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Saturday, May 7, 2011

Cool Jasmine...

The weather here on the Georgia coast has been really nice. Much cooler, which is always preferable to the hot days of late spring and early summer...those will be here soon enough. These more comfortable days are prime for opening the doors and windows, allowing the soft breezes to circulate through our rooms. I especially like having the door to the screened in porch open as the fragrance from the Jasmine fills the back half of the condo. We had a bit of rain early yesterday which did knock some of the flowers off of the vines, but they are still quite full of the small white stars. The above photo is of the Jasmine vines and the stones I recently added under the arch. Tuscan rock paving stones and bricks with river stones as filler. I'm quite happy with the way it turned out.

I was tending to my herbs today. I've always wanted to have an herb garden, and this collection marks my gardens beginning. I chose all of them for their aromatic properties. A couple of them are among my favorite cooking herbs, but their primary purpose is to be as ingredients in something I've wanted to try my hand at for awhile now. Making loose incense. For the unfamiliar, "loose" incense is usually in a powder form. It's also common for there to be coarser blends, as woods and resins are often used. Some herbs are also used in larger form, like Lavender buds. The herbs I'm cultivating currently are: Goodwin Creek Grey Lavender; German Thyme; Rosemary; and Sage. I also have a large planter of Peppermint and Lemon Balm that isn't pictured. They all complement each other so well. I look forward to experimenting with various blends.
My Hydrangea bushes are quite breathtaking. I can't ever remember seeing a Hydrangea bush with so many blooms before. The bushes have really outdone themselves this year. I clipped several of the brightly colored balls and made a couple of arrangements for the coffee and kitchen tables. Nothing adds...well, I was going to say "adds life", but since they were cut from a bush they aren't really alive any longer. I'll just say that they can really change the vibe of a room for the better.

There were some pretty spectacular clouds out, but there usually are. That's one of the things I love about Savannah and being on the Atlantic coast. These particular cloud formations looked like a wall of cotton with a fissure torn across, the late day sun glowing through the opening. A beautiful way to observe the descending sun of the evening hours.

4 comments:

  1. Wow, I love the arch of jasmine over the door! Herbs are nice - thanks to mom, we have a pretty extensive herb garden in the backyard. We keep trying to grow hydrangeas every year, but no success yet.

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  2. I don't know what it is about Savannah, but Hydrangeas go crazy here. Maybe the earth is a lot moister since we are so close to water.

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  3. Again with the talent- landscaping, TOO?? J'adore the porch, very peaceful. Nice job. I am most happy you and Glenn are in such gorgeous surroundings. It was "meant to be", wasn't it? Just took a little time. That lovely scent of jasmine fills me. Hydrangeas are my fave. Lee got me one a couple of b-days ago and planted it at the corner of the house. The dog dug it up a couple of weeks back. I am heart-broken. It wasn't very big, but still...

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  4. Sorry to hear about your hydrangea...they really go gangbusters here in the humidity. Wish I could claim the credit for the hydrangea bushes and the jasmine vine, but the previous owner of the condo put those in. My part in all of it has been cleaning things up, and making it feel calm again. The condos use pine needles as ground cover and it just really looks messy. After layers of that being thrown around and the grounds crew (who really don't do much) doing their bit of blowing all of the natural and man-made trash under the bushes and on top of the pine needles...well, a good 'cleansing' was over due. The front is going to be the real bear. I'm taking it one step at a time because of my RA...don't want to do too much too quickly, which is how I usually role...

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