Wordless Wednesday ~ 'Reach For The Sky'

 

IAVOM ~ 'Here Comes The Rain Again'

 

In this week's vase are the following :

• Ranunculus aconitifolius 'Flore Pleno', commonly known as 'Fair Maids Of France'. I'm not sure what the French connection is but they are lovely little maids indeed. They like some shade and a to have their roots in some moisture. Flowering in May into June they retreat from sight quite early in the year.
• A couple of sprigs of flowers from a dark leaved physocarpus which I think is 'Diablo'.
• A touch of daisy floppiness in the shape of erigeron karvinskianus also known as Mexican fleabane - the flowers morph from white to pink as they age. This would probably win the longest flowering plant competition in my garden, usually throwing out a few flowers in March and then carrying on well into the autumn, sometimes as late as November. It does self- seed vigorously so much so that himself declares it a weed and wages war on it every couple of years but I'm quite happy to let it wander.
• Some lacy cow parsley like pink heads of pimpinella major rosea, another hardy perennial which prefers moist conditions. 

Thank you to Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for her excellent hostessing skills each week. As you might be able to guess the rain is back. On Wednesday into Thursday we had an amber weather warning. It rained from the time I got up on Wednesday until I went to bed and then again on the Thursday until early afternoon 😱 Yesterday we had a yellow weather warning for thunderstorms and late afternoon the thunder arrived complete with a dramatic volley of hail before the rain set in. More rain this morning and yet more forecast for tomorrow. I don't know how much rainfall there was but it was a lot. I hope to squeeze some gardening in this week between the wet. Some of the plants have not enjoyed being flattened and there were one or two casualties. Fortunately nothing more serious than broken stems as far as I can see.

In other news I might drop off the radar for a while. I am the website administrator for our local u3a branch and will have a training session later this week as the website's publishing platform is about to change to Wordpress. I have used Wordpress in the past to run sites for a local gardening club and for my allotment association. However it was a good many years ago and I'm sure that things have changed. It will be a steep learning curve and I'm quaking at the very thought of mastering 'Plug-ins' as well as other challenges before our present site can eventually migrate to the new platform. I'm certainly not a techie so I'm slightly apprehensive that it might be beyond me. Maybe some of you Wordpress users can reassure me. It's certainly going to be a time consuming process. Oh well I will just have to see how it goes 😂

Wordless Wednesday - 'Purple Sensation'

 

IAVOM ~ Hazy

 

This Monday's vase has unfortunately become more than a little bit submerged by the willowy background and was perhaps taken at not quite the best distance. If you screw up your eyes you might hopefully be able to make out the individual contents which are :

• Briza maxima also known as greater quaking grass. It could just as well be called once sown, never without. This year's dotted about progeny seem to be taller and more vigorous than usual. I'm putting it down to all that rain.
• The orange flowers of the perennial geum 'Totally Tangerine' now in it's fourth year since planting and well established. Not only does it start flowering quite early but with deadheading goes on well into the year. It is a sterile variety so no little seedlings.
• A vague shimmer of pink from chaerophyllum hirsutum 'Roseum' also known as the hairy chervil. A relative of cow parsley it naturally prefers damp meadows or light woodland, so a dampish spot in full sun, or part shade suits it well. The foliage has an apple scent. 
• Some blue from polemonium caeruleum - grown many moons ago from seed obtained via the Cottage Garden Society which has self-seeded in a considerate manner over many years. 
• Lastly a stem of the hardy annual white orlaya grandiflora which I sowed either in late August or early September last year.

A big shout out as always to Cathy who blogs over at 'Rambling In The Garden' and who kindly invites us to share our vases on a Monday. Here we have had a week of most pleasant weather with yesterday being particularly beautiful and warm for the time of year. A week of many first flowers. The sweet peas have been planted and French beans and zinnias were sown as planned last week. This week's tasks remain in my head at the moment but they will make an appearance on paper before the end of the day. There will be some 'Chelsea Chopping' in the mix but for now I'm going to head out and enjoy a cuppa sitting in the garden.

IAVOM ~ Wooooosh!

It's that wooooosh time of year when suddenly everything in the garden has taken off, growing whenever my back is turned. A spell of a gloriously dry week and above average temperatures has resulted in various openings. In my Monday vase this week are :

• Aquilegia - the majority of aquilegias in my garden are blue. They are descendants from seed obtained from The Cottage Garden Society seed exchange many moons ago - possibly aquilegia 'Hensol Harebell'.
• Some heads of allium schoenoprasum or chives - not only good to look at but edible too.
• Some stems of millium effusum 'Aureum' also known as 'Bowles Golden Grass'. This grass prefers a touch of shade as too much sun can scorch the leaves. It seeds about but never to nuisance proportions.
• A stem of thalictrum 'Black Stockings' with a fizz of flowers and delicious dark purple stems. To my eye the flowers are more purple than my photo suggests.

The above are all tough as boots hardy perennials which don't require much intervention and are generally trouble free. My favourite sort of plants.

A big thank you as always to Cathy who blogs over at 'Rambling In The Garden' and whose vase this week includes her beautiful wisteria.

Himself has just told me that it has started to rain which might bring today's filling the green bin to the brim activities to an abrupt stop. Rain is forecast for tomorrow but then the remainder of week although cooler looks quite promising. There are sweet peas to be planted, weeding to be done and then the last of the annuals in the shape of zinnias to sow and last but not least I need to sow some climbing French beans. Wishing my fellow gardening bloggers a good week.

IAVOM ~ Darling Buds Of May

 

It's time for the once or twice a year vase to have it's annual jolly - in fact it was clamouring to escape from the cupboard from which it has been confined to for almost twelve months. If vases could smile it would have a big smile on it's face. May just has to be my favourite month of the year when all is fresh, green and oh so promising. This month's flowers even eclipse the magic of those early beloved snowdrops. In my vase this week are three of my favourite May flowers namely :

• Convallaria majalis or lily of the valley. Mine have spread over the years in a line directly under our living room window. The original pips came from my parent's garden many moons ago. I remember them there making a substantial patch in a dry sunny spot in front of their garage whereas mine are in a shady position, Such dainty little flowers and sweet smelling too although sadly since my nose woes I can no longer detect the scent.
• Geranium phaeum - usually the first flowers open towards the end of April and then continue into May. They are beloved by bees, easy going and seed gently about. The flowers in my vase come from a seedling of some description. The only named variety nearby has flowers which are much deeper in colour.
• Lunaria annua 'Chedglow' also known as honesty - this variety has dark stems and seed pods too. I have found that in my garden it doesn't seed about with the same abandon as the variegated white honesty that I included in my vase a couple of weeks ago. These have come from seed sown last June but this year I am tempted to sow the seeds at the back end of May with the hope of producing more substantial plants.

I imagine that the honesty and geranium phaeum will be but a fleeting presence in the vase but the lily of the valley should tarry for a few days longer.

With thanks to Cathy over at 'Rambling In The Garden' for hosting. It's a relatively pleasant spring day here. I have just planted some shallots grown from sets in cells. They have adjusted to the great outdoors and were ready to get their feet in the ground. We do have a weather warning though at the moment for thunderstorms and torrential rain until late this evening so I'm not sure what else I will achieve out there today but the forecast for the week ahead is dry, sunny and warm so that's most encouraging indeed.