Six on Saturday: 21/11/21

Tags

Allium sphaerocephalon, buxus sempervivums, Calamagrostis brachytricha, Cercis canadensis, Forest pansy, Hornbeam, hydrangea arborescens Annabelle, Leucanthemella, six on saturday, stipa tenuissima, topiary box, tulips

Have you noticed how brown things have turned? My six today are mainly all a bit brown.

Hydrangea arborescens Annabelle

Starting with these, the remains of Hydrangea arborescens Annabelle, my first of the six I have to share with you and our host The Propagator .

As the ball heads dry out, they become delicate to the touch with a slight rustle to their sound. Gone may be the creamy lime green of summer but beautiful nonetheless. Last year I cut and then touched some of the flower heads with gold spray to make Christmas decorations. I thought they were rather pretty.

Hornbeam

The hedges of Hornbeam have taken on their winter form, curled brown leaves, crisp and pleated will remain throughout the winter before shedding in spring as the leaf buds begin to swell.

Leucanthemella

The daisies of Leucanthemella which I love so much have lost their fresh as a daisy look and are beginning an elegant shift into decay. The flower heads are dark brown, almost black, slightly bowed and the foliage is slowly fading from green to brown. The stems are holding up well and I shall leave them throughout winter to act as shelter for creatures and insects.

Cercis canadensis

The glorious red heart shape leaves of the forest pansy have gone. Dropped and bagged up with other leaf litter. All that is left is the bare, so bare branches of the tree. That is it until spring. Underneath, a mixed bag of 30 orange and yellow tulips have been planted, along with 25 Allium Sphaerocephalon, the burgundy drumstick allium.

Leucanthemella stems, box shape Box all mulched.

Not brown at all are the evergreen Box. Slowly growing and slowly beginning to take on the square form I am looking for. Topiary takes time, lots of time. Eventually these box shapes will create strong winter structure. What can I say, they’re getting there.

Golden brown Stipa tenuissima and Calamagrostis Brachytricha

I am slowly working my way around the raised beds, bulb planting, weeding and mulching, topping up the bark chippings on the pathway. These grasses are energised by a breeze and arguably look interesting all year round. A lighter shade of golden brown.

These are my six for this week. I hope you have a good weekend and thanks for reading wherever you are. D.

In a vase on Monday: not really marmalade

Tags

Alchemilla mollis, Calendula Indian Prince, calendula Oopsy Daisy, David Austin Roses, Fennel, Foeniculum vulgare, hydrangea arborescens Annabelle, in a vase on Monday, Rose "Lark Ascending", Rose The Pilgrim

A late Monday vase from me to share with you and our host Cathy. An old Dundee Marmalade pot, a frog and a bunch of gentle citrus coloured flowers. Citrus isn’t gentle, I hear you thinking and I know that, but these are shades of yellow orange and lime so work with me! Oh and the frog, in case you are wondering, is not an amphibian.

In the mix are lemons from Rose The Pilgrim, fennel, and limes from alchemilla mollis and Hydrangea Annabelle. Orange is in the form of Rose Lark Ascending and Calendula Oopsy Daisy and Indian Prince.

Yellow The Pilgrim

Lime alchemilla and orange Lark Ascending

Orange, lemon and lime
(Sort of)

The frog? Amphibious but not amphibian.

Ta dah

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

Silent Sunday: cushions

Tags

flower heads, hydrangea arborescens Annabelle, Silent Sunday

When Hydrangea look like they could be cushions

In a vase on Monday: no fluff needed

Tags

hydrangea arborescens Annabelle, in a vase on Monday, just add water

Sometimes flowers are so beautiful or so striking they can carry a vase on its own. I am talking about the ubiquitous Hydrangea arborescens Annabelle.

To my mind and eye, nothing further is needed. Well water of course but you know what I mean.

Annabelle

The shades of green, the masses of tiny flowers, the imperfect spheres.

Annabelle

Are these slightly early this year? I think perhaps they are. In any event they are very welcome and appreciated for their calming shades of green. I have been given these stems from a friend who has lots and lots in her walled garden. Gardeners are generous folk, don’t you think?

Anyway I am loving them and enjoying their presence in my living room.

This is my vase on Monday and probably for every day this week as they will last well.

Joining Cathy and bloggers from far and wide. If you have something to put in vase from your garden, do take a picture and share it with us and link it back to Cathy’s blog.

