In a vase on Monday: whether the weather

Tags

Allium Purple Sensation, Anthriscus sylvestris, Aquilegias, cerinthe major purpurascens, columbines, cow parsley, early summer flowers, Geum Totally Tangerine, Hebe hulkeana, Honeywort, in a vase on Monday, Iris Sibirica, New Zealand lilac

In a vase

How glorious the weather was on Friday and Saturday. Clear blue skies, not a breath of wind, balmy temperatures. The lanes around me are quiet and have been since lockdown. No sounds shouting over the birdsong. Bliss. Delivery drivers continuing their work dash through avoiding the numerous cyclists, the regulars in spray-on Lycra, the lockdown cyclists making the most of the quiet lanes, wobbling and weaving two or three abreast.

The chance to enjoy the weather, to sit in the sunshine, to have time to savour the pleasure of a peaceful breakfast outside. This is what summer should be like. If only it would last.

This morning is windy and cool and the forecast is for overnight temperatures falling to 1 degree. This is disappointing. Too cold for the newly emerged seedlings. Potentially burning new foliage and petals.

This vase was picked on Saturday to dress the table outside. Above is the NZ Lilac a delicate lilac colour but without the scent of real lilac. Geum Totally Tangerine is flowering profusely and hopefully it will continue throughout the summer months. A head of Allium Purple Sensation almost a common sight in gardens now but still offers much to be admired.

Iris sibirica

There is a single Iris which I am enjoying very much. The three 1L pots I planted two years ago have clumped up sufficiently for me to snip one or two for a vase. The froth of white is cow parsley. There are purple columbines, Aquilegias. I am pleased to see that this year they have taken themselves to all corners of the garden and are even in the bark chippings between the raised beds.

Cerinthe

The exotic Cerinthe, Honeywort, a rather glaucous and pleasing mix of greens to deep purple, are another favourite of mine. They too have self seeded a short distance from where I originally planted seed.

Now inside the house, these flowers I picked on Saturday are still looking perky. Close up I love the orange of the Geum outshining the yellow of the Iris.

Thank you Cathy for hosting. Have a great week, wherever you are and thanks for reading. D.

Six on Saturday: 9 May 2020

Tags

Allium Purple Sensation, Allium shubertii, digitalis, foxgloves, geranium macorrhizum, Iris Sibirica, six on saturday

May is a month of great promise. It is also a phenomenally busy month. Perhaps I should rephrase that, a busy month for growing plants. Tender plants are desperate to get outside yet sudden cold nights could kill them off. Consequently there is a seemingly perpetual motion of succulents between the house and the garden.

The same can be said for pelargoniums and any other bedding plants. They need to be growing, given space, soil and light but the nights might burn them. Inside they remain for a few more weeks.

Half hardy annuals can be hardened off before going into the ground. There is watering to be done, grass to be cut and never ending weeding. The weeds are loving the warming soil, the lengthening daylight hours and it is good practice to keep on top of the blighters before they set seed.

In between all the shuffling of plants I am taking time to look at what is happening all on its own. Just growing quietly, flowering or budding these are my six to share with you and our host The Propagator this week.

Fantastic Foxgloves

I hope that these are white foxgloves as I cast some seed a couple of years ago. How eager they look, reaching up and up to the sunshine.

Allium schubertii

I purchased three, yes three fat bulbs, three years ago. I seem to remember they cost about £7 which seemed rather a lot for just three bulbs. Yet what great value they turned out to be as I have three magnificent, bonkers flowers coming again.

Allium Purple Sensation

Alliums have rather ugly leaves which get tatty and brown. The flower heads are loved by everyone. Grown in between shrubs such as Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ the leaves are not seen and the flower heads stand clear above the foliage ready to be admired.

Pink ground cover

Ground cover can be tricky when creating a new border. The geranium family are one of my favourite, go to ground cover plants. The pink flowers here are small and insignificant but en masse they dominate the soil between the line of Euphorbia amygdaloides purpurea and and Aquilegias. This is Geranium macorrhizum It copes with my heavy clay soil very well.

