Friday 27 July 2012

Gardening for the senses..

For a few years after leaving teaching I worked as an amanuensis or reader for a blind law lecturer.

One of the many things he taught me was that gardening can, and does, involve more of our senses than just the sense of sight.

With that in mind, we've tried to plant the most heavily scented flowers on or near the patio, close to the house where we can enjoy their scent as well as their beauty. Alongside the aromatic herbs these are some of our 'stars' in the fragrance stakes...

This is the first year for this lily "Tiger  Woods"
The magnolia flowers are short-lived but have a heady perfume

Now a little past their best, the carnations have been beautiful

A sure favourite of mine - the sweetpea
Grown from seed, the garden is now full of these delicately scented Phlox
We took two or three dozen cuttings off our old and very large lavender;
so wherever you are in the garden , you're never too far from the calming fragrance of lavender
Sadly Michael died last year, doing what he loved best - fell running! So this post is dedicated to his memory and to his wife and family, who I came to know well.

4 comments:

About Paris said...

Beautiful selection and a nice tribute.

Anonymous said...

I love sweetpeas, phlox and lavendar - definitely on my to-do list for the garden next year. A lovely tribute too... I truly believe people live on in what we take from them

GaynorB said...

A beautiful post and tribute to your friend, Elizabeth.

Tributes can be difficult to get just right and you've achieved this.

Diane said...

My Star Gazer came out yesterday and looks exactly like your Tiger Woods. Mine was a birthday present some years ago which I planted in the garden. I thought that the cold winter may have been a problem for it but it is better that ever. Have a good weekend Diane