I decided to put together a small vase of spring flowers this week. The big surprise was the wonderful fragrance generated by a combination of four flowers I selected from the garden. Mmmm, I thought, I would wear this as perfume. This led me to a very ancient bottle of Chanel No. 5 my father gave me decades ago that lives on. My mother, in all her Greatest Generation glory, considered this her signature scent. It is a bit, sweet? for me. I can’t quite put my finger on it, though I did try to grow a Ylang Ylang tree in my garden, the main fragrance component of Chanel No. 5. The YY tree expired, but I don’t think this bottle of perfume has!
The purple flowers are Agastache, I have no idea what variety. These have a lemony scent and are doing quite well in a container. These are new to the garden. A few Genovese basil flowers and White Flame Salvia are adding their white flowers and herbal scents.
The Giant Dianthus in pinks adds a clove fragrance to the mix. It seems lemony, herbal, clove may be my signature scent! I love it. A few snips of purple and silver foliage from Inch Plant (Transcandentia zebrina) were added for color.
The blue glass container is an heirloom from a collection my in-laws had. I am not sure what it is. A giant shot glass?
Happy Spring Monday to all and thank you to Cathy for hosting IAVOM every week! Follow the link ramblinginthegarden to visit Cathy and see more vases.
The Shrub Queen 
Some fave flowers in your vase that I have actually grown. A spring beauty and I bet the scent is incredible.
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Thank you. I love the spring colors.
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Chanel #5 was my mother’s fragrance! I got her last bottle of it here. I have no idea of what to do with it, but it is here. My niece does not wear it. It will likely be here forever. It is the most stylish fragrance in the history of the Universe!
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I think so. My mother always arrived in a cloud of Chanel.
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It was the time.
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All the colors make a nice spring vase. I guess it’s a plus that they smell good.
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It must be a wonderful scent from the flowers.
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Oooo, that’s really lovely, and I’m imagining the scent now… The Agastache really adds character to the arrangement.
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Thank you, I like the Agastache and wish I had more!
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Very pretty! This sounds like a pleasing scented vase to me. I love a citrusy, clove and herbal scent. I like ‘lower’ earthy tones, rather ‘higher’ flowery ones.
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Thanks, Eliza – I agree Gardenia scents bowl me over.
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Your vase is beautiful! #5 was also my mom’s scent – I gave her at least two bottles when I was much much younger! There is a Viburnum – V. carlesii – with flowers that also have a delicious clove scent…they should be blooming near the beginning of May here.
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Thanks, Chris. That seems to be a common thread, Mom and Chanel. I think you can get better types of Viburnum up north.
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Another fabulous color mix, Amelia! I wish you could include a whiff of the scent with your post 😉
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Thanks, Kris. Scratch and sniff would be great here.
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Congratulations on the theme and content of your vase this week Kris. I had not realised that No 5 was based on Ylang Ylang. I love the scent of that tree, and also used to wear No 5 when I was just starting off as a young woman.
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Thanks, Noelle. Chanel seems to be popular among the bloggers…
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Love the colours and idea of the scent of your vase.
Cloves bring back memories of a childhood holiday in Wales (where I bought a pomander that smelt mostly of that spice. I subsequently shook it to sniff it every time I opened my wardrobe door 🙂 ). Never was too keen on Chanel no 5 though!
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Thank you, I remember orange clove pomander balls.
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Your vase wowed me this week! It is gorgeous! I only wish I could smell it. The Agastache looks quite delicate and I am pleased to see your Dianthus is still going strong. I used to love Chanel No.5 but at some stage I felt it didn’t suit me any more. Just as well at the price of it! Whenever I smell it it brings back so many memories… LOL!
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Thanks, Cathy. It is funny how fragrance jars the memory. I will always think of my mother when I catch a whiff of Chanel.
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Love the title today, very clever! And there are those giant dianthus again which I always admire when I see them in a vase. It’s difficult to describe scents, I find – some you expect to be appealing can turn out to be rather horrid, and vice-versa! I definitely adore the pink and mauve colour combination of your vase this week, which are two of my favourite flower colours to have in the garden.
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Thank you, Joanne. I love pinks and mauves in spring here, summertime the sun is too intense for those colors.
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I love your vase, but when I saw the Agastache, I said, “Oh no!” It reminded me that this year I forgot to sow some in advance of planting out in the garden. I sure hope I can find some somewhere to purchase, or perhaps plant some late for Autumn.
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That’s my first Agastache and I 💕 it.
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