Birth Flower For May - Lily of the valley

Lily of the valley

With a very wet spring, Lily of the valley have been in very short supply, so I had started to wonder if my project of photographing the birth flowers, would come to an abrupt end.

Luckily, whist out on a job, my client had some in her garden.

The Lily of the valley signifies humility, chastity and sweetness. In Victorian times, a gift of Lily of the valley counted as a romantic message and it also signifies a return of happiness.

This delicate, sweetly scented flower, was indeed rare this year but that made it all the more special once found.

Birth Flower For April - Sweet Pea

Sweet Peas in a vase

Sweet Pea

I'm not quite sure why Sweet Peas were chosen to represent April as a birth flower, as it's going to be a couple of months before they are flowering but there is no mistaking why they were chosen, for their beauty and fragrance.

The Sweet Pea represents pleasure or goodbye and the Victorians used them in their bouquets, to show their gratefulness.

My summer garden wouldn't be complete without Sweet Peas, for me the most quintessential summer flower.

Birth Flower for March - The Daffodil

Daffodil

Daffodils

Nothing says spring is here, like the humble daffodil. After a mild but very wet winter we've had, it's the shot in the arm we all need to rescue us from the dark nights and into the light evenings, now the clocks have moved forward.

Daffodils being the birth flower for March, signifies modesty and simplicity and those two words pretty much sum up the daffodil. There are always lots of new cultivars but I'm a bit of a purist, I don't like my daffodils tampered with and love the yellow ones the best.

Birth Flower For February - Violet

Violet

Violet Bud

As February draws to a close, I had started to get into a lather about not photographing the birth flower for this month, the beautiful if understated violet.

I've just ventured out to the bottom of the garden, between showers and I spotted a little clump growing amongst the scrubby grass.

The violet symbolises faithfulness, wisdom and hope.
A beautiful flower which truly heralds the coming of spring.

The Birth Flower For January - Carnation

Carnation 

Carnation

Carnation

One of my many photography projects for this year, is to photograph the birth flowers. I have photographed some of them already and have the images in my archive but I don't have images for them all, so it's with great excitement that I wait for some of them to either be in flower in the garden, or wait until they are in the florists.

The flower for January is the carnation. A carnation signifies, love, pride, beauty, distinction, fascination and loyalty.

I hope you agree, they are a gorgeous splash of colour in the otherwise gloomy light we have been living in, of late.

The Winter Garden, The Great British Garden Revival and Solstice Blessings

Hazel

Buds of Chrysanthamum Anastasia

Cirsium

Skimmia

On the eve of the Winter Solstice, the sun is shining here in Dorset, after an awful week of gales and lashing rain.

I was hoping to get out and tidy up the garden over the Christmas break but unless it dries out a bit, the soggy mess will have to just stay put.

I am really enjoying the BBC series The Great British Garden Revival. There just isn't enough gardening programmes on the television these days and don't get me started on Gardeners' World having to make way for sports - grr makes my blood boil!

Anyway back to The Great British Garden Revival. The cottage garden episode was just fantastic with Carol Klein championing my favourite garden genre and although I don't have any house plants, Tom Hart Dyke was so enthusiastic, I found him really engaging. I love people with an absolute passion for a subject.

My garden has some winter colour, with some geraniums still hanging on in there and strangely my Cirsium, with it's crimson pompom looking splendid like a Christmas bauble, is still in flower.

Wishing you all bright winter blessings for the solstice and love and light for 2014.

Squashes and Succulents Take Shelter on the greenhouse bench

 

                                                                   

The squashes have now been harvested and are on the greenhouse bench so their skins can cure.

I have had a really good harvest this year, 20 in total. Maybe it was the good weather we had this summer or maybe it was the variety I choose, which is suitable for our climate, I'm not sure but one thing is for sure, they just take up far too much room, so I don't think I'll grow them again next year.

I have brussel sprouts and leeks for Christmas dinner growing and a few spring onions and beetroots, which will need to be harvested soon.

My beautiful succulents have now been moved into the greenhouse, out of the cold and wet our English winter weather gives us. These are succulents left over from my wedding last year. I love their jewel like gloss and the gorgeous shapes and colours of them, I can see myself aquiring more next year.