Iris sibirica

Another happy plant is Iris sibirica. These were tight buds as recently as yesterday but the warm sunshine has encouraged them to open. I would have liked them to have staggered the opening so that I might enjoy them for a little longer. No matter, I am enjoying them now.

Iris

This Iris was a gift from Sandra. I am so thrilled to have this beauty in the garden. I adore its colour and markings and it too has opened today in this incredibly lovely weather.

Zebra stripes and rainbow shades

These are my six to share this Saturday. I hope you have a wonderful weekend wherever you are. Thanks for reading. D.

Six on Saturday: 2 May 2020

Tags

Allium Purple Sensation, asiatic lilies, buxus, Cercis canadensis, Foeniculum vulgare purpureum, Forest pansy, forget me nots, Hebe hulkeana, May, myosotis sylvatica, New Zealand lilac, Purple fennel, Sambucus Nigra, six on saturday, Sweet cicely, Thalictrum Elin

Forget me not

Do you feel a little bit like I am feeling? I feel as though we didn’t really ‘have’ an April. The days and weeks of lockdown are merging and although we did have some standout weather, we strangely haven’t been anywhere or seen anyone. It might be that May is going to be the same. Weird.

That said, the garden is making rapid progress now. The warm weather, the rain and longer daylight hours are creating a massive growth spurt. If we were going places and seeing people we might have missed the detail of this happening. My six today reflect the changes.

Above is a carpet of forget me nots, drifting across the ground, encircling the box ball ( loosely ball shape). By next week they will need ripping out as they begin to set seed. The space they leave behind will be perfect for annuals.

New Zealand Lilac and fennel

The fennel has doubled in size since last week and the NZ Lilac which is not a lilac at all is starting to open. It has no scent to enjoy which is disappointing but it’s flowers are very pretty.

Sweet cicely, purple cow parsley, flowering Thalictrum and Sambucus

The froth from umbellifers has filled out more. The Thalictrum has opened its pinky flowers and the sweet cicely has opened more flowers. The dark divided foliage of the Sambucus is contrasting in a pleasing fashion with the divided foliage of the the green and white sweet cicely.

Emerging lilies

I really like the dark pointy leaves on the spines of lilies. These flower well each year and are a very very dark maroon lily. On the lookout for the orange lily beetle so far so good.

Alliums are opening offering purple clusters of star shaped flowers to make a globe. They are a splash of interest, a layer of colour after the tulips and before the Hydrangeas flower.

Looking through to the seating area

Looking through the emerging red heart shaped foliage of the Forest Pansy. My favourite shrub/tree. It’s petals dropped in the rain but still the beautiful foliage is emerging.

These are my six for this Saturday joining our host The Propagator and other bloggers from around the globe.

Have a good week wherever you are. Stay safe and thanks for reading. D.

Six on Saturday: kaleidoscope

Tags

Allium christophii, Allium Purple Sensation, Allium shubertii, Astrantia 'Roma', calendula, cytisus battandieri, Eschscholzia, marigolds, papaver Perry’s White, Rose 'Gertrude Jekyll', Sambucus Nigra, six on saturday

Orange.

Hello June, goodbye May. The garden has exploded into a kaleidoscope of colour. Above is the first of my Six on Saturday. Eschscholzia. They are self sown from last year and have popped up in drifts. I couldn’t have created this show if I had tried.

Marigolds.

The Propagator asks us to share six sights from our garden on a Saturday, a fun thing to do. Try and join us. His blog has any instructions you might need. My Six today are colour themed.

2. Purple

Of course it had to be Allium Purple Sensation. Old hat maybe but still a great colour.

Aliium christophii

Allium shubertii

3. Pink

The first rose to open is the strongly scented Gertrude Jekyll. If she wasn’t so thorny she would be perfect.

Astrantia Roma

4. Yellow

The pineapple scented Cytisus battandieri. I do not favour yellow in my garden but I enjoy this for its scent and silver foliage rather than its colour.

5. Black

Less black more deep claret to be honest. One of my favourite shrubs, Sambucus niger.

