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Wednesday, August 18, 2010

A Bowl of Flowers


One of the joys of having a garden is being able to bring some flowers indoors. This simple arrangement consists of Sweet Pea, Purple Loosestrife, wild Yarrow and Achillea 'Summer Berries'.



This is Buckwheat, a useful and very attractive plant. If you double-click the photograph you can see each individual floret in detail. Seeing it close up, it reminds me of apple blossom. Buckwheat has many uses including feed for livestock, food for humans, honey crop, weed control and green manure.

Buckwheat is not a true cereal but is related to sorrels and docks and, in my opinion, is as pretty a plant as any other in the garden. I've grown it as groundcover previously, to protect the soil from being leached of its precious minerals by the rain. Next Spring I want to grow lots more just because of its pretty flowers, which are also of great benefit to bees because of its long flowering season.



This is Achillea 'Summer Berries', which produces flowers in various shades of pink. It's extremely pretty and looks wonderful grown en masse.


And here is the common Yarrow, one of my favourite wildflowers.

Folklore tells us that if some Yarrow is sown up in a little pouch and placed beneath the pillow, you would dream of your future husband/wife. You also have to recite the following charm before dozing off to sleep:


Thou pretty herb of Venus tree
Thy true name be Yarrow
Now who my bosom friend must be
Pray tell thou me tomorrow.



12 comments:

  1. Hi Lesley,
    Double clicked all the way. Some pretty flowers, especially if they attract the bees.
    An alternative ending to your ditty.
    Thou pretty herb of Venus tree,
    Thy true name be Yarrow,
    Now who my bosom friend must be,
    Must not have the face of a marrow!!!!!!
    John

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  2. So... what you got against the marrow, me marra?! :O)

    Here follows a translation for those outside the North East of England.
    marra
    1.(pronoun. marra) mate, e.g. Y'arlreet marra ? = How are you, my friend ?

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  3. Those are all so lovely, and the charm is wonderful too.
    I already know my heart's desire and his name is Bill!
    Thanks for sharing the beauty!

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  4. Hi G. My hubby's name is Bill too but right now my heart's desire is a big bowl of pasta! :D

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  5. They are all lovely flowers Lesley, I think the colour of the Achillea 'Summer Berries', is so pretty, they all remind me of the beauty of wild meadow flowers ... and the Sweet Peas always have such a delightful fragrance.
    So I shall have to find myself some Yarrow, I wonder where I could find some here in Australia?:) xoxo ♡

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  6. Hi Dianne. Achillea is one of my favourite flowers and 'Summer Berries' in particular is lovely. It produces flowers from the palest pink to a rich cerise.

    You should be able to find Yarrow in Australia Dianne, as I believe it grows in both the Northern and Southern hemisphere. You could try googling for seed/plant suppliers. Many suppliers of wildflower seeds offer it, or you could try eBay for seeds or plants. Failing that, email me and I'd be happy to send you some seeds. It's very easy to grow. :D

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  7. Thanks Lesley, for the information, I'm sure I will be able to find some plants or seeds here in Australia, probably more easier to find them than a good man, lol. :-)
    xoxoxo ♡

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  8. Lol Dianne! I'm going to avoid that subject. :O)

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  9. Hi Lesley, I think the purple loosestrife might be purple toadflax Linaria purpurea - which is also an excellent nectar source for bees and butterflies..............

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  10. Thanks for answering my question and clearing this up for me Phil. :)

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  11. Thanks Greg. I have no difficulty photographing subjects like this..... they keep still. :)

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