A week of flowers : Day 5

Tags

a week of flowers, Bees, butterflies

Cathy of Words and Herbs has presented a challenge to cheer us all up:

From Sunday the 22nd through to Saturday the 28th let’s share a photo a day (or more than one if you like) of our flowers and gardens and brighten up this dreary time.”

Aster with Comma

Leucanthemella and Red Admiral

Buddlea and Red Admiral

Bee and echinacea

Day 5 flowers with butterflies and bees. A super cheerful sight.

Click the link above to see more cheerful floral photos. 🌞D.

A week of flowers: day 4

Tags

a week of flowers, aconite, Coreopsis moonbeam, courgette flower, Eschscholzia, marigolds, Rudbeckia, squashes, tulips

Cathy of Words and Herbs has presented a challenge to cheer us all up:

From Sunday the 22nd through to Saturday the 28th let’s share a photo a day (or more than one if you like) of our flowers and gardens and brighten up this dreary time.”

Aconite carpet

Tulips Brown sugar and Ballerina

Rudbeckia

Eschscholzia

Coreopsis moonbeam

Courgette flower

Squashes and sunshine

Celebrating

Marigolds

The garlands of marigolds were at the entrance to a hotel where a wedding was underway. Aren’t they fabulous.

Click the link above to see more cheerful floral photos. 🌞D.

A week of flowers : day 3

Tags

a week of flowers, echinacea, Nerine, seeet peas

Cathy of Words and Herbs has presented a challenge to cheer us all up:

“From Sunday the 22nd through to Saturday the 28th let’s share a photo a day (or more than one if you like) of our flowers and gardens and brighten up this dreary time.”

Echinacea

Sweet peas

Nerine (at Harlow Carr)

Today, day three I am sharing the strongest pinks I could find in my back catalogue of snaps.

Click the link above to see more cheerful floral photos. 🌞D.

Six on Saturday: 7/11/20

Tags

Aster, aster lateriflorus Lady in Black, Autumn, Cercis canadensis, David Austin Roses, Forest pansy, frost, penstemon garnet, rose Brother Cadfael, six on saturday, tree work

Here we are, blogging from the confines of the second Lockdown, sharing our six from our gardens with you and our host The Propagator

We have had a couple of proper frosts this week and the garden has dropped leaves, the dahlias have blackened. Last week I shared Harlow Carr with you, this week I am back in my own garden, observing the last gasps of Autumn.

Penstemon Garnet

Penstemon are borderline hardy in my heavy clay soil. These are growing in a raised bed to aid drainage and here they thrive. The richness of the jewel like colour is a tonic on grey days of Autumn. I do not dead head these, or tidy them up for winter. I leave all the top growth, no matter how unsightly they become, only cutting back once new growth is emerging and the frost risk has passed. As extra security I take a few cuttings which usually strike very easily.

Aster lateriflorus Lady in Black

I planted a row of these asters to form an informal edge to the path. By midsummer the foliage is dark, almost black and looks strikingly handsome, repeating the darker foliage of Cercis canadensis and Sambucus Black Lace nearby. By Late Autumn they open zillions of tiny daisy like asters , creating a haze of flowers. A real sight when everything else is bowing out.

Aster lateriflorus Lady in Black

I mention the Forest Pansy so often I realise and that is because it gives such beauty. Here it is again.

Forest Pansy detail

Forest Pansy Cercis canadensis

Gardens are beginning to take on their winter scene and it is a good time to asses the parts you might want to change.

Garden scene

There are leaves to clear, roses to prune to protect against wind rock which is a big concern on my exposed garden. There are still roses but now the frost has touched them I shall prune them hard.

Rose Brother Cadfael earlier this week

Lastly I will share some Autumn images taken at the garden where I work. Tree work has begun and on milder days mulching is order of the day.

Tree work can begin.

I hope you can have a great weekend in your garden wherever you are and thanks for reading. D.

Six on Saturday: RHS Harlow Carr

Tags

Autumn, exotic garden, Garden Visits, Japanese maples, North Yorkshire, RHS Harlow Carr, six on saturday

I managed to visit Harlow Carr for the first time this week. The weather was chilly and there were some short sharp showers, but as you know, us gardeners are undeterred by weather.

The place was reasonably busy thanks to half term holidays but as it is spread over a significant site it did not feel crowded a key concern at this time.

Harlow Carr

The six I am sharing this week with lovely you and our host The Propagator are my highlights from the garden at RHS Harlow Carr.

Standout foliage of Bergenia and Maple

I love this image, the ruby red of the fallen maple leaf looks so vivid against the emerald rich green of the Bergenia.

2. The trees at Harlow Carr are exceptionally beautiful at this time of the year thanks to Japanese Maples and Liquidambar. The variation in colour and texture is incredible. I don’t think I have ever seen so many varieties at this the peak of their Autumn season.

Planted at key points around the garden the foliage literally sings out.

3. Outside the booth for Bettys’s Tearooms there was a fun cage for leaf collecting.

(Tea) leaf collection

4. There is a vegetable garden area which is as you would expect is an arrangement of raised beds and veg but the part I really liked was a bobbly hedge of Malus Evereste. This looked very attractive.