Just look at those dark leaves.

6. White

Perennial poppies this one is perhaps Perrys white. Shining and clear. Here’s a thing, before the marigolds and Eschscholzia did their thing I was planning a white planting show. Hey ho, there’s always next year.

Wishing you all a great weekend. Enjoy this summer weather. D.

In a vase on Monday: everything but the sink

Tags

Allium Purple Sensation, Anthriscus sylvestris ravenswing, cerinthe major, Geum "Mrs Bradshaw", Geum Totally Tangerine, in a vase on Monday, Iris Sibirica

Everything is here. Cerinthe, Geum Mrs Bradshaw, Geum Torally Tangerine, Iris sibirica, Allium Purple sensation, Anthriscus sylvestris Ravenswing. A mad mix , just like the borders.

Chosen plants but not necessarily where I planted them. Cerinthe is self sown. Anthriscus is self sown. Geums have shrunk and then popped up nearby. I love this about these plants. With this in mind I did not want to arrange them in the vase.

So this as random as they appear in the garden.

That’s it. A collection of flowers from the garden to share with you and Our host, Cathy. Hoping you had an enjoyable Monday. D.

Six on Saturday: favourites

Tags

Allium Purple Sensation, cerinthe, Eschscholzia californium, euphorbia griffithii Dixter, hebe hulkanea, Iris Sibirica, New Zealand lilac, six on saturday

Good morning. I am joining The Propagator with a quick six, favourite sights in my garden.

First is a shrub I purchased from a garden in Winslow. A family were about to complete the sale of their late mothers house. A developer had purchased the property and the place was about to lose its garden to concrete and brick. The family invited Winslow & District gardening society their local garden group, to attend at a certain hour on a given day to dig up plants from the garden for a donation in aid of their chosen charity.

You can imagine the scene as gardeners in anoraks, armed with trowels and garden forks arrived. Hellebores, snowdrops, ferns were the main plants of interest. A polite-ish dig-up began.

Whilst the garden was under siege, I got talking to a lady who turned out to have been the owners longterm carer. She handed me a scraggy shrub in a pot. Take this for your garden, it is something special, I cannot remember what but I always had to pay particular attention to watering it. Inwardly thinking, yuck that looks dreadful, I politely accepted it and made a donation of £5.

I planted it in the ground in about February this year. Clearly delighted to have space to send its roots, it is now flowering happily.

It is New Zealand lilac, Hebe hulkeana or right now, Happy Hebe.

2 .

This is the outlook from my chair where I enjoy my morning coffee. Purple Cerinthe in the foreground with masses of Eschscholzia poppies behind. These are all self sown. Bargain.

3.

These may not have been fashionable at Chelsea this year but I don’t care, I still love Allium purple sensation.

4.

The border in morning light before the sun gets to it. The contrast of green with the dark burnt orange from Euphorbia griffithii Dixter.

5.

I have always admired Iris sibirica for its royal colour and neat form, somehow refined. I planted these last year and am delighted to see they made it.

6. Another view of a different part of the border.

Again before the sun reaches it, this is a pleasing gentle froth of green, pink and white. Persicaria bistorta, Anthriscus sylvestris Ravenswing and Thalictrum Elin.

Wishing you an enjoyable long weekend, wherever you are. D.

In a vase on Monday: hedgerows and bonnets

Tags

Allium Purple Sensation, Anthriscus sylvestris, Anthriscus sylvestris ravenswing, Aquilegia, Borago officinalis, cerinthe major purpurascens, Hebe hulkeanea, hedgerows and bonnets, in a vase on Monday, New Zealand lilac, persicaria bistorta, Sweet cicely, Thalictrum Elin

From the title, some of you may immediately know what I am going to have in today’s vase: Cow Parsley and Aquilegia. You are not wrong.

A froth of cow parsley in its own cream pot.

Shades of purple bonnets from Aquilegia in the tiny cream pot sharing space with Cerinthe.

In a separate old syrup of fig bottle is stand alone Allium Purple Sensation. Too stylised a form to share space with the froth.

