“In June as many as a dozen species may burst their buds on a single day.
No man can heed all of these anniversaries; no man can ignore all of them.”
~ Aldo Leopold
Without a doubt May is my favourite month of the year in the garden but June follows not far behind. May's glowing chestnut candles, frothy cow parsley and an abundance of aquilegias are being replaced by a motley collection of hardy geraniums and astrantias. If you click on the above photo mosaic you will magnify the individual photos. I have had some of these plants so long now that I have forgotten what they are and have long lost labels and details of what I planted where. Here goes where I can provide positive id :
Top row - left corner - astrantia 'Roma' - this was bred by Piet Oudolf and is sterile unlike many of the other astrantias that I have in the garden. They are too successful at seeding themselves and I have plans to extricate a good few later this year. I have also decided that these plants have a distinct aroma of a wet face cloth that has been left to fester, so another positive reason to be ruthless.
Second row - left - geranium pratense 'Splish Splash' and right - pimpinella major.
Third row - astrantia either 'Hadspen Blood' or 'Ruby Wedding, centre - digitalis alba.
Bottom row - geranium clarkei 'Kashmir White' which is one of my favourite hardy geraniums.
This time of year the garden also benefits from the borrowed landscape of dog roses and elderflowers which grow in the large uncultivated area of land to the back of us. Yes, summer is definitely on the scene !
You can enjoy more June blooms here at May Dreams Gardens .
Hi Anna, you have absolutely LOVELY blooms! I like your collage, too! Isn't it fun making them?! By the way, I just wanted to let you know that your title says, GBMD and probably you meant GBBD...just a minor error, that probably at this point wouldn't be worth correcting...but that's up to you! Have a wonderful day in your garden! Jan
ReplyDeleteI think those blooms look superb together.
ReplyDeletesmelling like a 'wet face cloth that has been left to fester' is indeed incentive to be ruthless.
Rob
Beautiful!And I really love the collage.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThe collage really helps to show how all the colours work together. Very cheerful :)
Your Astrantias look wonderful. Mine just aren't very happy this year, but of course the prolifically self-sowing Alba is blooming. I must look for 'Roma.' I prefer the pinks and dark ruby ones, but I prefer not to have to deadhead them, as they hold on so well.
ReplyDeleteWhat a delightful collage.
ReplyDeleteYour geraniums are all lovely, but I'm really taken with the astrantia. That's something I don't have in my garden, although I guess I wouldn't want to plant it where anyone might stoop to smell it:)
ReplyDeleteI love your collage. The 'Roma' is really pretty. I don't think I've seen that before. I love all the pinks and soft purples.
ReplyDeleteAnna - I am devastated! I have just started growing Astrantias and didn't know they smell like festering face cloth :(
ReplyDeleteFabulous montage of images from your garden
K
I've just discovered astrantias this year around Durham - but I've not experienced the face-cloth smell yet!!
ReplyDeleteAnna, ooh, I love all the pinks and blues and white. Nice!
ReplyDeletePity that 'extricate' doesn't mean 'eradicate', or I'd come over hotfoot on Extrication Day to catch a few, facecloth pong or not:-)
ReplyDeleteLovely photos. I've only just bought my first Astrantia (I'm always behind the times) and was pleased when you said they seed around. Now I know they smell of face cloth I'm not so certain I want them all over the place!
ReplyDelete