my friends.

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Full of beans

No reason to not use your best china for everyday events.

This bowl may not look like your typical "fine china" but believe me,

that's what it is around my digs.  

I needed to soak the Borlotti seeds overnight, you see....

since they're hard-shelled and all that...and since one of the raised beds has a new trellis

destined to be filled with beans.

Constructed the  sucker  trellis all by myself.

Sometimes you just have to build something when you don't think you can.

This one is heftier than the first ~ these bamboo poles are a whopping 1.5 inches thick.  Thankfully,

 not the bear I was expecting when it came to assembling...amazingly light, albeit a tad unwieldy...
all eight feet of them.

Borlotti beans are commonly called cranberry beans in the states.  Considered heirlooms,
they came over with the colonists from England around 1825.  The seeds

are red-speckled just like their pods.

Can't wait to see those pods!

Kaite, although you're heading into winter where you are, my growing season is starting

with this bean inspiration from your blog.  Thanks again.

I purchased organic seeds from these great folks

and found a whole bunch of interesting information and yummy sounding recipes over here.

I'm not sure any potter could have created better glazes to show off this bean gathering...

Here's a show off.  She is ALWAYS *full of beans*...'specially if you bring out her friz.

S'cuse the brief digression.  She has that effect on me...pretty much all the time.

Now, I have a question for all you bean-growing peeps who come a'wandering here...

got a minute?

I still have room on the other side of this trellis to sow another variety.  Thought it might be fun to

grow a 2nd, somewhat different type of bean....oooh, but there are so many choices...which one to choose???

I'd be so pleased to have you tell me one of your favorites...send me in a direction, puh-leeez...

shall I go with a yellow wax, some kind of gourmet Frenchie variety, perhaps something with Cherokee ancestry?

There's even a pole bean called 'Lazy Housewife.'

That one seems appropriate.

I've got six and 1/2 feet of space looking for a purpose.

Thank you.

: : :

All photos from my iPhone, processed with ScratchCam

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Some thoughts on variegation...

It's the height of summer around here and we take many walks.  You can't see it from this angle

but my fur gal is watching a river otter swim through the bull kelp.

She'd be down there in a flash if she liked to swim.  Instead, she gets her picture taken

while I sit there saying to myself for the umpteenth time how much I love that soft patch of white...

Here's a plant with some varied patches of its own.
Oh, how I adore this...a sweet little honeysuckle called 'Harlequin.'
I suppose those leaves could be called tricolored?

Anywhoo,

while watering the garden the other evening I had a gander around and realized just how many variegated plants I've added to the mix.  My garden is young - barely two years old - and I've already gone a little

nutso for mottled and streaked foliage.

This is a favorite way to use it...stick it in front of a plain green background.

Here in the Pacific Northwest we have so. much. green.    greengreengreengreenGREEN.

Don't get me wrong...our native rose hedges are beauteous (in bloom there in the back)

and the scent is nothing short of intoxicating,

but after a brief bloom time in June they are, dare I say, nothing short of boring.

And that's why that variegated red twig dogwood came to be in that spot.

This combo is on the shady porch, a velvety coleus co-mingling with a delightful plant

that happens to go by the un-delightful name of spotted dead nettle.

Okay...I'll admit here and now that I'm a total snob about my variegation.
It must meet, shall I say, certain ***criteria*** for me to like it.

I do NOT like all variegation.

In fact, some of it is so downright hideous that I'd like to have a word with the plant breeder

and ask them,

 "WHUT were you thinking?!?"

Here's one I can't stand...belongs in the compost pile, if you ask me...

unlike this sweetie which I can't live without,

a tough and extremely useful creeping thyme called 'Highland Cream.'

I have this one stuffed all around the flagstones...fluffs up the edges, if you know what I mean,

and doesn't bat a blossom from all the dawg paw traffic.

Bred in England, it has a lot more variegated restraint than that aforementioned monstrosity.

Here's my latest acquisition, Caryopteris 'White Surprise,'   Since this photo it's been planted in front of a dark, purple-leaved smokebush called 'Grace.'

Everyone

needs

a

little

drama

in

their

garden.

Of all my variegated plants, this one 

is my most special treasure.

It gets babied more than the dawgs - and that's sayin' somethin.

Can you blame me?  Look at it!

Acer pseudoplatanus 'Prinz Handjery.'

A maple tree whose newest leaves are APRICOT colored and then become (in my opinion) divinely speckled.

But those aren't the real reasons it's so special.  The real reason is not the least bit frivolous.

It was a gift...

from a friend who understands the meaning of giving me such a heartfelt present.

This is not a plant, but it's another form of variegation happening in the garden...

To my dawg pals, Let's Walk!

To my plant friends, Happy Growing!

And to my sewing sistahs, Happy Stitching!

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A rose by any other name...

This is my year of the garden,

the year I finally will begin planting the garden I've been dreaming about...  

It has been a long time coming this garden of mine...oh, such a very long time coming.  All those plant lists I've made, those inspirational pictures torn out of magazines (some saved for years), all the gardening books with post-it notes tabbing the pages, those stockpiled seed packets and innumerable links to gardening related websites...all coming together now and I pinch myself to believe its true.  I'm humming with anticipation like a kid waiting for Christmas!

This week has been all about roses.  What fun to walk the nursery aisles and look at all those picture tags hanging from bare, thorny sticks.  Who amongst us has not been wooed by those fabulous petal portraits?   I fall for them like I fall for wine labels - I may not know the product but I've gotta bring it home.  This is one I fell for - isn't she GORGEOUS...

'Crown Princess Margareta'

Honestly, would you be able to resist this rose?

..."exquisite, apricot-orange rosettes with a strong,

deliciously fruity fragrance."  And it is repeat-flowering!

I am particularly fond of old-fashioned roses and most of them have a delicious scent as well.  The U.K. rose breeder, David Austin, has been producing English varieties that do extremely well here in our Pacific Northwest climate. I'm giving a few of them a try.  This pale pink one is almost thornless so I'll be growing it as a shrub in an open area where dawg loves to hang out...

'Heritage'

Another one I couldn't resist is a climber with this description, "...one of the largest-flowered and most magnificent...full-petalled cups...wonderful fruit fragrance, with hints of citrus or lychee."  sigh.  Oh look, it jumped onto my cart.

'Golden Celebration'

It was the peachy-pink color that got to me on the next one. Another one with few thorns, it grows to five feet tall by four feet wide with "strong, arching stems" and should make a most excellent shrub.  Ever been to Shropshire?  Well, I never saw a lad there as good looking as this...

'A Shropshire Lad'

Thanks for stopping by to smell the roses with me!

Painting above, "The Soul of the Rose"

by John William Waterhouse, 1908

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