In the fourth vessel, another old cream pot is a mix of blue starred Borage, Anthriscus sylvestris Ravenswing which is, most certainly, a refined form of cow parsley blessed with burgundy stems.

There is yet more Cerinthe which is having a bumper bloom. There are candy floss pink sticks of Persicaria bisorta. The taller purple flowers are from Thalictrum Elin and the whiter froth is from Sweet cicely.

If you look carefully, there is also the just about to open, lilac coloured sprig of Hebe hulkeana or New Zealand lilac. This is the first time it has flowered.

A complete contrast to my green and white effort Last week.

Please now take a look at Our host Cathy to see her vase and those from other bloggers all over the garden world.

Have a great week and thanks for reading. D.

Silent Sunday: arrivals

Tags

Allium Purple Sensation, May, Silent Sunday, Spring flowers

Alliums have arrived

Tuesday view: 30/5/17

Tags

Allium Purple Sensation, Astrantia 'Roma', cement mixer, David Austin Roses, Geum Totally Tangerine, Tuesday View

Sorry but today the view is this:

I suppose it does coordinate with the geums? Anyway, I must just ask how on earth can it be almost the end of May? Perhaps it is because I am fast approaching old duffer status or perhaps it is just that this time of year is so busy in the garden.

Heavy rain followed by bursts of warm sunshine and everything is growing like crazy.  The grass needs cutting, hedges need trimming, topiary needs clipping and the weeds need pulling out before they take over. ‘Boring’, I hear you cry, boring indeed but essential if I am to stop the garden reverting to a field.

thistles and buttercups

As I walk around I feel like shouting ‘hold on’ let me just look a minute.

Everything is looking healthy, granted, but there is a lot of upheaval as Rian and his team are putting in a path and patio for me.  The final section of the plan is coming together which is exciting however there is that feeling that the garden is not mine whilst sand, cement mixers and shovels dominate the space.

stuff

Yet things are happening in a pretty way too.  The Alliums are coming to their end yet it seems only a few weeks ago since I placed the bulbs carefully in the soil.

Allium Purple Sensation

Roses are beginning to open their soft delicate petals and I am looking forward to working in their midst to breathe in their wonderful perfume.

Rose Gertrude Jekyll

The pincushion like flowers of Astrantia are open and should be flowering now for most of the Summer.

Astrantia Roma and visiting bee

That is it for today’s view,  a blocked view thanks to the builders essential stuff. Not for long and it will be lovely to have the work completed.  For a more tranquil view today take a look at the view belonging to cathy the host of this meme.

Totally Not forgetting Geum Totally Tangerine

 

Tuesday View: 25/4/17

Tags

Allium Purple Sensation, Allium siculum, apple blossom, euphorbia griffithii Dixter, Geum "Mrs Bradshaw", Narcissus Thalia, Tuesday View

Today the view is still about the apple blossom but as I took this picture, petals were beginning to fall. 

The forecast for later today is a cold wind from the North and possibly even showers of hailstones or sleet. I suspect by tomorrow the blossom will be on the ground, gone for another year. Blossom is so fleeting, perhaps that is why we all love it so.

As one plant ends its show of petals, others are getting ready to bloom. 

Geum ‘Mrs Bradshaw’

Allium siculum 

Allium ‘Purple Sensation’ behind new foliage of Rose Gertrude Jekyll.

Some plants are still blooming such as Narcissus Thalia, showing white in the background and Camellia.

Spring is when Euphorbias are at their best including this Euphorbia griffithii Dixter. I love the strength of colour. This was planted less 18 months ago and it is bulking up nicely. 

Cathy is host of the ‘Tuesday View’ why not join us? Share your view with us linking back to Cathy. It is a really useful record of what is happening in the garden week by week. 
Finally the view

The Ash tree on the right has yet to open. I should take a look at the Oak to see where they are. You know what that might mean? 

“Ash before oak we’ll get a soak” but, “Oak before Ash we’ll get a splash.”  There you have it, fully scientific based predictions. Right I am off to read my horoscopes next. 😉