In Love

I think I'm in love - with hydrangeas!  I love how their exquisite little green flower buds

Hyrandgea Preziosa

gradually turn white

Hyrandgea Preziosa

and then pale pink

Hyrandgea Preziosa

I love that these unassuming buds

Hydrangea Paniculata 'Vanilla Fraise'

turn into these beautiful flowers

Hydrangea Paniculata 'Vanilla Fraise'

And I love that they can have flowers as big as these less than a year after planting!

Hydrangea Arborescens 'Annabelle'

I thought you might also like to see the "help" that I've had today whilst I was working from home...

it's of the less than helpful kind!  She did eventually get fed up with me trying to type over her and reluctantly relocated to my lap. I'll show you what her brother was up to another day!

Little Gems

Some of you will know that when I moved here three years ago the garden was rather neglected as it had been rented for two years to non-gardeners.  In fact ivy ruled!  But the owner was a passionate plants' woman and some of her special plants somehow managed to survive the neglect (and the ivy).  This is one of those special surviving plants - a real little gem:

Rosocea

Roscoea

It was one of the first "gems" to flower that first year, and has multiplied since so I have about four in flower now.  I think I've identified it correctly, but if you know exactly which variety it is then please let me know...

Also in flower this weekend is my dierama which I planted the first summer I was here and it has stubbornly refused to flower since - until now that is, and it was worth the wait:

Dierama

(Apologies for the not brilliant picture, you'll have to trust me that it looks lovely, but it's on the far side of the pond and is slightly difficult to photograph, even with the zoom, without risking falling in!)

A Rainbow of Colours

It's raining here today, and the sky is very grey so I thought I'd cheer things up with a rainbow of colours from the garden (taken on a sunnier day!).

RED - forgotten variety of strawberry!

ORANGE - Runner Bean 'Enorma' flowers

YELLOW - Sisyrinchium

  

GREEN - Rudbeckia Occidentalis 'Green Wizard'

BLUE - Delphinium Magic Fountains 'Dark Blue Bee'

INDIGO - Aquilegia vulgaris 'Miss M.I. Huish'

VIOLET - Scabiosa 'Butterfly Blue'

There - now that's better than grey skies isn't it?

Spring Greens - 3rd Attempt

I've been playing with textiles again, trying to create something inspired by the greenness of spring.  I know we're nearly in summer but it's taken me a while to get something I'm vaguely pleased with!  My first attempt ended up being cut up although bits of it were embellished into number two (whose fate is still being decided).  But one evening last week I just started to fiddle with some scraps that I'd got left over from the previous attempts and produced this little piece:

Spring Greens

The background is left over silk and scrim that I'd dyed in the microwave, with a silk carrier rod stitched on using the flower stitcher.  I'd made the tyvek bead earlier in the week and stitched it on adding some beads.  It's only tiny (4" x 2.5"), and rather "random" but I prefer it to any of the previous (more planned) attempts!

Blowsy Blooms

This week my peony has opened.  Not many buds (actually only two have made it to the flowering stage, but that's double last year so I'm reasonably pleased!).  It's very blowsy, but also looks delicate and subtle in its shades of white with a hint of pale pink:

Peony Shirley Temple

Peony Shirley Temple

But it's not all tasteful and subtle here at the moment as this oriental poppy has also opened:

Oriental Poppy Garden Glory

I don't usually do orange in the garden, but this is more salmon than bright orange and it does bring a splash of colour onto the patio.   I love its frilly edges.

Oriental Poppy Garden Glory

 
You can't beat a bit of blowsiness occasionally can you?!

Roses are Red

Or maybe that should be "some roses are red".  This one is - Darcey Bussell (and she smells gorgeous too)

But others aren't.  These were all open at the weekend and none of them are red - more purple, pink, peach or white, but I guess that doesn't work in the rhyme!

Top row: Iceberg, The Wedgewood Rose, Charles De Mills

Middle Row: William Morris, Mutabilis, The Generous Gardener

Bottom Row: Rosa de Bologna, Abraham Darby, Rosa Glauca.

These are much earlier than in previous years (by about 3 weeks) but as there are many others still at the "about to open stage" I'm hoping the rose season will go on for longer than normal, because they are so beautiful aren't they.

What is this plant?

Can anyone help identify this plant?  It's appeared in a very shady spot in the garden, and I have no recollection at all of planting anything there.  It's about 9" tall (23cm)

The flower has 5 parts to the "trumpet" part and a yellow throat.

 The flower is trumpet shaped, and the petals unfurled from inside of the trumpet.  The buds are trumpet like too and have a sort of star shaped button at the end.

It has no noticeable scent and the leaves are quite fleshy and distorted (although the distortion might be from lack of water and being nibbled by something as it was emerging!).

Any ideas?  Anyone?

While I was contemplating the plant, and skimming duckweed off my pond earlier (for my neighbour's ducks to eat!) this lovely damselfly came to visit.  I'm pretty sure it's a male Common Blue, but common or not, it's very beautiful.