Bobbly Hedge

5. In a corner there is a lovely Exotic garden full of luscious leaves and bright shining dahlias.

Dahlia, Canna and Salvia

Pink dahlia and Melianthus

6. Around a beautiful tree is a circle of hedges of yew and an exquisite bench.

Circular rings around the tree

Yew hedges hugging around the tree

I love how the hedges enclose the area around the tree. The beautiful bench around the mighty trunk, the views enclosing and opening the surrounding garden, as if protecting the tree.

My six from Harlow Carr. I hope liked this snap shot. Have a great weekend wherever you are and thanks for reading. D.

Wordless Wednesday: 21 October 2020

Tags

Acer palmatum, Autumn colour, japanese maple, wordless wednesday

A little ray of sunshine

Silent Sunday: 18 October 2020

Tags

Silent Sunday, the sculpture park

The sculpture park

The sculpture park

The sculpture park

In a vase on Monday: 12 October 2020

Tags

aster lateriflorus Lady in Black, Calamagrostis brachytricha, Dahlia Bishop of Auckland, dahlia Downham Royal, in a vase on Monday, penstemon garnet

Hello Cathy and good morning reader. It is a while since I got myself organised enough to put a vase together for this delightful Monday meme and here it is.

In a vase on Monday

There are dahlias and grasses and the prettiest Aster.

Prettiest aster

This is Aster lateriflorus Lady in Black. Plum coloured aster type foliage on to which, in the middle of October, burst thousands of tiny daisies. A great display very late in the garden year.

Rich dahlias and penstemon

These dahlias, Downham Royal, Bishop of Auckland, and penstemon Garnet are flowering happily and will continue to do so until the first frost arrives. I hope that frosty days will not be here for a while yet but who knows, the weather this year has been extremely different.

Grasses are glorious this time of year and this is a favourite of mine.

In a vase on Monday

This is Calamagrostis brachytricha and it looks splendid at this time of the year. The seed heads are a pink tone which catches and holds any moisture, dew or rain, making a delightful sight.

Calamagrostis brachytricha

What else can I tell you? It is definitely Autumn out there and the nights are drawing in rapidly. The virus might be driving us all to distraction but a really good distraction is outside and in our gardens. Let’s celebrate our gardens and rather than lamenting summers passing we should try to enjoy the changing seasons, picking flowers, fruits, vegetables and foliage while we can. Taking part in this Monday vase meme is a good way to do this. Join in, make a link back to our host Cathy and share your vase with bloggers around the globe.

Have a great week wherever you are and thanks for reading. D.

Six on Saturday: 3 October 2020

Tags

Aeoniums, amelanchier, Helianthus salicifolius, Leucanthemella, Rudbeckia, six on saturday, Succulents, Verbena bonariensis

That was September

Into October and how the weather has changed. Deluge from Friday and for days to follow. Ghastly gardening conditions but thankfully mild overnight. Flowers will continue although most of us are unlikely to want to venture out to see them. My six were taken on Thursday, a dry day which already seems a distant memory.

Joining our host The Propagator

Leucanthemella

These are such good flowers, I cannot recommend them highly enough. Tall daisies, late flowering and fresh as, well, as a daisy. No staking needed. The funny thing is that they are facing towards the light and are looking away from the garden towards the fence!

Amelanchier

This is Amelanchier turning-to Autumn colour. A good reason to find space for one, that and the early spring blossom.

Rudbeckia

These bright yellow daisy types are great for autumn interest. Vivid yellow petals but these do need staking on my rich soil. A good back of border perennial, shown here against the backdrop of the woven willow fence.

Now is a good time to put all succulents in the dry. Actually with this weather they should already be under cover, a sunny garden room, window cill or a greenhouse is ideal. They dislike our winter wet and will not survive a frost. Mine are now in the cold frame until it gets very cold when I shall bring them indoors. Mollycoddling very necessary.

I grow the willow leaf sunflower this for its bonkers foliage and height. I do not like the flowers and generally dead head them however next week, I have a National Garden Scheme, by appointment, visit. I shall allow them to beam. I’m all heart.

Verbena bonariensis. You know it. You grow it. It’s everywhere.

At this time of year it’s an invaluable blast of colour.

That’s it. Have a good weekend wherever you are and thanks for reading. D.

Six on Saturday: 19 September 20

Tags

Aeoniums, Catalpa bignoides pulverulentum, crimson glory vine, Leucanthemella, penstemon, sanguisorba canadensis, six on saturday, Stipa Calamagrostis, Verbena bonariensis, Vitis coignetiae

There has been some beautiful weather here this week but noticeably the evening light is dropping sharply by about 1900hrs. Consequently the temperature has dropped sharply overnight. As a result the mornings are dewy and the light is just plain lovely.

My six to share with you lovely readers and our host The Propagator are snapshots of the garden in the autumnal light.

Morning light with Verbena

Sunlight warming the wall with Vitis coignetiae

Shafts of light on the yet to open Leucanthemella

White penstemon illuminated in the sunlight

Foliage of variegated Indian bean tree
Catalpa bignoides pulverulentum

Still plenty of colour from the white Sanguisorba canadensis,, Verbena, Rose A Shropshire Lad, and the pink from the plant formerly known as, Sedum Autumn Joy

The incredibly beautiful Aeonium

Drifts of fluffy Stipa Calamagrostis

More than six this week but I’ve kept the narrative to a minimum, hoping that’s allowed.

Have a great weekend wherever you are and thanks for reading. D.