Monday, July 5, 2010

Flowers




Are you an avid gardener? Interested in aromatherapy? Crafts? Edible Flowers? Carnivorous Plants? For a chance to win a personalized copy of Flower Power just leave a comment. The contest will be running from July 5 through July 17th. The winner will be announced the 18th.


Fragrant Garden

Is there anything more sensual than a scented garden? There are so many flowers to choose from.


When I smell lavender, I close my eyes, and I’m carried to far-off hills in a simpler time and place where the sun is shining, the sky is blue and the clouds are fluffy and white.
How about a chocolate-scented daisy? Yum. This daisy is yellow with red stripes on the under side of the petals and chocolate-colored stamens.
Or chocolate-scented geraniums? These flowers have deep green, large fuzzy leaves that produce the scent. The scented geraniums are grown more for their scent than their floral appeal.
Orange-scented geraniums have large leaves that smell like mandarin oranges.
Coconut-scented geraniums are vine-like and have a pina colada fragrance. You may want to get a small attractive trellis for this particular geranium. It can also be used in topiaries.
Damask roses are considered “old roses”, known for their wonderful fragrance.
Honeysuckles are vines and shrubs with sweet-smelling flowers. The flowers have edible nectar. But beware, the berries are poisonous.
Jasmine is a climbing vine with white waxy flowers that have a very sweet scent. They bloom at night so they will do equally well in your night garden. The flowers are used to make tea. Some people believe that drinking jasmine tea daily will prevent certain cancers.
Lilac bushes bloom for a few weeks in the spring. Their wonderful fragrance carries for quite a distance. Since this is a bush, you will want to place it accordingly, perhaps at a corner of your garden. What could be better at reviving your spirit than a cup of jasmine tea and a whiff of lilac?
Nicotiana is also called flowering tobacco. This fragrant plant is easy to grow. It starts blooming in early summer. The flowers open in late afternoon. As previously mentioned, it’s also a good flower for attracting hummingbirds.
Peppermint or spearmint are perennial herbs that spread easily. They grow to two feet tall. These plants spread by runners and can become invasive to your garden if not contained.
Pineapple sage has a unique fragrance. Some people think this red-flowered perennial smells more like a martini than pineapple.
While rosemary is actually an herb, it has a wonderfully tart scent.

8 comments:

JoanneR said...

I just so love flowers. Iris is my favorite, but I have roses, daisies, lilies, lilacs, and so many others in my yard. Thank you for the opportunity to win your great book!
joannereynolds(at)sbcglobal(dot)net

Sandra Cox said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sandra Cox said...

Joanne,Irises is one of my favorites too, though mine didn't do well this year. I think they got too much water over the winter.
Thanks for entering:)

Unknown said...

I love daisies...best flower ever

Molly Daniels said...

Lilacs and jasmine remind me of my grandmother. And there's nothing sweeter than passing by a clump of honeysuckle!

Johnathan @ Growing Carnivorous Plants said...

Of course I love carnivorous plants! That's a great picture of a pond. Nice and vibrant plants.

Sandra Cox said...

Amarinda, daisies always brighten things up and make people smile.
Molly, I miss lilacs. You just don't see them that much in the south.
Jonathan,ahhh, I bet you'd be a wealth of information on carnivorous plants. They are fascinating.

Beth Caudill said...

I love honeysuckle. And I have roses, but I tend to grow the middle to less fragrant. A really strong rose scent gives me a headache.

I love the smell of herbs. But my beautiful hydrangea doesn't have a smell. Nor the Azalea's. But we have pine smell everywhere with the trees so many a lot of flower smells would clash.