It has been raining now for a couple of days. I can't get out and to the lotties, so I have to do other things. A day filled with reading and listening to music is fine, but it can get a bit boring. I have been reading the posts here and in-between making snacks and tea to take the edge off this otherwise "lost day". Now that I have settled in here at the compi and put my head in a mode for posting something, what do you think has just happened?....Yep--the sun just came out. Typs, eh? Well, I know that it will be short-lived. I have seen the weather images of the clouds and rain moving in--this is but a temporary gap. The wind is ferocious out there, making the huge sycamores sway and hiss as the wind forces its way through their thick, leathery leaves. If I look out my window here where the "my" merel often sits can see the tall birches elastically fluttering their green masses of branches and leaves, revealing bits of white bark that is their trademark. It's more like March than mid-June. I do not have any especially interesting things to report here, but I do have an accumulation of pictures. This time I want to show more of the body of the flower garden and not bore you with another preponderance of macro shots of the various blooms. Oh, there are close-ups a-plenty to be sure...but I have included a number of images taken from a bit of a distance so that you can have a bit of an idea of how they are situated. I have learned over the years that there is not really a way to show the garden in its entirety with one, single foto...so I have taken several. I have not taken fotos in all corners of the garden, but rather shown a few aspects where I could get some distance between myself and the area that I wanted to show. The trick was to be able to take the pics from a path, as I did not want to stand in the soft dirt of a plot. The garden is changing in character since the Forget-Me-Nots have been yanked out and their seeds shaken over the plots in anticipation of next year's flood of blueness. The light blue of the spring flowers has been replaced by a healthy shade of firm green, as I call it. This firm green is punctuated here and there by the colour of the flowering plants now in bloom. So, here we go then, with a mixture of distance and close-ups in the flower garden. Let me just begin at the beginning, so to speak--a partial overview from off the main path out front. The wooly green is still the predominant colour, but the colours are beginning to show themselves. This Centaurea is up front so that passers-by and I can see it when I approach the garden. It's flowers are so delicate, that the fineness of their beauty is not apparent from a distance. Another angle featured several plants here. I am the most delighted with the sky-blue Delphs. A closer look, and I saw a bumble bee tucking-in. Depending upon where one stands on the main path outside the garden, this stand of Knautia Macedonica can be seen up close with the delphs as a background. The Knautia macedonica is a real favourite of mine. It is noticeable because of its colour and profuseness of blooms....it blooms for a very long time-- from now until October. Here and there is evidence of work being done--I am still cleaning plots of Ground Elder and Bindweed. Afterwards I shall plant a number of plants in the bare spaces. In this case it will be tall Marigolds (orange and yellow). In this other plot, over near the Philadelphus and Eupatorium I have made a little bed for the Cosmea. They are in and trying to establish. Next week, I shall cut the top blooms off and let its roots establish--then it will grow taller and begin putting out bloom buds. One of the arched had a Clematis on it. I am not 100% sure which. I thought that it was the C. 'Ernest Markham'. At any rate, this is the first year that it has really bloomed it's socks off. There is some water by the wine, as we say--I notice that the leaves have a peculiar discolouration and I fear that it has a disease. I am looking into it now. Here's the Clematis scrambling up the arch between the front patio and the rest of the garden. I have a number of blow-ins every year. This year this Cephalaria has popped-up. Actually, I believe that it must have been there and germinated last year...just lurked under the leaves of a protective Phlox. Another blow-in is this gorgeous Poppy: I enjoy seeing what will blow-in of this sort of plant as well as what sort of cross-breed I will get of the ones that were present last year. Here, a slightly different foto. The Corydalis over in the shade garden is doing quite well this year. I just adore the little guppy-like blooms. Still no fragrance though. Odd, that. It is just inundated with copious amounts of blooms this year. One final path shot. I think that it looks better than in early spring. The brightness of the Lysimachia brighten up this darkish path on a rainy and overcast day. I guess that this is as close as I will get to my rainy day garden today. I am hoping for better weather tomorrow, because come what may, I must go there and give water in the greenhouse.
The colors are gorgeous. Thanks for sharing. I love the poppies. I have never had anything like that blow in and germinate. I'm jealous.
What a joy to see even from the outside path. Your lottie has such a profusion of flowers and it is fun seeing what's blooming now and recognizing what will be coming along later. You will have to post again from some of the same vantage points so we can see the phlox, hollyhocks and other gems in bloom. Thanks for a garden tour
Sjoerd... this has to be my favorite post of yours so far! I totally loved seeing everything "from a distance". I mean, I really do love seeing close-up photos of all the flowers, but to get an overall view is breathtaking! Thumbs up!
