When we first started to make a garden, money was tight and so we had a rule. Everything we bought had to be evergreen or edible, it had to earn its keep and preferably be pretty too.  Of course I snuck in a few flowers begged, borrowed and stole (yes, hands up, I used to nip soft cuttings from National Trust gardens and seed heads from the park) to fill the gaps with much needed colour. The one concession I was allowed was to grow sweet peas, I’ve always loved them and the first year we were together I think I got away with it because Mr T thought they were edible! I love the smell that greets you when you walk into a room full of freshly cut garden flowers. At the moment we have pinks, which are almost intoxicating, even the teen asked if I had new perfume.

In the last couple of years I’ve begun to cultivate a cutting garden, an area hidden from view of the house where I just grow flowers for the joy of bringing inside. There’s not much to beat going out into the garden and cutting a big bunch of flowers for yourself, or as a gift. For the last week, there have been too many flowers to fill my tiny collection of vases, which led me to ask the question on facebook: Can you have a glut of sweet peas? My beautiful friend Andrea replied with her usual wisdom:

there are not enough sweet peas in the World to be too many……gorgeous gorgeous…scoop them up and put them everywhere

I did as I was told and have filled jam jars, milk bottles, whisky bottles  … you name it I’ve stuffed  it with flowers and while I peel the home grown veg for tea, the smell fills me with joy.