IAVOM ~ Spring Things

 

Yet another bank holiday today and for once the weather is beautifully calm, warm and sunny which is a most welcome treat. The forecast for the week ahead is more of the same so hopefully I can complete planting out seed grown annuals. This morning we planted some more sweet peas - a tale born from faint hopes of my own seedlings and resulting in a degree of amusement - a tale for another time.  In this week's 'In A Vase On Monday' are :

• Rosa 'Luisa's Daughter' - a special gift and named after my mother. I think that I like the bud stage best. It is a quite open and loose in shape and most pleasantly scented. It is also the first rose to flower. I am in a bit of a dilemma as it is planted in the wrong spot so need to move it. Will probably be asking for advice later this year.
• Geum 'Totally Tangerine' which I've found to be what you can certainly call a good do-er. I just wish that I could bring myself to like the foliage.
• Thalitctrum' Purple Stockings' which is possibly my favourite thalictrum. It is a tall plant, with beautiful dark stems topped with clouds of purple fluff. I think that I picked it a few days too late as a haze of purple specks landed in and around the vase. I have some chives in flower so may do a swap later on.
• Orlaya grandilflora also known as the white lace flower - the only annual in the mix. These were from September sown seed. A further batch was sown in March so I will have more flowers for later in the year too. 

Thanks as always to Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for her stalwart hosting as always and especially today for going the extra mile when she is feeling under the weather. It is much appreciated.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Peter Pan at Sefton Park, Liverpool

 

IAVOM -'Bits And Pieces'

 It's Monday and I'm joining in with Cathy's 'In A Vase On Monday' meme. My flowers were picked yesterday afternoon before the rain. On reflection I think that I crammed too much into one vase. I only realised much later that I now have a conjoined vase which would have been so much better for displaying their individual beauty. Never mind - note made for the future. 

In my vase this week are my favourite May flowers which for me have all proved to be stalwart hardy perennials. They are :

• Geranium phaeum which usually open in April and are most easy going creatures. I'm sure that one of these is 'Lily Lovell' but the other may well be a seedling. They do have a tendency to self seed but that's no hardship.
• Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost' with it's light blue flowers and beautiful silver specked leaves.
• A peek of polemonium, probably 'Purple Rain' - I must find the label.
• Dicentra spectablis 'Alba' - I refuse to learn the new name. This met with a bit of a setback a few weeks ago with himself's size 12 feet accidentally treading on it. He was attempting to remove a hardy fuchsia which was nearby. An obstinate segment still remains in the ground waiting further surgery. Hopefully the dicentra won't remember anything about this unpleasant experience next spring and bear any grudges. 
• Finally a sprig of the rather elegant polygonatum odoratum also known as 'Solomon's Seal'. I must remember to keep an eye open for sawfly this year as they sometimes shred the leaves later on in the year. Last year I got there just in the nick of time. 
• Finally some pink from chaerophyllum hirsutum roseum, which was rather shy and hiding itself at the back. It is related to cow parsley and has ferny apple scented foliage.

My Emma Bridgewater hearts vase was an Ebay purchase made some time ago.

Thanks as always to the lovely Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for her excellent hosting skills. The weather knows it's Monday - after almost three consecutive dry days it's windy, cool and there was a sharp shower this morning. However the forecast for the week ahead looks promising and there is a myriad of gardening jobs are all clamouring to be done. I just need to decide which should be first 🤔

'Wild And Weedy Wednesday' ~ Corydalis Lutea

"Weeds are flowers too once you get to know them" - A. A. Milne.

This week I'm joining in with 'Wild And Weedy Wednesday' hosted by Cathy who has an always most interesting blog over at 'Words And Herbs'. This is one of those weeds that I've so far not made any effort to eradicate from the garden - it's name is corydalis lutea also known as fumewort. It originally comes from the foothills of the Alps in southern Europe and can now be found growing wild in the United Kingdom, often as an escapee from gardens. It is a shade lover and can be found in rocky places and walls. Here it appeared by magic as weeds often do - in this case at the base of one of our house walls. Over the years it has spread by seed so that there are now a few clumps, some making for larger mounds  than others.  It's the fern like foliage that I especially like rather than the flower. The first flowers usually appear during April here and it will flower on and off until autumn. It appears to have few if any pests and just gets on and does it's own thing. I have read that that the flowers can be toxic to horses. Thanks to Cathy for hosting - I hope to feature another of the weeds in my garden soon. 

IAVOM ~ Mainly Green, Cream and Tangerine

 

Monday has rolled around again in the blink of an eye and it's time to join in with 'In A Vase On Monday'.

In my vase today are :

• A flower from a now going over was white hellebore. I like how hellebore flowers fade and form their seed capsules - still attractive at this stage. A note has been made to deadhead more ruthlessly this year as I have noticed little forests of hellebore seedlings appearing this spring. I have culled some and will pot up just a few to see what transpires.
• A couple of stems with a plant that I always need to check the spelling of, well certainly the first  part of it - mathiasella bupleuroides 'Green Dreams. It's a perennial originating from Mexico. It flowers on and off from April through to November, the flowers morphing from green to pink as the year goes on. I did wonder whether it would survive the prolonged bitterly cold spell we had in December so was most pleased that it did. It is in need though of a bit of a haircut now - another task on the to do list.
• A peek of orange from the perennial geum 'Totally Tangerine' which is just getting into it's stride now and should flower for some time to come.
• A pop of purple from the short-lived perennial that's erysimum 'Bowles's Mauve', another long flowering perennial.

The vase is an old stalwart, a charity shop find - a stoneware jar that originally held cream. The Manchester Creamery which has long since closed was about 35 miles away from here. The creamery was in the city but the milk came from dairy cows in Cheshire.

Thanks to Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for her excellent hosting skills. Here it's the May Day bank holiday with the weather that we associate with such occasions - cool, cloudy and breezy. However it's not rained so far unlike yesterday when it poured down for a good part of the day. However it was welcome rain and I'm convinced that everything in the garden has grown noticeably in just twenty four hours. The downside is that for the first time this year I noticed signs of mollusc damage to seedlings this morning. The torch is coming out with me tonight!