Sunday 7 September 2008

Spring is...

Roses with a golden heart;



azure blue and woolly lambs;


Dendrobium Orchids, they brighten any dull spot in the garden;




Lavender enjoyed by anyone;




earlier daylight; rosy, soft and dew laden, morning creeps in between the trees;



Orange blossoms scenting the garden sweetly;

The orange blossom, which is the state flower of Florida, is traditionally associated with good fortune, and was popular in bridal bouquets and head wreaths for weddings for some time. The petals of orange blossom can also be made into a delicately citrus-scented version of rosewater. Orange blossom water is a common part of Middle Eastern cuisine. The orange blossom gives its touristic nickname to the Costa del Azahar ("Orange-blossom coast"), the Castellon seaboard.
In Spain, fallen blossoms are dried and then used to make tea.
Orange blossom
honey, or actually citrus honey, is produced by putting beehives in the citrus groves during bloom, which also pollinates seeded citrus varieties. Orange blossom honey is highly prized, and tastes much like orange.




Lettuce growing quickly in the warm spring sun;

Garlic planted in late autumn is making bulbs;

Leek growing slowly over winter will fill out rapidly.


A new basket for the donkey ear; Kalanchoe gastonis-bonnieri; those leaves can grow to 50 cm long; its flowers dusky pink bells. I like this plant a lot it is very attractive in every sense.


a dainty Abutilon megapotamicum;

Azalea shy Bettina;

Lavender Sidonie; easy to propagate; break one of the side shoots with a little heel and plant in a seed rising mixture or in the garden.

Australian LavenderOrigin: Hybrid lavender originating in Australia, the seed parent being Lavandula pinnata.

my lovely no name climbing rose, very thorny and very vigorous, no diseases at all.

voluptuous reds; Hippeastrums from seed;


a blue sky and palms mirrored in a clean pond;

the first daylilies, twins golden girls;


a flowering present from my daughter J. Many years ago she gave me a handful of freesia corms, every spring they light up all over the garden.


a tangled mess of the climber Horsefallia....more than ready to be pruned!




dainty faces, Viola tricolor, Heartsease has a large number of alternative colloquial names, up to two hundred.

As its name implies, Heartsease has a long history of use in herbalism. It has been recommended, among other uses, as a treatment for epilepsy, asthma, skin diseases and eczema. It has expectorant properties, and so has been used in the treatment of chest complaints such as bronchitis and whooping cough. It is also a diuretic, leading to its use in treating rheumatism and cystitis.
The flowers have also been used to make yellow, green and blue-green dyes, while the leaves can be used to make a chemical indicator.
Long before cultivated pansies were developed, Heartsease was associated with thought in the "language of flowers", often by its alternative name of pansy (from the French "pensée" - thought): hence Ophelia's often quoted line in Shakespeare's Hamlet, "There's pansies, that's for thoughts". What Shakespeare had in mind was Heartsease; not a modern garden pansy.









Believe it or not:
Onion skins very thin, mild winter coming in;
Onion skins thick and tough, coming winter cold and rough. Traditional















27 comments:

Webradio said...

Hello !

There too much flowers and vegetables in your garden...

Jolies photos !

Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens said...

No, no monsieur webradio, il ne sont jamais assez de fleurs et des legumes dans mon jardin! Merci pour votre commentaire.

Anonymous said...

That's a beautiful array of flowers and plants - I'll be living vicariously through your garden from now on - until our Spring rolls round again :-)

Sunita Mohan said...

Wow! Thats a lot of flowers and colours in your garden. Lovely!
Thats a beautiful dendrobium... I've never seen one with a yellow-purple combination. Do you know what its called?

Helga said...

hallo Titania,
es ist schon komisch bei Dir Pflanzen zu sehen die bei uns nur im Haus wachsen.Ich bin ganz begeistert.
L.G.
helga

HappyMouffetard said...

I love the orchid - amazing to think it grows in your garden.

Maria said...

Das war ein wunderschöner Frühlingsspaziergang in Deinem Garten! Der Frühling beginnt erst und es blühen schon so viele Pflanzen! Toll!

Mother Nature said...

The lettuce bed is a beauty. I want one.

Sandra said...