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

Six on Saturday: 27/6/20

Tags

Crocosmia Lucifer, Echinacea Delicious Candy, hemerocallis Little Grapette, hydrangea arborescens Annabelle, Nigella papillosa African Bride, Sisyrinchium Quaint and Queer, six on saturday

The month of June is progressing too quickly for my liking. I want it to slow a little so we can savour the summer, the long hours of daylight, the weather. It’s been said before but I for one would like an endless summer.

Maybe not if it is 31 degrees though!

My six today to share with you and our host The Propagator are a snapshot of the season in my garden.

Sisyrinchium Quaint and Queer

These tiny flowers are a favourite of mine not least because they are quaint and definitely a queer colour. Don’t be distracted by the foliage, that is from a neighbouring box plant. Q&Q has typical strap leaves of a Sisyrinchium.

Nigella papillosa African Bride

Grown from seed these are much bigger than a regular Nigella. My new favourite I think. Good white petals and dark black centres. Good in a vase.

Hydrangea arborescens Annabelle

The flower heads on the Hydrangeas have suddenly grown and are even beginning to colour up from their starting green. They are growing under Vitis coignetiae Crimson Glory vine and next to Geranium Johnson’s Blue. Such pleasing shades of green.

Crocosmia Lucifer

Crocosmia Lucifer is a devil to grow. See what I did there?!

This is about my third attempt in various gardens. Finally I seem to have cracked it here: sunny open position and well drained soil. In a raised bed it seems happy returning for this it’s third summer.

Stipa tenuissima Penstemon Garnet and Crocosmia Lucifer

Hemerocallis also are doing well and flowering beautifully right now.

Hemerocallis Little Grapette

This is a useful front of border sized Hemerocallis in a rich dark grape colour looking properly juicy with raindrops this morning.

Echinacea Delicious Candy

I love a daisy and the Echinacea Delicious Candy are no exception to that pretty daisy look. This one is an especially vibrant pink. Smaller in stature than E purpurea but seriously more colourful. Echinacea like the open position my garden offers and need elbow room to flower well.

These are my six. I hope you have an enjoyable weekend wherever you are and thanks for reading. D.

In a vase on Monday: the final vase of the decade

Tags

amaryllis, cut flowers, dried flowers, hydrangea arborescens Annabelle, in a vase on Monday, spray paint

As we are about to enter the 2020s, I have to ask, is it just me or does the start of the new millennium seem not that long ago?

It is a beautiful morning here with a clear sky and a touch of frost showing on the grass but my vase to share with you and our lovely host Cathy are Christmas leftovers rather than something gathered from outside today.

Cut amaryllis stems.

These were purchased from the market on 20/12. I kept them in water in a cool room until Christmas Eve when I brought them through to the warmth of the kitchen. Here they opened overnight and are looking fresh and lovely some ten days later. I prefer these creamy green trumpets to the traditional red.

My other vase has dried Hydrangea Annabelle flowers, sprinkled with a gold spray. Aerosol cans do not work very well these days and to be honest I was disappointed with the finish on these.

I have used a frog in the base of the pot to hold the stiff stems in place. 

The tiny clusters of flowers are so pretty but I still feel the gold looks remarkably like the dried flowers: brown!

That’s it for 2019. I shall be joining Cathy when I can in 2020 and encourage you to join us too.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2020 wherever you are. Thanks for reading. D.

 

Six on Saturday: everything but the kitchen sink

Tags

Ammi majus, Ammi visnaga, Cercis canadensis, Crocosmia Lucifer, Echinacea purpurea, hydrangea arborescens Annabelle, Hymenocallis, July, poppy seed heads, sempervivums, six on saturday, Spiderlily, Verbena bonariensis

Blast off! This is such an exciting sight for me, the Spiderlily is flowering. Granted not as exciting as man on the moon and it is not a Spider from Mars but it is a spider from me. I love it! Looking smart enough to be allowed in the house. The clay pot is my one special Whichford Pottery pot.

2.

A fistful of flowers for a friend.

There are verbena bonariensis, Hydrangea Annabelle, Echinacea purpurea, poppy seed heads, a pink lily, Ammi majus and Ammi visnaga both grown easily from seed and a Buddleja flower . All of these are from my garden.

3. Leading you down the garden path:

My favourite tree, Cercis canadensis has thrived since it was moved from its pot into the raised bed. I am enjoying how it is overhanging the path. ( I know I keep using this using this on my SOS but I don’t care, I think it’s fab.)

4. Successful looking succulents and sempervivums

Those of you who grow these know that little skill is required, just free draining soil and lots of grit. I think they are delightful, each one slightly different.

5. In your face, red

This is Crocosmia Lucifer. Such a vibrant red. It is very, in your face, dominant but I am quite liking them with the Stipa tenuissima behind.

