The final, few flowers of Lathyrus odoratus ‘Nimbus’ from our garden — just enough for a small bouquet and a long still life session on the balcony yesterday.
(Focusing on the flowers distracts my mind from the extreme weather and fire conditions in our province. It’s a brief but necessary escape. I’m holding onto the simple joys that evoke hope.)
Sweet peas in a vase
enchant us with elegance,
colour and fragrance.
Lathyrus odoratus
‘Grower’s Choice Ambrosia Mix’
Lathyrus odoratus
‘April in Paris’
Lathyrus odoratus
‘Nimbus’
Lathyrus odoratus
‘Grower’s Choice Ambrosia Mix’
Just a few, the first to bloom:
‘April in Paris’, ‘Candy Floss’, ‘Grower’s Choice Ambrosia Mix’
On the balcony,
a rainy, August evening --
standards and wings swirl.
Graceful, delicate and fragrant, these sweet pea cultivars soothe and delight the senses of sight and smell.
I gathered these small bouquets from the garden in late July from seed sown in early spring. This year, for various known and unknown reasons, we have fewer sweet pea vines than usual, so every flowering stem is precious, and I arrange, enjoy, and photograph them during Sunday morning still life sessions on the balcony.
If I could grow only one flower in the garden, it would of course be sweet peas; if I could grow only one cultivar of Lathyus odoratus it would be…let me see…it would be — oh but I can’t choose only one, so I would alternate between ‘April in Paris’ (an old favourite) and ‘High Society’ (a new favourite).
A simple, repurposed bottle is the perfect vase for Lathyrus odoratus,
the sweetest of flowers.
After sowing, thinning, and transplanting…
after supporting, protecting, and pruning…
after watering, weeding, and waiting…
after releasing expectations and gratefully receiving nature’s abundant, sublime gifts…
this…
a series of still life moments created and captured during recent gardening days at my mom’s home.
Papaver rhoeas (common poppy)
‘Parisian Pink’ larkspur
A mixed bouquet of zinnias, lavender, larkspur, and one long-lived hydrangea
Lathyrus odoratus ‘April in Paris’
Lathyrus odoratus ‘Jilly’
A mixed bouquet of ‘April in Paris’, ‘Jilly’, and ‘Mollie Rilstone’ sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus)
‘April in Paris’, ‘Jilly’, and ‘Mollie Rilstone’ sweet peas in late July:
in a herb pot
in a canning jar