It’s hot and getting hotter, so I had to dash for a few blooms to fill today’s petite vase.
I bought this tiny vase on a trip to Mexico several years ago. Mike traveled there for business, and I got to join him for the last few days.
Once again, thanks to this winter’s heavy rains, my gardenias have continuously flowered for weeks. I’ve been clipping three at a time to enjoy them indoors, deadheading as I go. Even after the blooms yellow and sag, the potent scent remains.
Today’s vase features gardenias, lavender, and a tiny purple flower I can’t seem to name. It grows along the edge of our deck, and most summers, it finds a way to take root and grow through one of the crevices. That always makes me smile.
If you recognize the name of this purple beauty, please let me know.
Please visit the Cathy’s to see what they and others have created for IAVOM.
Gardening Nirvana 
Gardenia is my favourite flower scent! Spicy and sweet at the same time.
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That’s an interesting description, Kate. I’ll have to investigate the spicy side the next time I pass one.
I had gardenias in my wedding bouquet 28 years ago this September. There are so many good memories.
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I love gardenias, such an intoxicating scent! Your cat vase is a lovely design as well. Sorry I can’t help with the plant ID, but maybe another CA blogger might know. :)
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Thank you, Eliza. I love that little cat vase.
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Your vase is awesome. Gardenias are wonderful, aren’t they? I love your “yellow and sag” description–the flowers still hold power.
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Thank you!
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Beautiful! You just prompted me to go pick my gardenias!
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I’ll bet your house smells wonderful.
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I miss gardenias and my lavender. Have no idea what the pretty purple flowers are but right now, I don’t remember much. ;) Gardenias were great in CA and the lavender did great in Portland. Very little grows up here. Sweet vase shows off the flowers well.
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I have a lavender plant growing along the deck. It took over half of the walkway two years ago, so I had to give it a substantial haircut. It’s prolific and wonderful and the bees love it, too. I even found a praying mantis on it once.
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A lovely combination! I adore Gardenias but they want more water than I’m prepared to give them. Could the blue-flowered plant be Anchusa officinalis?
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Thank you, Kris. These plants are reaping the benefits of our extraordinarily wet winter. They’re native to the tropics, and San Jose is semi-arid, so they mostly get by.
I’m off to look up Anchusa officinalis.
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The flowers look identical, but the leaves seem different. It’s a beautiful specimen, though, and I appreciate the suggestion.
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Your gardenias’ flower power sounds amazing, and with the added bonus of the fragrance – something I have still to experience! Seeing them in the vase with the blue flower makes me realise the blooms must be smaller than I would have imagined… Very pretty too
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The flowers on this plant are smaller than the one next to it which is fascinating in itself. I didn’t realize this until yesterday when I was building the vase. Cathy, I hope you get to smell a gardenia one day. There is nothing like it.
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Intriguing indeed! And yes, I shall have to make a point of seeking one out and sniffing it…
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Please let me know when you do.
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Will do👍
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There is so much to learn about this flower.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardenia
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Thanks for the link
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Gosh. Having to dash to pick flowers is quite some description. As usual you have matched the surface with the vase pattern and colours
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Thank you, Derrick.
It’s not cooling down much overnight, so it’s a bit disorienting when it’s hot early in the morning. We have a three day reprieve of temps in the mid-eighties, before it gets hot again.
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Very pretty Alys. The vase itself is lovely! I only know Gardenias from florist bouquets, and can imagine they smell wonderful in your garden. Well done for being so careful to keep them flowering too. The blue flower looks like Leadwort, some kind of Plumbago. Very similar if not the same as one I grow here! 😃
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P.S. Here is a link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceratostigma_plumbaginoides
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Thank you for the link, Cathy. I took a look, and the flowers seem close, but they say it grows into a huge shrub. These ones never get taller than a foot. It’s weird that I can’t find the name in all my records, but I’ll keep looking.
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Mine doesn’t get very big, but it does spread by roots. I can imagine thre are several different garden varieties. Hooe you manage to identify it! 😃
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Cathy, the scent is amazing. Just these three flowers scent the entire room. I’m sure they’ve benefitted from the deep watering this past winter. They’re planted in the shade near the house so they stay cool. I’m so happy to see them produce like this, and vow not to take it for granted. I’m off to look up Leadwort.
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Lovely bouquet! I can almost smell those gardenias. And what a lively vase, a fun reminder of your trip to Mexico.
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Thanks, Laurie. It is a fun reminder. I’m not a big souvenir person, but for some reason that tiny vase really appealed to me AND I knew I would use it.
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Beautiful!!! I love gardenias. When we got married I wanted my entire bouquet to be gardenias but it was so expensive I settled for three. They are so fragrant. Thank you for sharing yours and your beautiful vase and memory of a trip.
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Thank you, Amy. I can relate. Since they grow on shrubs with short stems, it would take quite a few to build a bouquet, unlike other commercially available stems. I’m glad you had a few tucked in for your special day.
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Lovely Alys but I don’t recognise the blue flower – I thought they looked like Alkanet that grows like a weed in our garden but that has furry leaves and it looks as if yours are smooth. What about Anchusa Azurea? Difficult as what grows in your Californian soil/climate might not take to the Dorset equivalent – and vice versa.
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You have a lot of delights in your garden! Those flowers! Lovely vase and wonderful photo from your trip to Mexico – so awesome to have a memento that sparks the memory :-)
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Thank you, Tierney. We didn’t travel internationally when our sons were young, so that trip was especially meaningful, relaxing and traveling as a couple again.
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I sent pictures of the blue flower to my daughter and she used her plant identifier and it is Plumbago or leadwort. Someone else posted this first. Hope this helps. It’s very pretty. Hugs,
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Sandi, thank you so much. That was so thoughtful of you.
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Did you ever find out about the blue flowers? Are they these “Lungwort Pulmonaria officinalis”?
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