This Monday I wanted to share something a little different with you and Cathy. Our host Cathy asks us to bring something in from the garden to enjoy close up. I am taking this a bit further in that I have collected pretty things and then flattened them in a heavy book.
Autumn leaves
These were collected on a walk around RHS Harlow Carr plus three of my favourite leaves from my Forest Pansy.
No chance of putting them in a vase but I hope you will agree they are pretty enough to warrant including them here.
I hope you have a good week wherever you are and thanks for reading. D.
Hello. It seems ages since I managed to share a vase with you or Cathy. I always try to have something from the garden in the house although I do not always seem to have the time to write a blog post about them. Anyway here are the flowers.
A jug of Daucus carota
Apologies that these are not the best pictures, the light had faded and the electric lights were on. I hope you can see the variation in form depending on the stage of the flower.
These are easily grown from seed, sown in the early spring, directly where they are to flower or in modules in a greenhouse. They form a deep taproot and do not like to be transplanted. The flowers are lace like, in shades of burgundy through to white and then green.
They have a wafting habit, rather wispy. They do need staking but once flowering they are prolific. Reminiscent of Cow Parsley they make good fluff for flower arrangements but I like them best on their own.
Daucus carota has several common names including Bishops Lace, wild carrot, birds nest, Queen Anne’s lace. Given the variation between the flowers it is not surprising really.
Please take a look at Cathy’s post and see some of the flowers from around and about, always a pleasurable thing to do.
Rain is forecast here for this week. I hope you have a good week wherever you are and thanks for reading. D.
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.
Today was my first day back at work for almost a month. It was such a tonic to see the garden looking lovely in the sunshine. The dahlias have really picked up a pace and Cosmos cupcake, grown from seed, was covered in flowers.
White dahlia with CosmosHere are a few of them in my vase
Other dahlias picked are these
Dahlia Cafe au LaitLuminous red dahlia
These are all supermarket dahlias which I have multiplied over the years through cuttings. They make a colourful display on the perimeter of the vegetable garden. As they are growing on thin soil over chalk they are left in the ground over winter, under a deep mulch.
These flowers are to share with you and Cathy. Thanks Ali for letting me enjoy your flowers.
Have a good week wherever you are and thanks for reading. D.
The thing with cutting garden flowers to join Cathy and other gardeners from around the globe is that by bringing them into the house you get to inspect the flowers at close quarters. Detail, that might be missed when out in the wider garden, can be noticed and admired.
The left hand flower is actually a series of tiny flowers forming one mop head. This is Hydrangea arborescens Pink Annabelle. It is a pretty shade of pink but I am disappointed with its vigor, it is not a patch on H arborescens Annabelle.
The right hand stem vase holds half a dozen stems from Seseli Montanum. I saw this originally at The Plant Specialist and loved its feathered dark green foliage and its tiny umbells of flowers. A rather sweet border plant for a sunny position.
Details
I like how they open creamy green and turn pinker as they mature. The colour almost matches the Hydrangea.
Add the Bishop
I then picked a single flower from Dahlia Bishop of Auckland. Possibly the only dahlia that wouldn’t over power this combination of flowers.
Have a great week wherever you are and thanks for reading. D.
The heat here is most unusual, pushing 32 degrees. It saps my strength and the garden is showing lots of signs of stress. Leaves and in some cases flower heads are drooping, Hydrangea and Eupatorium are especially prone to this when it is too hot and there has not been enough water. A simple remedy is to wait until it is almost nightfall and then soak the roots for several minutes. Overnight the plant will perk up and hopefully by morning will be looking fully restored. This is the most effective way of watering, so much better than a sprinkler on for hours.
As for flowers, I have picked one stem of Rose Brother Cadfael. A baby pink, softly scented, David Austin Rose. This took a long time to start this year but is now in its stride. The camera has darkened the true pinkness of colour so you’ll have to trust my description there.
Brother Cadfael
It seems an unashamedly girly rose so I’ve no idea about the choice of name.
Then I have picked a few dahlias. these are rich dark shades.
These are dahlia pompon Downham Royal. Single Bishop of Auckland and two new ones
I hope you are coping with this heat and staying safe. If you have time pop over to Cathy to see what other vases have been put together.
Have a good week wherever you are and thanks for reading. It looks as if storms might be rolling in later this week. Not the right sort of rain I guess. D.
Echinops bannaticus are magnets for bees and they are a pleasing companion for grasses in a border. They grow to about 1.2m tall and do not need staking. All good characteristics however they are taking over the border and are pushing out other plants. They will need to be dug up and thinned out this autumn. Unchecked they will also self seed so I have begun to cut them before they get chance to set seed. These are them in a large jug. The jug was a gift from my parents who found it at Snape Maltings in Suffolk. The jug is a perfect scale and colour for these prickly, woody stems.
In a vase on Monday
Penstemon and Echinacea have started opening out, bringing with them some rich colour and texture into the borders. A complete contrast to the Echinops these flowers are full of jewel like colours.
In the jam jar type vase are Marigolds,Penstemon, Echinacea and the wispy diaphanous stems of Pheasants tail grass.
Ladybird hitching a ride
These are calendula Indian Prince which are my favourite of all the varieties I have tried.
Dahlias are also pulling away now and showing their rich colour and textures.
Flowers from Liz
My friend and her husband came to visit and Liz gave me this striking dahlia and chrysanthemum mix. The dahlias are the same as mine because she gave me some of the same corms for my birthday. The calendula she grew and the chrysanthemums she bought from her flower shop. Interestingly it’s the green chrysanthemums that are dropping! Grown not flown is certainly best.
Please pick some flowers from your garden and join Cathy the host of this meme.
I hope you have a good week wherever you are and thanks for reading. D.
As the rain fell today I took time to make some jam with surplus plums from the garden where I work. I am surprised at how orange/ red the jam is given the colour of the fruit to start.
It is Monday so of course I also like to make time to share some pickings from the garden. This week I avoided the roses and dahlias for something more delicate looking.
Vases on a Monday Ammi majusThalictrum Seseli in centreSeed pod of Nigella
A late entry to join Cathy our host. Have a good week wherever you are and thanks for reading. D.
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 AscendingOrange, 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.
I am drawn towards tall, see-through type plants and this little grouping are the type of plants I mean.
Lined up in my old test tube style vase. For those of you who like to know these things it is Vase d’Avril by TseTse Associates.
In the tubes are Verbena bonariensis, Allium sphaerophalon, Persicaria amplexcaulis Firetail and a stem from Sanguisorba. Less tall is Astrantia which on close inspection has claret centre markings which link well with the others.
Claret centre in the Astrantia
There is a movement to these types of plants. Even static when seen from above you can see the hither and thither way they have about them.
These are my flowers this Monday joining Cathy and her friends from all over the blogosphere. Not sure if that is the correct use of the term but it sounds right.
Wishing you a good week, wherever you are and thanks for reading.D.
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