After weeks of wet and gloomy, we had the most glorious weather for the Summer Solstice
The honeysuckle grows on a fence outside my bedroom window – can you imagine the heady wafts of scent on a warm solstice evening ………. deeeeeee-lissshhhhhh-usss
I have mixed it with the froth of Lady’s Mantle for a Solstice celebration
They are in a heavy ceramic circular candle holder with a trough (there must be a better word?) around for flowers. I bought this many years ago in Glastonbury and it has been the centre piece for many a meditation gathering and Solstice celebration in my past life in hippyland.
I do hope you enjoyed the Solstice in your neck of the woods.
Oh how I am delighting in my Long Border filling out, gradually hiding more soil.
(you can see the beginnings of the creation of this border and how it looked a couple of months ago in this post)
Next door are doing some renovations, there will be a fence eventually between the concrete posts, and then that bit of the border will be north facing and in shade. I will move some hostas there when the time is right.
Did you spy a Hot Princess?
Cathy! She is flowering and she is Hot! This is my lovely birthday gift from Cathy when I went to see her last November. Cathy knows I love Hot Pink and this thoughtful gift is just perfect!
Just before I go I MUST show you some of my poppies – which have been so much enjoyed by me, my neighbours and most importantly, the bees!
Click on any photo to see it full screen
Turn up the volume to hear the buzzzzzzzz.
Joining Cathy for her In a Vase on Monday, weekly link with other gardeners around the globe.
and
Cee’s Flower of the Day
Happy Solstice!
Your poppies are so beautiful, and so is the hot pink rose! The honeysuckle does smell divine, we have a bush outside my sewing room that has just began to bloom, so I am enjoying the scent right along with you. Lovely arrangement!
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It is such a joy to make these connections – and one through the mutual enjoyment of the scent of honeysuckle feels so real. ❤ 🙂
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Love the candle ring – I am from the Deep South (think Gone with the Wind) and honeysuckle reminds me of home and summer, I can imagine the scent as I am typing. Garden is lovely!
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Mmmmmm I’m off with Scarlet O’Hara right now! It always seems so steamy down there – scented sensuality!
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What a delightful visit to your garden! Wow have things grown! What a wonderful gift from Cathy! Everything is beautiful! What a fun “walk”! The flowers around the candle are beautiful too.
We are in the woods right now and my Grand Kitty age 16, is taking photos of every wild flower she finds! I’m more content with the MN wild flower manual-with photos! LOL!
Had to laugh at the hippie days comment. The other day I said to one of my Grands (I’ve raised 2- now ages 16 & 17) “They ( people commentary on TV) are all wigged out!” LOL! Haven’t used “wigged out or wiggin me out in 43 years! LOL! Oh how those memories come back. I was never happy about the hippie period, when I was 6 I wanted to be a Go-Go girl! Ten years later they were all gone! My mother thought I’d be a topless dancer. Sometimes I wonder how we could have been so completely different! LOL!
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A topless dancer!!! HaHa! oh my goodness – there’s still time! 😉
I love that Kitty is so delighted by the wild flowers – maybe she could press some too – I used to do that as a teen and make greetings cards for relatives.
So glad you enjoyed the wander in my garden – it was lovely to have you along. ❤ 🙂
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Oh goodness! Here I had brought up some flower pressing craft items this year for her! And yet I forgot because I was so busy begging the 3 Teen girls to paint pillow cases, which I thought would be fun, and Kitty is completely bored with painting them! I will get the flower pressing crafts out right now! Thank You for the reminder! (((HUG)))
As for any type of dancing- LOL!! My mother is quite bawdy and I am very prudish. So there will be none from me! ;o)
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Telepathy working across the miles! Happy Pressing.
My Mum was bawdy too, me not when I was younger but I get saucier as I get older! Ha! 😉
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Your garden border is gorgeous, Sandra. And I loved seeing the bees enjoying it, too. Your honeysuckle wreath is beautiful as well, I can imagine that its scent was lovely. Happy Summer to you!
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Thank you Eliza. Our gardens give us such joy don’t they.
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Life-affirming!
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Yes indeed! ❤ 🙂
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The poppies are glorious and I am really smitten by the top pictures of the honeysuckle round the candle with the garden flowers in the background.
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Thank you Su, those little pink and white daisies are such a joy – they hide a multitude of flaws in the paving!
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I remember the story of the creation of your long border. What progress in such a short period! I wish I could grow such glorious poppies but all members of the Papaver genus seem to hate my garden. Your solstice display is lovely too. When does the sun go down in your part of the world?
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Today we will have 16 hours 29 minutes of sunlight and the sun will set at 21:26 (21:24 BST on 21st).
I’m so thrilled with the way the border has developed already – it will be fascinating to see how it looks after going through the winter – but thankfully that is a long way off.
What a shame that poppies don’t grow in your garden – they are such good value. But you do have so many other wonderful plants. 🙂
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I love the idea and we all have honeysuckle and alchemilla mollis, so what a fabulous centre piece for dining al fresco. I am going to copy it.
