Sweet smell of Lavender

Lavender makes me happy. Really! Aside from the incredibly soothing scent of lavender, did you know that it has many natural healing properties? The oil which comes from the flowery spikes, has been known to treat many ailments from: skin conditions, to sleep problems, muscle aches and tension, to depression, even stress and anxiety. It is one of my favorite scents and it really does takes away my anxiety, calms me down and makes me happy! Perhaps that's why everything from my skin cream, hand cream, shampoo and conditioner, bath oil, even cleaning and laundry products have lavender in it. When I can’t sleep at night, I put a bit of my lavender scented Shea butter creme around my nose. Every time I take a breath, the calming aroma relaxes me and helps put me to sleep. I even have lavender oil which I burn in my candle diffuser to bring the calming scent to the whole house! You can even cook and bake with lavender, although at this point, I just like to smell it :) I think this scent is pretty magical, it calms me from the inside, out. Not that I'm a bundle of nerves or anything, but who doesn't like to feel a little more at peace if they could, only by the natural scent in the air they breath?

I have quite a lot of lavender in my garden, both front yard and back. The little perennial plants that I purchased years ago and planted in both gardens, have grown and expanded beautifully. When I walk by a lavender bush, I can't help but run my fingers through the stems up to the flowered spikes. I close my eyes, take a deep breath and smile as the scented oils that had rubbed off onto my hands bring a state of calm and peace over me, even for just a brief moment. I have not yet been adventurous enough to use the mass of lavender in the garden to create my own concoction of home-made soothing scented products. Perhaps I’ll leave that to the professionals. All I can do is admire these beautiful plants, and from time to time, cut a few back and display them in a vase in my home from my indoor enjoyment as well.
I walked home after a rain shower a few weeks back and admired the changing colours of the lavender in my front yard. They had gone from a pale grey lilac colour to a vibrant purple in just a matter of weeks, and the colours seemed even more vibrant after the rain. I couldn't resist grabbing my camera to take a few snapshots of the garden.
After I took some photo’s, I wanted to do more. I photographed a few strands in a tiny vase to sit on my powder room's sink. The bathroom is tiny enough to appreciate the small bouquet. I still wanted more. I looked at my ever growing collection of plates and dishes that I have for my studio props. Over the years, I had photographed hundreds of meals on lovely dishes, for various recipe magazines, but every so often, the shot was about the place setting itself and not the meal. So I though, why not use the lavender to decorate a place setting? Ok, so I'm not so formal as to use name tags for my dinner guests place settings, BUT, it might be a nice idea for a wedding, bridal or baby shower, or perhaps an anniversary party? Sky's the limit when you have fun and use your imagination!

Spring Flowers

The spring flowers had come up after the last frost, they've bloomed and called it quits for another year all to make room for the vegetables, herbs, flowers and weeds that were eager to grow. Even though these perennial's will come up on their own again next year, there were only a handful of them and I was hoping to save the seeds so I could have more the following year. After the flowers had bloomed, I waited for them to wilt and shrivel, then I trimmed the dried up blooms and lay them in the sun until they were fully dried. I’ll plant the seeds this fall for next spring’s growth and hope to see more of the little spring flowers next year.

I love to garden, but there’s still so much I have yet to learn. After a few years in my home, my garden has evolved quite a bit. It still has a long way to go and I'm continually learning. I'm sure with more time and money, it could finally become as abundant and lush as I had always wished, but alas, I am not a patient girl, and with the impending renovations indoors, I’m also not interested on spending more money on my garden right now. Besides, the garden has become pretty self-reliant over the years. In my first year here, I had spent a wad of cash to fill up the garden with annuals. When year two came, and my garden was bare once again, I finally realized what the big deal was about perennials. Spring #4 has just passed and I had very few annuals in my garden, the perennials have now taken over and have left me with only weeding and some rearranging left to do.

The spring perennials that I’d planted over the years or that I had inherited from previous owners, never seem to last long enough. It feels as though, by the time the weather warms up enough to get out and admire them, they're all dying off. A couple of years ago, I had planted some Lily of the Valley’s. They're the tiny white bells surrounded by giant green leaves. I remembered seeing them on a Martha Stewart Magazine cover from several years back and thought they were adorable. I had used this issue as inspiration for the photo’s I took. Muscari or also known as Grape Hyacinth, were found in the yard when the weeds were cleared away years ago. These little spikes of blue flowers resembling bunches of grapes have almost a musky scent.


Now that my summer garden is taking care of itself, I'd like to devote more energy in developing the spring one. There are so many different flowers to choose from, tulips perhaps being the easiest but tastiest among the squirrels that live in the trees, aren't the best option. So I continue my quest for beautiful spring flowers that can thrive just a little bit longer...
I love spring! Forget New Years Eve, spring is like a fresh start every year. One of the best things about that time of year is watching the spring flowers come up. As my summer garden continues to prosper and is self-reliant, I’d like to expand my spring garden and watch it flourish. With the seeds that I had saved and now stored in ziplock bags from the recent blooms, and a little effort, I’m on my way to an abundant, and full spring garden...all for free!