6. This is Hydrangea time. Hydrangea arborescens Annabelle.

I do love a Hydrangea and they have become fashionable again so that’s good.

How could anyone could resist these.

How they graduate from lime to creamy white, getting fuller and bigger as they open. ( shown in reverse order here).

That’s it, my Six on Saturday. The Propagator is our host and thanks to him we share our favourites each week.

I hope you have a great week wherever you are. D.

Six on Saturday: summertime

Tags

Cercis canadensis, cornflowers, hydrangea arborescens Annabelle, July, poppies, seed heads, six on saturday, stipa tenuissima, Succulents

Hydrangea arborescens Annabelle is opening, surely a sign that it is summer. These are flower filled mops, in a creamy lime colour tone that looks as if it was lifted from one of those Farrow&Ball colour charts. Gorgeous.

This is my first of the Six On Saturday I’m sharing with our host The Propagator

2. Another sign of summer has to be that the succulents are outside

Not the best examples but loved nonetheless.

3. Forest pansy is a beautiful specimen and a real favourite of mine.

Back lit the colour is arguably unbeatable. Cercis canadensis.

4.

Haze. This haze is created by the delightfully tactile Stipa tenuissima. I love these grasses for their movement; the slightest breath of air is all they need to move.

5. Opium poppies

These are very short lived but so pretty and wonderful for bees . Today they have finished flowering and I am left with fat grey seed heads.

I love these almost as much.

6.

Cornflowers are such a wonderfully intense blue, not unlike a Sir Terence Conran shirt. Great for cut flowers, great colour in the border. An easy plant. Sprinkle some seed in the spring and Bobs your uncle.

Whether Bob is your uncle or not, you see that this selection includes some of the easiest peasiest plants to grow. What are you Six favourites today? Join us.

Have a lovely weekend wherever you are. Thanks for reading. D.

In a vase on Monday: golden brown

Tags

Calamagrostis x acutiflora Karl Foerster, golden light, hydrangea arborescens Annabelle, Hydrangea paniculata limelight, in a vase on Monday, January, Miscanthus sinensis, pine cones, Verbena bonariensis

The overhead lighting is casting a rather yellow light over today’s collection of seed and flower heads.

There is a crispness to their texture and a fragility which requires a very light touch.

The fluff of the seed heads of the Miscanthus are so delicate, light as a feather, perfect for catching a breeze and dispersing.

The pine cones are from my friends garden from her so called 100 acre wood tree. The tiny flower is from the Hydrangea arborescens Annabelle. The metal pot with holes is from a shop in Suffolk and I thought it might make a rather good pot for a cactus or succulent.

What can you find in your garden to share this Monday? See Cathy’s blog. Cathy hosts this immensely enjoyable and popular post.

Just the tonic for a Monday. D.

Six on Saturday: 14/7/18

Tags

buddleja Miss Ruby, Buddliea, butterfly bush, Cercis canadensis, Daylily, echinops ritro, Forest pansy, hemerocallis little grape, hydrangea arborescens Annabelle, Lily, six on saturday, stachys

This is a new meme for me. Simply put this is a look at six plants in my garden which are looking at their best and most interesting right now.

Cercis candanensis underplanted with stachys

Such sweet glossy heart shaped leaves become bigger and bigger and back lit their foliage is unquestionably eye catching.

Hydrangea arborescens Annabelle and chair. This is their second year and boy do they deliver.

From lime green they open to a dreamy green white, one of those colours the people at Farrow and Ball would no doubt find a great name for.

Lily

After a few weeks picking off lily beetle these are looking in good condition and smell divine. They are huge too, about 1m tall. Shall I pick them? Hmm maybe just one.

Echinacea purpurea

I planted these in 2015 and unlike my last garden they have returned each year looking bigger and better.

This is Hemerocallis Little Grape. All daylily do well on my heavy clay soil and this one is a cast off from my friend Liz. Thanks Liz! It is smaller than most at about 40cm high but the strength of colour is very good.

Buddliea love them? Or loathe them? I would not be without at least one as they definitely bring butterflies into the garden. This is Buddleja Miss Ruby a modest sized version at 2x2m but easily contained with a spring pruning The aroma is very fruity. I really like the sharp colour on this one.

Echinops ritro I love all of the echinops but some such as Taplow Blue do not do well on my soil. This however is delightful, makes a good cut flower and adds such a clear form after the alliums are over. so that’s my six on Saturday. If you have six to share please add a link #sixonsaturday The propagator

Have a great weekend. D.