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Ooo thank you for your lovely comment Chloris – I get so inspired by the IAVOM posts, it makes me really happy to know it is a two-way street. ❤ 🙂
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Oh that is a lovely idea, Sandra – why don’t we use candles and wreaths more often instead just seasonally…? Your border is looking wonderful, and no wonder you are thrilled with it. Thanks for sharing
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Good question Cathy!
Thank you for holding our weekly garden party. 🙂 ❤
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Your Border is coming on wonderfully. I can see there are advantages to having a bigger garden. Those poppies are so beautiful.
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If I can get another area of the garden to look this good, I’ll be delighted – work in progress!
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Well hello Hot Princess, every bit as gorgeous as I hoped for. Love the poppies and the vase this week. Happy Solstice m’dear.
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She really is a stunner.
❤ 🙂 ❤
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Your solstice arrangement is so very pretty, and those poppies are gorgeous! Your long border has done really well within such a short space of time. You must have green fingers! 😉
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My gardening is so hit and miss! I mostly just scatter seed about and randomly whack in the odd plant – this year it really has worked.
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Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!
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Thank you!
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Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, from the arrangement to the border with hot pink Cathy. And love that buzz of the bees.
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HaHa – the rose will now forever be known as Hot Pink Princess Cathy!
Thank you for you lovely comment. 🙂
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I love your honeysuckle and lady’s mantle! And the candle! Lovely soft gentle colours to celebrate the summer solstice. I ended up doing two posts on the longest day! Here’s the first https://therunningwave.blogspot.com/2019/06/summer-solstice.html
and here’s the second! https://therunningwave.blogspot.com/2019/06/at-20-past-10-this-evening-i-took-dogs.html We have the longest of days here on the east coast of Scotland – about 19 hours of daylight in the summer, in complete contrast with about 7 or 8, if we are lucky, in the winter! Here’s my vase contribution for this week! Amanda
https://therunningwave.blogspot.com/2019/06/bridal-flowers-in-vase-on-monday.html
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Thank you for the links. 19 hours of daylight – fabulous!
Not sure I could take the winters though.
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It was a sunny day here too to mark the solstice 😎 Your celebratory tableau captures the very essence of summer Sandra.
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Thank you. 🙂
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Your garden is looking fabulous
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Thank you Karina, I have never enjoyed it as much as I am this year.
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I always wish I had more time to spend in my garden.
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All beautiful. I can’t believe the longest day has already come and gone.
As an old hippy, you should be able to put your flower arrangements in the groove.😃
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Groovy Groove! Yes! HaHa!!
Flower power!
I know what you mean about the longest day – seems to have happened before we are ready for it doesn’t it – although you have it hot over there at the mo don’t you?
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I’m glad to hear your weather perked up for your solstice celebration. Down here of course we celebrate the returning of the light – I love to watch for it. Beautiful centrepiece – I have jasmine and honeysuckle here and love to get wafts of them as I come and go. And of course your garden looks lovely too, I hope you now get to enjoy many long warm days!
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A heat wave is forecast here – not sure how I feel about that.
Dull, quiet, calm, warm here today which I’m really enjoying.
The Winter solstice feels so good doesn’t it – looking forward to brighter days.
The Summer Solstice always feels like it comes along much too soon, especially when we have had such iffy weather for ages.
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Our last summer didn’t get off the ground until well after the solstice – sometime late in January I recall. Then it went on into May and autumn has really only ended in the last three or four weeks. It makes me wonder if the seasons are shuffling along the calendar a few weeks each year…… I feel the same as you about the summer solstice – the light fades way too soon especially with the endless cloudy days. I hope your heat wave won’t be too hot – there’s always that perfect temperature for the weather gods to strive for!
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Yes, there really is quite a narrow margin of comfort – I’m a fussy creature! 17 degrees, sunshine and no wind = perfect!
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I can go as high as 20C 🙂
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Lovely! Perhaps channel instead of trough…? We have just passed the Winter Solstice Down Under, and from now on can look forward to longer days again. I celebrated by putting my fruiting banana stem into a cover to keep the fruit bats and possums off it so come spring I’ll have ‘nanas again! Something to look forward to apart from more light
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Oh, bananas, fruit bats and possums! I sometimes yearn to visit Oz again! …. one day!
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I hope you manage it 🙂
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🙂
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I LOVE your arrangement! It looks so professional and your photography captures of it are worthy of turning into a greeting card.
I can think of many synonyms for trough, but which is the most appropriate for your bowl I wouldn’t know! Channel, maybe? You know me, always playing with words.
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Thank you Deb, I’m thrilled with your comment on my photography as you take such amazingly beautiful photos.
I was hoping you would have a go at finding a more suitable word! 😉
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ah, I think the difference between our photos is that you consider yours carefully, whereas I just point and click while hoping for the best!
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Well you definitely get the best. 🙂
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