Friday 17 July 2009

It's a miserable day...


Today the weather is foul, grey with a little more grey and light drizzle - sometimes heavy rain. As it's quite clear I will not be getting out this evening, here's something to cheer myself up:
Sea thrift is doing very well this year, I think I will have to move it next spring because it was planted too closely to the Geranium



Geranium taking over the sea thrift, it has lovely dark bronze leaves - great for Autumn/winter when everything else is dying away.



Honey Bee? on the masterwort, at its peak I could guarantee there would be at least 5 bees on it at any one time. Next year it will need dividing, at the moment it is covering my Agapanthus - I hadn't expected it to be *quite* so happy!



Campanula, also a bee magnet! Sitting on the decking and I can see the drone of the bees as they visit the wonderful little stars.



I think I might just be in love with the Cosmos… I sowed lots of seeds myself and must've had around 15 plants come up. All have been planted however they are still not flowering! I'm rather offended by their lack of flowers so far, I sowed the seeds a long time ago probably way back in February or March so they have had plenty of time to flower. They're now very large and bushy… but they're teasing me!
The actual Cosmos in flower are some I bought on the way home from Norfolk - 40p! At that price there was no way I could turn them down!!!



A hoverfly sits sunning itself and having a wash



The Aquilegia leaves have changed colour and are now providing lovely pink shades - no need for the flowers anymore!



Lavender bought a few weeks ago, I have yet to decide where to plant it… It was bought as a replacement to the lavender we ripped out. It had been pretty much killed by the snow earlier in the year and only had small sections showing signs of life. So we removed it and now the space left behind is home to the American Wisteria.





Strange looking things found dotted around the garden… I think they're Hoverfly Larvae that turning into adults… Certainly the second one appears to be a Hoverfly Larvae, but I am unsure about the first…






Verbena bonariensis… I have so many of these now… They're amazing, drifting in the breeze and add great height without taking over an area. I have planted 10 young plants this year, as well as having 2 more mature plants. So plenty for the Bees, Butterflies and Birds (Goldfinch eat the seeds) I also have another, wonderful Verbena with flowers on spires… I will post photos next time as I haven't yet processed the photos… They're beautiful too, I like to sit by the border and stare at them.



The Allium - Purple Sensation has gone to seed and left behind this wonderful structural explosion.



Lavertera is in flower, they were 'beauty mixed' and seem to be either this pink candy striped colour or white, both are lovely and a welcome addition to the garden this year.






Next year I will have to move the Veronica, the campanula has taken over this year and the poor Veronica is trapped in a corner…






And finally onto the wild poppies, although I generally shy away from warm colours… I just cannot, not have wild poppies and this year in particular has been a bumper year for them. Usually they never come up where I sow them but one will pop up somewhere random and only produce small, poor flowers. This year I have two very large plants with dozens of flowers. I hope I am as successful next year!




10 comments:

Joanne said...

Lovely photos especially enlorged. I wonder how your mystery plant is doing.

Emma said...

gorgeous....

Val said...

Fascinating pictures. I adore Cosmos. It makes such colourful spot in my garden. Val

Liz said...

Jo - Actually, I meant to update on the mystry plant!

Its flowers to beginning to open yesterday... But with the horrible weather today I won't be able to get photos. There was actually quite a surprise when I saw the flowers coming out - they're not the colour I expected!!!

I suspect they may become lighter though as they come out... I hope! ha ha.

Liz said...

Emma - Thanks, I'm glad you like them!

I hope you've had a good day at work... Any rain??

Liz said...

Val - Cosmos is pretty amazing, its lovely flowers and airy foliage is something of dreams... Which is excellent for daydreaming!

Cheryl said...

Hi Liz....I think the mystery larvae is that of the ladybird.....the gardeners friend.

I have had a good year for poppies, unusual with my claggy clay soil.

The cosmos should bloom....I put ten plants out this year and two are still not in bud. They will probably produce flowers just before the first frost.
I grew white, pink, and a fushia this year....and like you I love them......

Love the bee and hoverfly pics.....

Have a lovely weekend and hope the sunshine appears for you......

Tatyana@MySecretGarden said...

Lovely blooms, and I like how you presented them!

ShySongbird said...

Lovely photos of lovely flowers, they looked especially nice when I made them larger. I too love Cosmos but mine seem to be slow in flowering this time.

Esther Montgomery said...

I wish there were a book of larvae. (Maybe there is, anyone know a good one?)

I once asked someone at the Natural History Museum if he could suggest one (after I'd helped gooseberry sawfly caterpillars onto my red standard bush because they'd looked so enthusiastic to get up the trunk) - but he said most looked like maggots so there wasn't a point - but I'd like one, at least of the stages helpful grubs go through so I didn't eliminate them along with the nasties.

Esther