IaVOM ~ Shades Of Summer

It's just as well that the weekend's unseasonable strong winds have dropped enough to risk balancing a vase on the normal 'In A Vase On Monday' perch (thirty foot so drop into a stream behind) as otherwise it would have been a perilousbusiness. After some needed heavy rain this morning the skies are more benign so I have been out with the secateurs. In this weeks's vase are shades of green, red and pink. The occupants are as follows :

• Red astrantias - given by where it's planted this is either 'Ruby Wedding' or 'Hadspen Blood'. The red astrantias are never as prolific in the garden for me but they are so beautiful. Elsewhere in the garden I have more reds in the shape of more recent purchases of 'Gill Richardson' and 'Burgundy Manor' which I think are more striking and perhaps more vigorous. 
• Some sprays of the delicate pink perennial linaria 'Canon Went, which although a self-seeder does so with considerate restraint unlike it's sibling linaria purpurea. Whether purple or pink the bees and other pollinators appreciate these flowers.
• A stem of dianthus 'Sooty', with the deepest of red flowers which as well as being scented has attractive dark foliage. I sowed this biennial last summer and hopefully it will last more than one season. 
  
  
  
• Dianthus 'Green Trick' - I grew this short lived perennial few years ago at the allotment where it eventually petered out. I bought this one as a plug plant earlier this year and will try to remember to take some cuttings in late summer to establish plants for next year. This variety doesn't have the normal dianthus scent. 
• Some foliage in the shape of rosa glauca. This has one flush of small single pink flowers but it's the grey leaves that are the star feature.
•  A couple of stems of mathiasella bupleuroides 'Green Dream' which is a perennial. This is one plant that I have to check on the spelling every time I mention it. The green bracts slowly turn a soft pink as they age. As well as cutting fresh it dries well. 

A big thanks to Cathy from 'Rambling In The Garden' for hosting. As always I'm most curious to see what is in other participant's vases this Momday.

Wordless Wednesday ~Through The Garden Gate

 

IAVOM ~ Spring's Last Hurrah

 

With the summer solstice tomorrow, I realised that this would be my last spring vase of the year although it does seem that summer is already well and truly established especially after last week's warm spell. The pick and plonk in my vase this week are :

• 'Bathsheba' roses - these were a gift from himself. Planted as dormant roses from David Austin either in December 2020 or January 2021 they have come on well. I love their shape and colour but have been disappointed by their scent and their tendency to fade rather disgracefully. There are six of them so they are hard to ignore when they go over.
• In the same area as the roses are three clematis 'Etoile Violette'. We were initially supplied with the wrong clematis by the clematis specialist but when I queried the order I received profuse apologies and a very speedy replacement so full marks to Thorncroft Clematis for customer service. Once again my naked eye sees the colour as being a darker shade than my phone does. Time to dig out my camera methinks and make a serious attempt to get to grips with all the confusing array of buttons and dials. 

• Astrantia flowers - unknown vaiety, these are in for a serious cull soon as there are just too many of them. 
• Some stems of the hardy annual orlaya grandiflora sown last September. Sadly my more recent sowing has resulted in the grand total of two plants. I shall cherish them.

The vase is a well used one and was given to me by mother.

Thanks as always to Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for her evergreen encouragement and for providing the space for us to share our blooms each and every Monday. I will not have much time to spend in the garden today as I'm out for what may be a long lunch with a dear friend. However we are starting off with a bit of a plant swap and I'm sure that we will be talking of matters green in depth at some point during the proceedings. Wishing everyone a week filled with flowers.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Gresgarth Hall, Lancashire - June 2022

 

IAVOM ~ 'Here Comes The Rain Again'

A quick pick and plonk from me this week after waiting for the raindrops that have saturated the garden to evaporate and before any more might fall. The pickings are :

• A trio of roses - 'Desdemona', 'New Dawn' and 'Luisa's Daughter'. 'Desdemona' is new to me this year, bought after seeing it on a display at an RHS show and also seeing it and smelling it at close quarters growing in a friend's garden. The buds are the most softest of pinks before maturing to white and it is apparently repeat flowering. Apart from it's appearance the name called out to me as 'Desdemona' was a childhood nickname for me coined by my father along with 'Gertie'. Names which infuriated me at the time but now fond memories. The pink 'New Dawn' is an old stalwart and was probably the first rose we planted in this garden. It has been threatened with beheading a good few times but has always escaped and so far is having a good year. She continues to flower on and off for a good few months. Sadly her scent is light. The last rose is the creamy' Luisa's Daughter' which my sister had named and gave to me as a birthday present not long after my mother died. She starts to flower in May, her flowers change colour several times- pink tinges, cream, pale yellow before ending up white. Her scent is lemony.
• Some astrantia flowers - variety long forgotten.
• Some geranium pratense' Mrs Kendall Clarke' - the flowers of which are a softer colour to the eye or well to my eyes anyway than my photo suggests. She is rather floppy so needs support and is due for relocation in the future as she is obscuring another occupant of the border. 

Hopefully it should be warmer and drier tomorrow and might offer an opportunity to get on with a myriad of jobs that should have really been done yesterday or the day before or even the week before. Are you up to date with all that you want to do?

Thanks to the ever perennial Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for hosting all our Monday vases. It is much appreciated 💐