Your garden looks fantastic - when I look at your lettuce and garlic, I feel hungry :-), and thank you very much for the information about Lantana. Greetings from Croatia and have a nice spring

Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens said...

easygardener; thank you for your visit. I sometimes wish for a real winter to have a bit a rest from gardening!

Sunita, no unfortunately I haven't got the name any more I had this plant for 20 years. Thanks for your visit.

Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens said...

Danke Helga fuer deinen Besuch. Ich komme auch gerne zu Besuch bei dir. Du hast einen sehr schoenen, abwechslungsreichen blog mit sehr schoenen Handarbeiten. Herzlichst. T.
Hallo Maria, bist mal schnell auf einen Sprung ins Currumbin Valley gekommen es freut mich, dass es dir gefaellt.Herzlichst. T.

marmee said...

oh my a lot to take in but all so interesting. your blooms are so varied and inviting. your veggies look great especially the lettuce. i saw your little brown and white dog in the pic where you need to prune. cute dog!
so many of your flowers i have never heard of. i did enjoy the orange blossom (used to live in fl).

murgelchen said...

Hallo Titania,
es ist interessant wie klein die Welt wird im WWW.
Du hast wunderschöne Fotos und einen tollen Garten.

Danke für Deinen lieben Kommentar im neuen Blog.

Bei uns wird es kalt.

Liebe Grüße
Helga

Unknown said...

Love everything about your posts...what a wealth of information on orange blooms and heartsease. Just got back from the 'language of flowers' site. Thank you so much for the link, found it very interesting. Your flowers are stunning. Also liked the reflection of the palms in your pond.

Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens said...

Liebe Helga, (murgelchen) ich danke dir fuer deinen Besuch und deinen liebenswuerdigen Kommentar.

Thank you so much Kanak for your generous and kind comments.

Thank you very much marmee for stopping in my garden. You saw my Jack russel companion, Billy.

JGH said...

With the orange blossom, lavendar and roses, your blog is very fragrant today. And what an orchid!

Marie said...

Beautiful flowers! I have the same Lavender as you :)

My sedums are winterherdy.

Suzanne said...

Your photos are beautiful and I love how you are sharing with us and showcasing spring.
Have a good rest of the week Titania.

Barbara said...

Wunderbar was du alles im Frühling an Blühendem zu sehen bekommst in deinem Garten (und dank blog wir nun auch!). Ein eigenartiger und für mich wiederum neuer Name Heart's-ease für Stiefmütterchen. Diese werden nun bald hier gepflanzt als Winter- und später Frühlingsblume. Würde gerne den Winter gleich überspringen und auch in den Frühling eintauchen ;-)!
Herzliche Grüsse, Barbara

Dave said...

Everything looks great. It's interesting to think that while our seasons are winding down here in the US that yours is just starting up! Great photos!

Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens said...

Liebe Barbara, danke vielmals fuer dein Kommentar; es ist immer sehr geschaetzt. Ja, ich verstehen es wenn dir die Eisblumen zu kalt sind. Ich glaube je aelter man wird umso mehr sucht man die Waerme. Aber jetzt kommt mal erst der Herbst und der bringt ein Farbenspiel. Alles Gute.T.

Kerri said...

Dear Trudi, just a quick hello to say I love visiting your garden!! Every 'stroll through' is a joy! I especially love the morning shot with the sun shining through the trees. How beautiful, and what gorgeous colours!
How many conversations we could have!! :)
I'm chuckling at your exchange with 'webradio'.
Have a lovely day and a happy spring to you!

Katarina said...

I'm stunned by the amount of beauty in your garden! How I wish we could swop our autumn and bring back spring!
/Katarina

Rowena said...

Absolutely delightful! The flowers...I just can't get over how beautiful they all are, for a split-second it almost seemed that I could smell your garden through my pc. Your photos do them justice!

chaiselongue said...

Lovely pictures - especially the sky and the lavender. It's good to see the spring on the other side of the world, as we're going into autumn. A reminder that winter will end here too!

Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens said...

Dave;
Kerri;
Katarina;
Rowena;
Chaislongue:
Thank you so much for visiting and leaving a kind and generous comment.

Anonymous said...

Great shots and garden.