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Tag Archives: Iris Sibirica

In a vase on Monday: whether the weather

11 Monday May 2020

Posted by digwithdorris in in a vase on Monday, Uncategorized

≈ 22 Comments

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.

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Silent Sunday: 10 May 2020

10 Sunday May 2020

Posted by digwithdorris in Silent Sunday

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

iris, Iris Sibirica, Silent Sunday

Iris in my garden
Iris sibirica

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Six on Saturday: 9 May 2020

09 Saturday May 2020

Posted by digwithdorris in six on saturday, Uncategorized

≈ 25 Comments

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.

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In a vase on Monday: everything but the sink

27 Monday May 2019

Posted by digwithdorris in in a vase on Monday, Uncategorized

≈ 17 Comments

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.

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Six on Saturday: favourites

25 Saturday May 2019

Posted by digwithdorris in six on saturday

≈ 13 Comments

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.

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Wordless Wednesday: Chelsea Flower Show (sights which caught my eye)

23 Wednesday May 2018

Posted by digwithdorris in Uncategorized, Wordless Wednesday

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

blue, camassia, Chelsea Flower Show 2018, David Austin Roses, favourite sights, Iris Sibirica, lupins, shadows, Tottering by Gently, vases, wordless wednesday

Auricula theatre

David Austin Rose ‘Tottering by Gently’

Lupins everywhere

Blues

Blue sky over London plane trees

Shadows

Hanging vase

Tiny vases

Blue vase

Sarah Raven trade stand vases.

Delightful poppies

Camassia and Iris

Moss and Japan

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Chelsea Flower Show 2014

22 Thursday May 2014

Posted by digwithdorris in Garden Visits

≈ 18 Comments

Tags

Allium Nectaroscordum bulgarium, Angelica archangelica, Artisan Garden, Astrantia 'Roma', Charlotte Rowe, Chelsea flower show 2014, Chelsea Lighting Design, Clematis 'Westerplatte', Cleve West, Contemporary Paradise Garden, del Buono Gazerwitz, Drointon Nurseries Ltd, Iris Sibirica, Jekka mcVicar, Kazuyuki Design, Knoll, Luciano Giubbillei, M&G, No Man's Garden, Olivia Kirk, Stipa gigantea, Telegraph Garden, Tiliax europea 'Pallida', Wellchild garden

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Tuesday afternoon I got the chance to visit the Flower Show with my friend Rosie.  We had tickets for the late 3.30pm slot and edged our way through the crowds to see the gardens. This is the gardening show for me, I love the London location, the sight of those super smart, scarlet clad Chelsea pensioners, the floral window displays of the shops on the Kings Road.  Even the Estate agents get in the spirit, filling their (colourful) boots with……

flowers.  The morning ticket visitors throng the pavements clutching their wierd and wonderful purchases, threatening to take out passers-by not paying enough attention to the protruding items. The secret whispers of the ticket touts lining the route add to the excitement as you approach the gates.

Once through the gates, we made our way along the avenue towards the Show gardens. 2014 has seen the introduction of some young new designers so I was hoping for some new interesting ideas.  There seemed to be more colour in general this year and a much more naturalistic, fluffy loose style of planting.  Nothing new in that perhaps but certainly a different style overall for Chelsea.  In previous years there has been Purple Sensation Alliums and Bearded Iris everywhere; this year however I either failed to notice them or perhaps there were just less of the beardy types.  There were lots of the rather elegant Iris sibirica in many of the gardens, including at the ‘No Man’s Land’ Garden by Charlotte Rowe.  

chelsea 14b 010

There were Allium Nectaroscordum bulgarium as seen in the opening image which I love.  There was also an abundance of Anthriscus sylvestris ‘ Ravenswing’ with Astrantia, in this case Astrantia major ‘Roma’.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe Cottage garden staple Aquilegia vulgaris in dark bruised colours such as Aquilegia vulgaris ‘Ruby Port’ popped up in a number of gardens, almost as if they had self seeded themselves around the Show.

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There were lots of grasses, including the fabulous Stipa gigantea but seemingly less of the designer favourite Stipa tenumissima, instead there seemed to be regular use of Briza media.

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Another Cottage garden staple, the Lupin, was used by many of the designers including the Best in Show garden.  I have always thought them to be rather old fashioned and perhaps even a little brash, tending to associate them with the bright colours displayed in the floral pavilion.  OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThis is Lupinus ‘Chandelier’ (Band of Nobles Series) mixed with Lupinus ‘Cashmere Cream’ as used by designer Luciano Giubbilei for his Best in Show Laurent-Perrier garden.  Anything but brash, the planting of this garden looked effortless, relaxed and very beautiful and it contrasted and complimented the hard landscaping which was a mix of limestone and some of the smartest vertical concrete I have ever seen. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The Telegraph Garden was for me a very corporate looking garden, suited perhaps to a boutique hotel, created by design partnership del Buono Gazerwitz. Unusually the design included a large lawn area, seemingly pinned in to place by huge cushion shape Box mounds.  The favourite part of the garden for me was an area of seating in the form of white metal 50s styled table and chairs by Knoll, under an area of ten clipped Lime trees, Tilia x europea ‘Pallida’.  I could imagine this area in Italy, on a hot Summer’s afternoon, chilled glass of something waiting…..

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I thought that the Show seemed less frantic and slightly less congested this year, able to get close to the Show Gardens without waiting too long, if at all in some places.  The gardens were all wonderful and there were lots of lovely ideas: How about growing your Clematis as a trailer out of a pot for a change?

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This was in the M&G garden designed by Cleve West and the Clematis is Clematis ‘Westerplatte’.

Elsewhere there were some rather neat lights spotted amongst the foliage which I thought would suit a Town or country setting:OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThese were spotted in The Wellchild Garden designed by Olivia Kirk and the bronze lights are by Chelsea Lighting Design.

Jekka mcVicar had a beautiful stand displaying a snapshot of her organic herbs. The stand has packets and packets of different seeds to buy as well as some rather attractive art, pictures of herbs, of course.  Look at the magnificant flower head of Angelica archangelica, how on earth did they manage to transport that in one piece?chelsea 14b 007

The Great Pavilion was a feast for the eyes and I was drawn this year to the Hostas and Auriculas. Drointon Nurseries Ltd got Gold for their beautiful display of Auricula and the owners, Robin and Annabel Graham were charming, happy to converse with us while the camera crews blocked their stand pending an article with Joe Swift.   So taken with them and their display we returned later to each purchase a set of plug plants to take home.

The best Artisan garden was by Kazuyuki Design.  The design was said to be created “to take the memory of the scenery away with you, to recall and be comforted by, when feeling troubled”.  Well I am pleased to say that I am not feeling troubled however I do take pleasure in the memory of Chelsea 2014.  I will share my shot of the beautiful trees in the Kazuyuki’s garden.  How extraordinary to think that they will be ripped up and taken away in a few days time.

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