Thanks very much, LUKE--Good luck on that garden of yours. Thank you CAROLYN--once that one of those poppies does find its way into your garden, it will just be the beginning of yearly surprises. I'm glad that you liked the colours. They aren't too bad, considering this is a low point in the flower department--its the time of the season, mid-june. This time of year is a bit tough for the honeybees here, so I try and have something blooming for them. Ahhh, thanks JEWELL--I will try and post something around mid-July...that's the top point in the flower garden generally. CHERYL--Wow, that's quite a nice thing to say. I was glad that I could get a reasonable overall view. Its a pity that things are so cramped and limit me from being able to show the whole garden at once. TONI--hee hee hee You just won't do.
Oh yeah... I forgot to give another thumbs up for your narrative. I was on the edge of my chair waiting to see the photos. You do have a gift of painting a moment with words.
Yet one more outstanding show-and-tell from you. I thoroughly enjoyed myself on the tour in your lotties. The view as we approach is so inviting. We've got both the Centaurea and the Knautia here but they're not performing well for us. I think I need to move them somewhere sunnier and drier perhaps. Your Clematis is lovely. I do hope that the leaves are just scorched or something and that it's nothing serious. Those blow-in poppies of yours almost bring tears to my eyes. We've tried growing similar poppies but for some reason they won't live with us. Your winding paths are wonderful, just the thing I wished for in our garden. Well, we know what happened there, don't we?
Ah, that was so nice... What a beautiful magical space... so glad it was raining there lately, lol. Besides being beautiful to look at, it's an inspiring post -- it's nice to see the close ups along with the wider view but I do really love the wide view shots. Gives me ideas about how to expand certain areas... thanks Sjoerd. I hope it's a nice day for you to go to the lottie.. I guess...
I so love it when you take us on one of your garden tours Sjoerd-you had me hooked from the very first photo. I was imagining how I would sneak thru those Lambs Ears and get onto the winding path. I think I will have to look into getting some Corydalis...that delicate blue is stunning!
Thanks again, CHERYL--You say the nicest things. Hey DROOPY--Thanks for your compliments. Coming from a master gardner like you, it makes me grin. I do have to put a bit of effort into the strip along the main walking sidewalk, because the garden is deep and strollers can't see way back in the more privé quartier of the garden. De Centautra and Knautia do indeed do much better is dryer, well-draining soils I have found (in my garden, at least). Sadly it isn't a scorched-leaf thing with the Clematis...I'll post a pic later, perhaps someone will recognize the problem right-away. I am so sorry that you haven't had better luck with poppies. If one can only make it to the stage that the seed pot becomes dry and brown...then its seeds will work for you next year. Poppies do have a penchant for newly disturbed soil, you know. Sorry about your paths, Droopy. My lips are sealed. hee hee hee. (snikkering discreetly) Hey there, DAISY--It's raining cats and dogs here...but I still have to go to the lottie. I am glad that you liked this posting. I tend to show more close-ups that distant shots. I guess that i am just so enchanted with the beauty of the flowers, but I do recognize that including some shots from a distance is also representative and needs to be shown as well. Thanks for your kind words. Thanks for your nice comments, NETTY--You know there are oodles of paths in my garden and they are interconnected to a degree. Actually in that first foto just out of sight on the left border of the foto is a rose arch, where you could enter the garden as well,. That path would lead you through the "Big Arches" and to the bird bath and compost pile---it bifurcates and the left branch goes up to the shed and also connects half way to the windy path that you can see in the first foto that I showed. The Stachys byzantia, or 'lambs ear' is planted in a strip from the edge of that gate to the right leg of the rose arch. The strip is thin, but I gathered all the Stachys from blow-in plants that appear every year from somewhere. It is getting to be decent patch. As for the Corydalis--I can recommend that whole-hartedly. It is one of the most unusual and beautiful little things that I have in the garden. I can never remember the proper name of this one. There are several Corydalis sorts, but I like this one the best. If we can find the name for you and you manage to get some...talk to me before you plop your plant in the ground--I have some tips for you (learned the hard way). Oh! What IS the name of that blue Corydalis, now!?? I can be such a bone-head sometimes.
Sjoerd, that garden is very inspirational. I'm so far away from something like that. We only moved into the house a very short time ago and there is practically nothing here. But that means I have a blank slate to work with. Seeing your pictures is wonderful for giving me ideas. Thank you.
W-O-W-!-! I am so impressed with your garden. Everything is beautiful. I particularly like that shots of the garden as a whole, and how you use paths through it. The blue corydalis is gorgeous. I cannot grow it. It gives up the ghost whenever I try. I've had better luck with the yellow version. Your blue is gorgeous!
