I just had to return to the church garden in Cerne Abbas yesterday and there was the beautiful lemon scented bloom moving on to its next stage
with petals thick and rust coloured feeling like chamois leather,
leaving this beautiful candle
what to do with the petals ….
Hmm….. do you ever do things like this? 
Reminding me of this post back in April 2012, which inspired this mandala on a bird bath.
A higher bloom shone out and I was able to bend down the branch to breathe in that delicious scent
And as you can see I discovered its name is Magnolia Grandiflora – I’m definitely going to see if one will grow in my garden.
Joining in with Cee’s Flower of the Day
Ravelry
Wild Daffodil 
Pingback: A possible answer | Wild Daffodil
You have some unique photos here … wonderful post.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful pics Daffy, I love that magnolia Grandiflora 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Eddie – me too, I went to the garden centre this morning to see if I could buy one but it looks as if I might have to buy one online. The scent is divine!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It looks stunning too. I hope you are in luck 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for going back , lovely pictures, hope you sat a while!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is so lovely in that garden – lots of apples and pears on the espaliers round the seating area. I will take my crochet next time and sit a while!
LikeLike
Beautiful that last picture of the flower. Your putting the petals on a twig reminds me of taking my children and their cousins to Cefn Onn to see the rhododendrons and azaleas. They picked up any fallen blossoms and threaded them on sticks. (just to collect the colours of course, not to preserve.) It was a fun day.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love that image of children with flowers on sticks – a fabulous celebration of the colours.
LikeLike
I’m glad you like the photo, I had to take it whilst holding the camera above my head, so I am pleased how it came out.
LikeLike
I haven’t tried drying the petals of magnolia, but I think I should. I haven’t used rose petals in cooking yet but I do crystallise violet petals and use them to decorate my daughter’s birthday cake in April. The timing here works well as I don’t keep them longer than a few weeks. I am growing a Rose of Attar pelargonium from a cutting I pinched from a friend and am looking forward to making Rose of Attar tea soon. Your chocolate brownie recipe sounds great. I love experimenting with food and gardening.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a lovely and very special birthday cake! Now Rose of Attar tea sounds interesting. Miss E, would love to make that. I looked up ‘growing magnolia from seed’ and apparently they can take up to 10 years to flower. I will still give it a go, and in the meantime buy a mature one. 😉
LikeLike
I too love the waxy scented flowers of magnolia grandiflora. I love collecting and drying petals, especially roses. I have an old china tureen full of rose petals and one day I hope to shower a special person or two with them. Why don’t you collect the seed from a MG in late October and try sowing it. Magnolia seed pods are amazingly tactile and I always collect some for winter decorations when I visit Winkworth Arboretum in late October for the gorgeous autumn colour.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oooo! ooooooo! I’m so excited about that! Thank you, thank you, thank you for the tip – I will definitely go back to the garden to keep an eye on those seed pods – what a great idea!
Have you dried the petals of the magnolia? I have dried rose petals before and put red ones in a sort of chocolate brownie biscuit/cake with pistachio nuts – it looks spectacular!
What a lovely idea to save the petals for a wedding – magical! 😀
LikeLike