Tuesday 30 June 2009

Flower Scent

I was out on slug patrol at around 9:30 this evening and I notice a wonderful scent in the air, I look around trying to work out what it could be:

Sweet Pea – No, I only cut them off earlier and put them in a vase



Cornflower – No, they don’t particularly smell



Cosmos – Same as above



Jasmine – No, it’s not in flower yet



Rose – Perhaps, slightly too far away



Nicotiana – Ah ha, there we go! I never realised they smelled so nice! I grow them for the Moths, but hadn’t ever noticed their perfume before, likely due to the poor weather for the past couple of years.


16 comments:

Karen - An Artists Garden said...

It is a lovely scent isn't it.
K

ShySongbird said...

Lovely photos again Liz and yes it does smell lovely. I have a Phlox just coming into flower, it is rather a hot pink but always grows well. I was given it years ago by an elderly neighbour when she divided hers which she in turn had received from an elderly neighbour in the same way. So altogether it is quite old! It too has the most delicious scent especially on warm evenings. ;) ;)

Emma said...

Your photos are always lovely Liz. I was spurred on to get my own macro lens as you've seen... love the cornflower particularly, something so magical about that colour.

Liz said...

Karen - Thank you for visiting my blog! The scent is wonderful, a very nice surprise! I may have to plant some closer to the decking next year so I can smell it better :)

Liz said...

Jan - Thanks, I'm glad you like my photos! :D

Phlox - I have some, only it's never done very well, it's in a very large pot which needs ripping out and re-doing, I will attempt to save the Phlox though :)

It's amazing to think how old plants can be when they're divided/proagated! My mum has a peony that's nearing a 100 years old or more that's been passed down. Simply Amazing.

Liz said...

Emma - Ah, another person seduced by Macro shots! I think you're the fourth or fifth to be spurred on into the wonderful world of macro :D

Cornflowers are wonderful, they've done very well this year and suddenly I have a sea of electric blue pom-poms - I love them!

Tricia Ryder said...

Your garden sounds very colourful at the moment Liz - I didn't realise that Nicotiana had a perfume or that the moths like them!

Yoke, said...

Funny, I was going to do a post on flower scent too, only from a different perspective, yet I need to find out some stuff first.

My favourite scent perhaps is the White Clover, which is what is still in flower in my garden.

Photos are great as usual.

Liz said...

Tricia - The garden is certainly coming into full flower now, finally! still the odd flower almost there, but for the most part I'm very happy.

The Nicotiana are good for butterflies as well supposedly, only I've never seen either on them! ha ha! :D

Liz said...

Yoke - I hadn't noticed any scent from the white clover! Even when I was laying on the floor inches from it taking photos! :D

I'll have to pick some flowers and check it out, I also have the chocolate clover and never noticed that with any scent either... I really must pay more attention, but I do have problems with my nose so perhaps this is my problem :)

Yoke, said...

have you got the 'wild' variety? Could it be that over-cultivation has 'unscented' it? because I did not know it either and I first noticed it on my way home from the shop, along the hedgerows, thinking it had been a scent brought in by the wind. Looking at a still flag, I went to look. wild Ivy is lovely too, scent-wise

Liz said...

As far as I'm aware it is a wild clover, it's appeared in the grass this past year and has quickly spread so I now have four patches of it. The chocolate clover was bought in.

I tested the white clover today and it does indeed have a perfume, quite a mellow perfume it is there none-the-less. I'll try the chocolate clover tomorrow...

Bangchik and Kakdah said...

I love the look of sweetpea flower. Cute little thing. It is a wonder too that winged beans has similar blooms, the look and the color!.. Our winged bean is ready to bloom, I will place photos and compare them with sweetpeas soon.

Cheers,
~ bangchik

Cheryl said...

Hi Liz....do you grow honeysuckle?...moths love it. I had a hummingbird hawkmoth on the patio last week...too late with my camera, so frustrating.....

I have lots of sweet peas this year.....they are delightful.....I always keep cutting, to make sure the blooms are many....

Lupins fragrance for me is second to none....I go to walk by, catch the scent, and have to go back for a re-run.......

Liz said...

Bangchik - I think Peas and Beans are from similar families, our beans also have very similar flowers to the sweet peas - the flowers are much smaller on the beans though!

Sweet peas come in many different colours, with some highly fragrant and they are grown purely for their flowers. Quinessentially English!

Thank you for visiting my blog, it's much appreciated!

Liz said...

Cheryl - Thank you for visiting! :)

Yes I have Honeysuckle, a yellow one that's in flower now and smells wonderful and I bought a late flowering dutch honeysuckle a couple of weeks ago (and it's already romping away!!! can you believe???!)

Amazing to have a Hummingbird Hawkmoth! I'd love to see one, maybe someday eh?! :D

I fell in love with sweetpeas last summer, I loved having a vase full for months on end, so this year I grew three different varieties but procrastinated getting them in the ground so they're only just beginning to flower *sigh*

I've never noticed Lupins before, I'll have to make sure I smell them next year (unless I get a second flush this year) I do love Lupins though, possibly one of my most favourite plants, just a shame the slugs love them so much :(