Wordless Wednesday ~ Sneezewort

 

IAVOM ~ Pleasings

 Its' a typical soggy Bank Holiday Monday here so I've quickly whizzed around (well as much as I'm able to whizz around these days) and picked a few flowers that are pleasing me at the moment. They are :

• Orlaya visnaga - I think that this is 'Green Mist' but can't be sure without locating the seed packet. They were sown last Sepember and spent the winter in the greenhouse before being planted out in the spring. The plants have not done so well this year with the foliage becoming most anaemic in appearance. They were planted in the same border as last year but maybe the cold spring didn't do them any favours. I've pulled a couple of plants out but luckily some were able to hide behind other plants so the foliage wasn't as noticeable. I shall be sowing another batch next month.
• Larkspur 'Misty Lavender' - another hardy annual also sown last September but alas to no avail. A further spring sowing was made after the seed packet had a spell in the freezer and this time the germination rate was most satisfactory, with surplus seedlings to give to friends. I love the colour of this larkspur and it is a must again for next year.
• Some phlox drummondii' 'Cherry Caramel' - I sowed this half hardy annual in March. The flowers vary slightly in colour and it has rather a floppy habit but that can be forgiven.
• Achillea millefolium 'Summer Berries' - a hardy perennial grown from seed which produces a range of colours. This paler shade hit the right note so has been retained.
• Finally a sprig of clematis jouiniana x 'Praecox' - which can be grown as a climber of a scrambler, a bee and butterfly magnet but a clematis that dies absolutely disgracefully.

Thanks as always to our excellent hostess Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden', who enables us to share our vases whether it be a high day or a holiday. Here I'm keeping an eye on the weather - there are signs of it possibly brightening up so some of the gardening jobs on the list might be ticked off later. On the other hand if it doesn't I will be checking through my seed box to make sure that I've got all the seeds that I intend to sow in September. Not so long now until the start of a new year 😂

Wordless Wednesday ~ Holker Hall, Cumbria , August 2023

 

IAVOM ~ 'In The Pink'

 

It's mainly pink in my vase this week which these days is a colour that I'm not as fond of as I once was. I'm not sure why - maybe it's like food tastes changing inexplicably over the years. There are still some pinks about though and in my vase week are :

• Antirrhinum' Madame Butterfly Watermelon' - grown from seed sown in March and not quite the deep dusky pink I thought that she might be. Still the colour might deepen with age.
• A sprig of hydrangea paniculata' Little Blossom' with initially white flowers which develop pink tinges. This is a relatively new plant to me.
• A couple of sprays of seed grown achillea 'Summer Berries'. I sowed this perennial in September 2020 and is now well established. It is most easy going and flowers over a long spell. I sowed some more this spring. 
• A bit of a dark leaved physocarpus probably 'Diablo'.
• A sprig or two of pittisporum 'Bannow Bay' - this has a different coat according to the season - variegated light green with a cream edge, before changing through late summer to autumn into a mottled green and burgundy effect. I think that it has reached this point now. It then moves to a deeper burgundy after frost. It's winter coat is my favourite.

Thank to our hostess Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for hosting each week so that we can enjoy vases from fellow bloggers each week of the year.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Wollerton Old Hall, Shropshire, August 2023.

 

IAVOM ~ 'Here Comes The Rain Again'

 We travelled home today after a quick trip to Shropshire where we woke up this morning to some heavy rain. As we headed west the rain eased for a while but then came down in buckets and more buckets. It has only just stopped now. This was the only dry flower I could come up with and that's because it's been under cover in the kitchen for a week. Even then a teardrop of rain landed on it when I whizzed it out for a quick photo. I don't know how I did it but I accidentally decapitated two buds of dahlia 'Molly Raven' last Monday. I bought them into the house where one of them has gone on to open. I planted this dahlia in the garden last year and she surprised me by coming through the cold winter. I think that a very thick application of mulch before the first penetrating heavy frosts did the trick.

The reason for our trip was to meet up with the lovely Cathy from 'Rambling In The Garden' and her equally lovely partner 'The Golfer'. We visited the garden at Wollerton Old Hall, lunched before making our way round the garden chatting about plants whilst the menfolk chatted about non plant related matters, made purchases from the plant sales area and rounded up the day with coffee and cake and a quick plant exchange in the field which serves as a car park. An most excellent way to while a way a Sunday afternoon and one where the rain held off. Thanks to Cathy as always for her impeccable hosting skills each and every week. I'm looking forward to seeing what's in other vases this Monday.

In The Greenhouse, Threave Garden, Scotland.