“June is busting out all over”

All the buds are now well and truly bursting!

The Cottage Border

The Cottage Border is showing its first wave of flowers. The irises, pink poppies and aquilegias have been flowering now for a while, and geraniums, and the first of the roses, are starting to join in.

Angelica archangelica

The Angelica buds I showed you last month, have exploded now. I’ve counted 14 flower heads! Quite dramatic. If only it was perennial!

Iris “Jane Phillips”

I also showed you last month, buds of, what I thought, was “Jane Phillips”. THIS is she – those buds were an imposter! I’ve been told that they were the buds of “Immorality”, (although I’m not 100% convinced!)

Alliums

The allium bulbs are blooming now. I think they’re Allium aflatunense. They have been there, under performing, for several years, and now that I have revamped this bit of border, they have decided to remind me they are still there. The border was redone as a “Champagne border”, trying to reproduce Luciano’s Laurent Perrier garden. Thankfully, they fit in with the scheme – they’re the bubbles!

Astrantia “Buckland” with Nectaroscordum

The Nectaroscordum, now that they are flowering, has thrown up an unexpected plant combination, with Astrantia “Buckland”. The colours mirror each of them, creamy white tinged with pink and green. A pleasant surprise!

Papaver orientalis “Patty’s Plum”

Papaver orientalis “Patty’s Plum”

This is definitely my favourite flower – at least today! Sadly, these 2 pictures were taken only 1 day apart. Maybe that’s why it’s my favourite – because it’s so fleeting, and longed for. Thankfully, I have more buds. Isn’t the colour so dramatic?

And the first of my roses have started to bloom. Think of this as a taster. I hope to do a future post on my roses. The pale pink one is our rambler, rosa “Albertine” and the deep pink one is the beautiful English rose, “Gertrude Jekyll”, nestled among more emerging buds, of Hydrangea “Annabelle”.

Papaver orientalis ( unknown)

Iris “Cable Car”

And two more recently burst buds. They certainly demand to be noticed! P.s the iris smells like it looks – chocolate/orange! Mmm!

Thalictrum “Elin”

And what do you make of this? This is the flower spike of Thalictrum “Elin”. I checked – it’s supposed to reach 6 ft. This is more like 10 ft. Honest, I’ve not been feeding it steroids!

And on that lofty note, I’ll say bye for now! I’m off to see what else is blooming lovely!

A Fruitful Weekend…..

….and a couple of mysteries!

First, my new “toy”!
We decided to invest in a mini raised bed for our strawberries. We never have enough for our liking! The strawberry patch had become very overgrown and weed infested. It was a mix of runners from 3 different species, and we wanted to start afresh, as you should after a few years. Last year, we bought 3 new plants of “Cambridge Favourite”, which we decided we liked the taste of best. We planted each of them in a large terracotta pot, with the intention of replacing the “mass” of self-rooted plants, with runners of pure “Cambridge Favourite”. We didn’t want to replant them in the weedy ground, and so thought a mini raised bed would solve the problem, by raising them off the ground in fresh, new soil.

The bed consists of 4 black plastic boards, connected with pegs, giving a bed of 51x97x25cm. You can buy an additional fitted liner, necessary if you are using the bed on a hard surface. Easy! You see the bed in process of being filled with compost. Boy, did it need a lot! But we do love strawberries!

And now the finished bed!
It was hard, to dig up and throw away the old strawberry plants, no matter how much it was the right thing to do! I still saw disappearing strawberries! However, the 3 original plants are still in their pots, and hopefully, next year, we can expand the bed and have more strawberries, from the runners. And so on! Should be self perpetuating. That’s the plan!

Some of the gorgeous buds are now bursting forth.

A beautiful pink unknown Oriental poppy.

Nectaroscordum

And now to our first mystery! Although, by the time I’m typing this, the solution is starting to come to me! I thought this patch was of “Deep Black”, but when I saw the blue buds, I thought they were instead “Jane Phillips”. I must have muddled up my labels. The mystery was, that when they opened, they seemed paler than last year. How could that be? However, by now, the adjacent irises are now starting to open, and I am now recognising the familiar blue of last year. The solution is becoming clear! My “Deep Black”, which incidentally hadn’t flowered yet, was not, in fact, “Deep Black”! I must have been sold a mislabelled plant. It’s pretty (with a lovely scent!), but it’s not “Deep Black”!

And what do you make of this aquilegia? How can two different colours and forms of flowers come from the same plant? Or so it seems! I can only assume that I must have planted two different seedlings together. An interesting effect!

And the foliage goes on! Several of you admired the foliage pots I showed previously, so I thought I’d show you the complete collection!

That was a most enjoyable and satisfying weekend!

And this week is Chelsea! Another highlight! I love May!
So I’m off to the telly!

I went to Ashwood and….

….came home with Jemima Puddleduck!

Don’t worry! I haven’t lost it entirely! I wanted to buy a present for my new niece, and shopping here is so much more pleasurable than having to tackle the dreaded Shopping Centre. And while I was there…!

…. I gave in to last month’s temptation and purchased one of the beautiful hellebores I was admiring then. (I did promise there’s always next month!) I know the season is almost over, and although still looking good, they are getting past their best, but I was not just getting a beautiful hellebore, but also a bargain! Who could turn it down? It is one of the Ashwood garden hybrids, with yellow cups, backed with peachy, pink and flushed red in the centre. I know where that’s going!

That was not my only garden purchase. As well as the bucket of chicken manure that’s needed at this time of year, I also added an Oriental poppy – Papaver “Patty’s Plum” – to be added to one of my new herbaceous borders. Love it’s smoky plum colour – so spectacular though short lived. I already have one in another bed in the garden, but I’m too impatient to propagate it – I want instant results! Hope to show you it’s progress later!