While the rose petal elixir is maturing, here’s a peek at a few other things happening in the garden.
The climbing rose next to the greenhouse is starting to bloom. It’s a relatively recent arrival, so it is not the spectacle that the red rose is, but I love the flowers- they look like petticoats.
That hand is Kaya’s. He emerged from the shadows and attempted to devour the roses (due to their inviting scent?)
The roses were promptly whisked away.
Kaya had his first taste of wild strawberries over the weekend. Wild in the sense of being small and fragrant, but not literally wild; we started them from seed a few years back, and they’re doing well. Kaya was very enthusiastic, which drew Baki’s attention, and he made sure we didn’t leave any behind.
Another pleasant surprise was the sweet peas. Sweet peas are a sentimental favorite of mine, because it was my nickname as a baby. Still, despite my mother’s and later my own enthusiasm for them, I was for a long time quite unaware of the lovely scent of some of the older varieties.
My mother and I found ourselves in Kew Gardens in June of 2004 and caught wind of a beguiling scent as we strolled beneath wooden pergolas. Following our noses, we were bowled over when they led us to sweet peas. I’ve grown them every year since, and I’m always careful to choose scented varieties.
These ones self-seeded, so they were unexpected. At this time of year, the garden is just one surprise after another.
Garden Correspondent 
So pretty! Your flowers are looking amazing!
I can’t wait to see what you will do with the rose elixir when it finishes.
And strawberries too? Sounds like you have a lot of exciting things coming in!
It’s a nice time of year. I guess the expression, “everything’s coming up roses” is no accident. They show up just when the season is sweetest.
Those sweet peas are really pretty, aren’t they? Your roses are so beautiful. No wonder Kaya wanted a taste. 🙂
I love sweet peas. They are so uncomplicated, just pretty flowers that are easy to love. Kaya has a real appetite for flowers – he hasn’t noticed the sweet peas yet, but I bet he’ll put them straight into his mouth when he does.
Hi Siobhan, your flowers are beautiful… I love your updates and often long for a wild and wonderful garden of my own!
The annual tulip festival has arrived early in Ottawa this year. Here are some of my pictures from last weekend.
https://plus.google.com/photos/108510748839761363278/albums/5740220949568346081?authkey=CPyKxvem0frr7gE
🙂
Wow, those tulips are dazzling! What great photographs, too. I need to work on my photography — I always end up shooting on the run with my iPod.
I didn’t even know there was a tulip festival in Ottawa. Istanbul has one, and come to think of it, I guess it would have been in April. Are you having an unusually warm spring, then?
I hope you get that garden one of these days — it took us a while, but it sure is nice to have it now. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment. It was nice to hear from you!
Thank you! I’m at my best when my little camera behaves itself and I have inspirational subject matter. Who needs technique?! here’s my second batch of tulip pictures (with flowers in detail this time): https://plus.google.com/photos/108510748839761363278/albums/5742384986101392561?authkey=COzu5sb_wOfDXQ
We’re having a really early and warm spring. The tulips are normally at their best around now, but this year they bloomed several weeks early and are pretty much gone now. I didn’t know Istanbul had a tulip festival. I hope to see it (and you guys!) someday soon… 🙂
Thank you for the wonderful blog entries – you always make my day!
I would love to grow sweet peas but cannot because of the deer.
That is so interesting — we don’t have deer out here, just the odd wild boar. Our fence keeps them out, though. We had to fence our place in to prevent being overrun by goats — all of our neighbors keep goats and walk them out to pasture a couple of times a day right past us.
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What gorgeous flowers!
I am also a great fan of sweet peas, I used to grow them all the time in NZ, sowing in the autumn and they would bloom the following spring, here the season is shorter but I am giving it a go anyway! I love the word petticoats! it is exactly like your roses! c
Very beautiful pictures!
Thank you!