Saturday 23 June 2007

ALWAYS SOMETHING NEW

With it being such a rainy day yesterday I spent a little time sorting through the garden photos I'd taken during the week...this time of year there's hardly a day goes by when there's not a plant that has newly come into flower or is reaching its optimum best so I'm always clicking away with my camera.

Madagascan Honeysuckle....grown from seed...now in its 4th year

Houttuynia cordata 'Chameleon' .....flowering well, great leaf colour, leaves smell of oranges when rubbed

the front garden is filling up...............the wind really whistles around the corner and I was glad to see that after the recent storms and high winds everything was still in one piece; though the basket and the manager on the wall took a bit of a battering.




First hardy fuchsia in flower

I like the way this area of the garden is taking off; the hardy fuchsias add some colour to an area that gets no sun.
I use a lot of annual lobelia of all different colours in the garden; it's great for filling gaps and adding softness to hard landscaping
it's the first year I've tried this variety...I like the blue and white stripe effect
the Alstromeria have started flowering...this is a seedling of an original plant we had many years ago
this pink one is a dwarf variety and much more manageable in a small garden

This bedding begonia has come up trumps again this year (the white and deep red ones are still in bud)...I save the corms from year to year


the same as I do with the trailing begoniasI had a feeling the Lacecap Hydrangea was going to be white this year but after a few acid feeds it's starting to turn blue
my Japanese ferns are starting to look better now; far more colour differentiation in the leaves this year
the Lantana are doing well though not getting very big...I particularly like this one...the flowers come out yellow and gradually turn pink
this hardy geranium is so sweet; I love the leaf colour and the small pink striped blooms

both colours of Callas are out now..................




and last, but by no means least, a very important plant close to my heart has started to flower. This Star Jasmine 'Trachelospermum jasminoides' was the last plant that Mick and I bought in 2005 when he was still able to drive and to comprehend and remember what we were doing. It was a plant we had always wanted and just before he fell ill we went to Colne Nurseries to look for one as a present for ourselves. There were none on show and so we asked one of the chaps who worked there if they were getting any more in stock. The chap went to the Nursery greenhouse and found that they had just the one......some things are meant to be......




P.S. Shaz joked in the comment box of my Longest Day post that it would soon be Christmas....well the weather for next week is "turning decidedly Autumnal" (quote from our local TV news)..with daytime temperatures 13C at the most dropping to 7C at night.....only a couple of degrees lower than that and the "F" (frost) word will be bandied about......I really hope they're wrong......IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE SUMMER!!!!!!

13 comments:

Pat said...

Simply gorgeous, Ruth! I so enjoyed looking at all your photos and especially that last one. What a lovely reminder of him. Just super. That's how I feel when I see the daffs bloom each spring that Jack planted.

Love your garden!

Jeanette said...

Hi Ruth, Such a delight to come visit your garden.lovely to see the jasmine in flower. I had one and had to pull it out it was to over perfumed for me and also my Daughter, and set off the sinusus and the watery eyes.
pleased you like my handy work I only do it for pleasure and get a lot of satisfaction in seeing the finished article,I also crochet, knit,and have done a few large tapestries.. I will post some of my tapersties soon.

jmb said...

Lovely lot of photos Ruth. I love hardy geraniums. I have about three in bloom right now and they have the loveliest leaves as well.

RUTH said...

jeanette; the jasmine is rather heavily perfumed...probably even more so in Australia with the hot weather you have in the summer.
Any of my commenters who do embroidery must pop over and look at Jeanette's.
jmb; I have a few other varieties as well; aren't they resilient.

Shaz said...

OMG Not the "F" word????? ---> runs to cover the Basil.

That is one impressive hanging basket & beutiful photographs x x

talj said...

What wonderful photos Ruth and I can't believe how full the front garden looks now!! I hope they are wrong with their weather predictions! I can't beliebe we are almost into July and I can probably count on one hand the days of decent weather we've had!!

Have a nice weekend {{HUGS}} xx

A wildlife gardener said...

I'm so glad the storm did little damage, Ruth. Your garden is looking great, as always.

I marvel at the way you grow cannas and begonias after managing to overwinter them each year.

I love your lacecap hydrangea too. The only ones which survive in this area are the petiolaris. the lacecaps produce foliage but won't come into flower...too cold.

The sweet peas in your vase are the dreamiest shades of violet/pink/mauve..a watercolourist's dream!

Best of all, is your star jasmine. I am imagining its heady perfume as I type...

Akelamalu said...

You know Ruth I thought Cala Lillies were all white! Those are so beautiful! Love the music I'm tapping my feet and singing along. Thanks for cheering me ujp on a dismal (weatherwise) Saturday morning. :)

RUTH said...

The white ones are the Arums; calla actually means beautiful and they are also sometimes called Trumpet Lilies after the Angel Gabriel's trumpet. Funny thing is they are not part of the Lily family at all! but are Zantedeschia; Lily is much easier to pronounce!!...LOL

Kylee Baumle said...

Ruth! Goodness, you have bunches of wonderful blooms going on there! What zone are you in? You're growing some things that I'd like to try here in zone 5, but am not sure they'd survive the winter.

Lovely photos and gardens!

CG said...

Such glorious plants. I liked the striped lobelia and have never seen coloured callas before! Was lovely to see that special plant {{HUGS}}

RUTH said...

Thanks cg...hpe your weekend's going well.
Kylee...think it's 8B...we don't really zone in England but I know another blogpal in England who's a professional gardener says he is 8B so I assume I am the same.

Mauigirl said...

Lovely pictures of your beautiful garden, Ruth! And I'm so glad the special flower is blooming.

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