Heliotrope for Garden Fragrance

Cherry Pie Flowers 香水草
Originally uploaded by beautifulcataya

I bought a Basket Marino Heliotrope in a 4 inch container yesterday. It has purple blue flowers and purple/dark green foliage and grows to 16 inches tall.
Another name for heliotrope is cherry pie flower.
Many heliotropes grow to 4 foot tall and wide attractive shrubs and they prefer sun or part shade, and shelter from wind.
Most people grow Heliotrope for its delicious sweet scent, though the tiny flowers are pretty too. The scent is similar to vanilla.
The flowers can be white, mauve or purple.
Heliotrope is considered half-hardy, to 40 degrees F. so needs to be over-wintered indoors in many areas.
I also bought some liquid seaweed as a treat for my vegetables and flowers.
What did you plant this week?

Tree of heaven

Tree of heaven
Originally uploaded by Lohb

A B C's in Green
The trees are God's great alphabet;
With them He writes in shining green
Across the world His thoughts serene.

He scribbles poems across the sky
With a gay, leafy lettering,
For us and for our bettering.

The wind pulls softly at His page,
And every star and bird
Repeats in dutiful delight His word,
And every blade of grass
Flutters to class.

Like a slow child that does not heed,
I stand at summer's knees,
And from the primer of the wood
I spell that life and love are good,
I learn to read.
poem by Leonora Speyer

Lobelia and Rudbeckia

Lobelia and Rudbeckia
Originally uploaded by pchgorman

I love the various shades of blue in lobelias, the robin's egg blue, the deep sky blue and the midnight blue too.
I often buy a six pack of lobelias to tuck in to containers with other flowers. They grow about 3 inches tall and flow down over the sides in a graceful manner.
Trailing varieties can flow downward up to 18 inches.
You can also find white, pink and lavendar lobelia. A favorite edging variety is Cambridge Blue and for trailing Cascade Mixed.
Lobelia are "half hardy" to 32 degrees (zone 10) and I think of them as an annual.
They spark up containers of mixed flowers like pansies, violets, godetias and nasturtiums.
Do you have some container plants to recommend?

Happy Momma Day to All

DSC_0677_1_72 - Mothers Day Flowers
Originally uploaded by bterrycompton
I found this photo on Flickr and think it is gorgeous.
Happy Momma Day is what we say at our house. My own dear mom is up in heaven. If your mom is around please give your mom an extra hug today to celebrate her. Moms can never have too many hugs. My husband and sons treat me kindly on this day, I am happy to say.
"The sweetest sounds to mortals given,
Are heard in Mother, Home and Heaven." by William Goldsmith Brown.
And a fun quote which describes me and my mom is
"A mother is a person who seeing there are only 4 pieces of pie for 5 people, promptly announces she never did care for pie." by Tenneva Jordan

Giraffes

Giraffes
Originally uploaded by davidandbecky
I am home sick today, with allergies, and got a wee bit bored, so that must mean I am on the mend, right?
I thought what is upbeat, and giraffes came to mind. Do you love these animals and their unique form and coat patterns?
I read somewhere that giraffes show that God has a sense of humor. They are charming animals, and make me smile.
I hope you enjoy these giraffes.