I found these lovely sweet peas growing in the 'parking lot garden' at the Duluth Grill, an organic, homemade-food diner where the wait staff can be seen wearing t-shirts that say: organic food from our parking lot.

My favorite shade of red too. More favorite reds at Mary's meme Ruby Tuesday.

sweet prophecy of welcome

Just when I think I have a grip on summer trying to slip through my fingers, what should appear but one true red sweet pea. These are the variety, 'Erica's Favorite' which I try to grow each year in Dr. Erica's honor. This summer they have outdone themselves! Of course I am never able to quite capture this red but it makes me smile anyway. Sweet peas are my connection to my Italian heritage and in particular my dad who loved them. He didn't always love me but we could agree on our affection for their fragrance and unique blooms. So I tip my trowel to sweet peas and Today's Flowers where you can drink in fragrant flowers from all over the world.

Happy Monday!

"The Sweet Pea has a keel that was meant to seek all shores;

it has wings that were meant to fly across all continents;

it has a standard which is friendly to all nations;

and it has a fragrance like the universal gospel,

yea, a sweet prophecy of welcome everywhere that has been abundantly fulfilled"

- Rev. W. T. Hutchins 1900 (At the Sweet Pea Bi-centenary Celebration)

Seasonal memories

Why I'm missing summer . . .

Sweetpeas [Erica's Favorite variety] from a past life. Every season is welcome!

See more beauty at Today's Flowers, a nice way to start this busy week. Happy Monday!

Sweet peas and Pasternak

After Monday's day of reflection, Tuesday arrives ready to put some zing into our week. This photo is of scarlet sweet peas--my absolute favorite scented flower--I grew a couple of seasons ago.

Visit Mary's meme, Ruby Tuesday, for more r.e.d.

"Poetry is a rich, full-bodied whistle, cracked ice crunching in pails, the
night that numbs the leaf, the duel of two nightingales, the sweet pea that has
run wild, Creation's tears in shoulder blades.”
Boris Pasternak

All the sweetness

[please enlarge for better glimpse]

Today I'm dreaming of the delicious fragrance of sweet peas--which, along with the heady aroma of honeysuckle vines, I wish came distilled in a spray bottle for winter wear. These photos are from my first two seasons in our apartment when I actually had success growing these lovely flowers, believed to have first been spotted in Sicily by Franciscan monk named Francisco Cupani . The pink & blues were called Erica's Choice and I've forgotten the red's except for their perfect blue-red hues.

Here are sweet peas, on tiptoe for a flight
With wings of gentle flush o'er delicate white
And taper fingers clutching at all things,
To bind them all about with tiny rings.
John Keats

Visit Today's Flowers for more virtual bouquets.
Happy Monday!