This goes with That

That is how my garden grows. Maybe we should call it creative chaos!

Late summer in Bay Village is in full swing. We are located just two blocks from Lake Erie (No, you cannot see across the lake!) and have the benefit of being next to what looks like a big ocean without the salt. Ironically, there is a huge salt mine located under the lake, with its access on Whiskey Island, a mere half mile from downtown Cleveland. We are within a quarter mile of the lake, which means that our fall season is longer and warmer than the outlying areas and we are able to grow more tender plants. We also stay warmer all winter with less snow. Yeah!

Are you familiar with the nicotiana plant, otherwise known as the flowering tobacco?

The flowers are white and fragrant. One caveat about nicotiana- it easily self sows. Look closely at the next photo. You can see the white flowers amongst the green seed pods. When the pods mature, they will burst open and scatter the seeds. The next summer, you will find babies in the oddest places. Fortunately, they are easy to remove. We let it do its thing and pull out what we don't want.

 Mmmm, can you smell this? The datura topiary is close to the nicotiana in the garden. It smells divine in the evening also.

Ligularia is an underused perennial. Its daisly-like gold flowers bloom in the mid summer.  The leaves are a deep green with a burgundy tinge and are huge.

We hollowed out this birch log to fill with flowers last summer for my daughter's wedding. This spring, we brought it outside and thought- why not? So, we planted it with ferns and placed it under the dappled shade of the lilacs.

I wish you a happy weekend!

If only you could smell this gardenia with me!

Don't forget to join me next week for my 100th post!

I'll be giving away a hydrangea wreath with the hydrangeas from my garden. I have been picking them daily and filling up all available vases with the blooms to dry them. I am running out of room!

Thank you, Cindy, at My Romantic Home, for Show & Tell Friday.

Thank you, Jessica, at A Few of My Favorite Things, for Favorite Things Friday. 

Thank you, Artie at Color Outside the Lines for Vignette Friday.

I wish you could smell these!

Today was a day to celebrate!

orange blossoms

We took our citrus, gardenia and fig trees out of "winter storage" in a partially heated warehouse and the lemon trees are full of incredibly fragrant blossoms. There is nothing quite like the actual scent of the citrus blooms. I've not yet smelled a perfume that accurately captures it. I wish I could say that we stored them in our orangerie,

in a future life!

but they survived the cold of an Ohio winter in a 50 degree warehouse with lots of windows and natural light.

One end of the messy studio warehouse, but with great light! This table is receiving a rabbit skin gesso base before it is finished with paint and gold leaf.

We have Meyer lemon, grapefruit, kumquat and regular lemon trees, as well as five fig trees that began life as cuttings from the original tree from Sicily. The gardenia topiaries are about 6' in diameter and are at least ten feet tall. They produce several flushes of gardenias which my hubbie uses for wedding bouquets and the like. Either you love or hate the gardenia scent; I am one who loves to smell them on a warm summer evening.

 orange tree in right foregound, fig tree in left background with the big leaves

I am sure if you live in California or Florida, it would not be quite so special. But up north, these scents are to be treasured!