In a vase on Monday: inspirational Kew

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Allium christophii Astrantia major, Bees, Dale Chihuly, garden visit, in a vase on Monday, royal Botanic gardens Kew, the Hive, Wolfgang Buttress

Good morning. I spent a very enjoyable day at Kew Gardens yesterday. The weather held and the gardens looked as ever, glorious. The spectacular grounds are currently hosting an extraordinary selection of glassworks by Dale Chihuly .

As an idea of scale this orange piece is in front of the iconic glass house

‘Summer Sun’ Dale Chihuly

Rather like a mad medusa each single piece of blown glass twists and turns.

There are twelve pieces on display, all equally incredible.

‘Turquoise marlins’ Dale Chihuly

I love how the organic shape mimics the twisting trunk and branches of the tree.

Another great sight is The Hive an incredible 17m installation by Wolfgang Buttress. Built as a visual tribute to British bees. Read all about it on the link above.

The aluminium structure is a thing of beauty and made me think of the structure of Allium christophii which are in flower right now.

The shadows of Allium christophii in my Monday vase.

Allium christophii even the colour is slightly metallic. Joining our lovely host Cathy with my Monday vase.

Added to my Allium are Cerinthe, Astrantias, Geum Totally Tangerine and blue cornflowers.

Take a look at some of the other vases on Cathys blog, link above. If you haven’t been to Kew recently, or ever, I suggest you go, it will not disappoint.

Have a good week, wherever you are and thank you for reading. D.

Chelsea flower show

Tags

alliums, Andy Sturgeon, Bees, Chelsea flower show. 2019, d-day75, garden visit, green switch, John Everiss Design, Tom Stuart-Smith

Sloane Square, ready. Sun shining, tick. May 21st, it must be the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

Alliums may not be top of the pops at the show this year but they are still number one for the bees.

Artisan gardens are hugely popular. Green Switch by Kazuyuji Ishihara rightly achieved an eleventh gold and drew the crowds.

Glorious acers and moss and room to park the motorcycle. A natural combination. Perhaps. The planting is exquisite.

The garden created by Tom Stuart Smith for RHS Bridgwater Garden, Salford Greater Manchester was full of wonderful planting combinations. Supposedly highlights of the 154 acre garden to be completed in 2020 this will most certainly be worth a visit.

Cornus kousa

The show gardens are covered in great detail by the BBC. I found their coverage somewhat obtrusive today.

Sure the film crews have a job to do but actually they were in the way on several gardens we were trying to view. RHS you seem to have forgotten that the paying public want to see the gardens not the back of the camera man and his equipment.

The D-Day 75 garden was a poignant tribute to the last surviving Normandy veterans. I am not sure if it has had any coverage. Designed by John Everiss it is hoped that the garden can be rebuilt on a site above Arromanches by 6/6/19 as a tribute to the veterans who now are approaching 100 years of age. DDay 75 is the link to the crowdfunding page.

M&G investments are once again sponsors of this years Show. Their garden by designer Andy Sturgeon was masterful. Described as green planting, I rather liked some of these planting combinations.

A brief roundup of my visit. Lots of glorious sights.

To finish

Ah.

Good night. D.

Wordless Wednesday: cardoon, crazy busy

Tags

Ascott house, Bees, Cardoon, Cynara cardunculous, July, National Trust, purple, Rothschild, wordless wednesday

52 Week Photo Challenge: hunt

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52 Week Photo Challenge, Bees, blue, busy bees, hunt, Salvia nemorosa

Bees on the hunt for nectar, helping me fulfil this weeks photo challenge.  Sandra at https://daffodilwild.wordpress.com is one of the hosts for this meme.There will be lots of people out on the hunt.

I should not mind a bit of that sunshine, right now, or those bees or those blue salvia nemorosa.  No point hunting, we will have to wait until about May.

Wordless Wednesday: buzzing at Broughton Grange

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Bees, broughton grange, echinacea, garden visit, wordless wednesday

Wordless Wednesday: pulling in the bees

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Bees, blue, Salvia nemorosa, wordless Wednesdsy

Salvia nemorosa

Blue Bees, Bee Happy

Tags

Bees, honey, Salvia nemorosa

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been on the look out for local honey, to give to two hay-fever sufferers in my house. My daughter has had acute symptoms and several people have suggested a spoonful of local honey may help.  I tried the local health food shop and the Farm shop without success. Eventually I found some at the Farmers Market which came from Ashridge.  It is clear talking to people who have bee hives, that things are tough for them there bees. 

So today I was delighted to watch numerous bees hard at work.  

The plant is Salvia nemorosa or Balkan clary.  It is a small growing bushy type of salvia with aromatic leaves and deep blue flowers.  Grown at The House for its colour, it needs a sunny position on free draining thin soil, so thrives here on its chalky soil.

Anyway they just look delightful and I thought you might like to see them too. I would be interested to hear if any of you have had success with the spoon of honey treatment.