Friday 25 June 2010

Feel Good Friday

Today the garden has been making me feel good...

I love the fact I have a vase in the kitchen filled with flowers from the garden, 2 types of Rose, Astrantia, Salvia and Campanula.

Amazing.

Jasmine is opening… Plenty more buds to come, I’ve waited three years for a good show…

Fantastically coloured Fly

Comfrey will soon go in the compost bin (and an Aphid tags along).

How much longer will the new border keep me waiting… I can see poppy and Californian poppy buds




The Meadow Clary I thought I’d lost suddenly sprouted and the next thing I know, we have flowers! It is a fraction of the size it was last year, but at least there's something!

The Herb pot I bought very cheap last winter has mostly survived. Sage at the back seems dead… It had survived and put on new growth until a slug ate it!

Clematis ‘blue eyes’ brightens a very shady area… Needs more sun if I’m honest.

And you’re going to have to get used to seeing plenty of photos of this:

Campanula

I’ll move it next year, it’s crowding the Aquilegia and Veronica too much.


Stunning flowers…


I think I’ll be able to forgive it for taking over…

21 comments:

Lona said...

Liz your garden looks so beautiful. I love your Blue Eyes clematis. It is just so pretty.We are all constantly moving flowers but you are right it is so pretty it can be forgiven. Have a wonderful weekend.

Deborah at Kilbournegrove said...

It is always so fantastic to be able to fill a vase with flowers from the garden.
Love the 'Blue Eyes' Clematis.

Northern Shade said...

Your Campanula looks fantastic. My garden is starting to fill up with blue and purple/blue flowers as the different Campanula open this week. They are one of my favourites.

Corner Gardener Sue said...

Hi Liz,
I like your blog title and post. I only gardened from 7:00 a.m. to about 8:45. Then, I went to an estate sale, and got a wash tub and an oval tub. After that, I went to a couple garden centers to find plants to put in them. We may use the oval one for a water garden, though. We need to decide about that. I ran other errands in the heat of the day.

Now that I've rambled, I don't remember what else I was going to say about your post. Have a great weekend!

Corner Gardener Sue said...

Oh, yeah, I love the details on the insect. Do you cut your comfrey to the ground, or just cut it back? I cut mine back, but not clear to the ground. It regrows the same season. Does yours?

Cheryl said...

Hi Liz.....flowers cut from the garden are the best. I have just put some sweet peas in a vase and it is amazing just how much they cheer me.

Your new border looks lush......a few more weeks and I am sure you will be more than pleased.

Jasmine....lovely, worth waiting for. My nettle leaf campanula is taking over.....BUT I really love it, so tolerate its aggressive behaviour.

It is really hot here....I was watering the patio plants at
5.30 am, thought I would do it before the sun came up.....

Have a lovely weekend and watch out for those slugs......

ShySongbird said...

Hi Liz, Lovely photos of all the gorgeous flowers in your garden both here and on the previous post, I can't keep up with your speed of posting :)

I too have a Campanula which I intended moving this time, it is in completely the wrong place, but somehow it had shot up and flowered before I got a chance!

I tried and failed to identify the Ladybird on your previous post, I am intrigued, do let us know if you ever find out which one it was.

Nothing like a vase of flowers from the garden, hope you aren't sneezing too much though :)

Kimberly said...

Liz, your garden is lovely! Waiting for that border is like waiting for water to boil...look away and they'll come alive. :) Your clematis is gorgeous!

Pam's English Garden said...

Liz, Looking at the beautiful pictures of your garden made me feel good, too. That clematis is fabulous! Pam

debsgarden said...

The fly looks like a jewel! Amazing what close-up photography reveals to us! The flowers in your garden are lovely. I love all the blues!

Amy said...

Your flowers are so pretty and delicate. I love the fly photo. We are getting so many flies. The minute the door opens they all come in....grrr!

Liz said...

Hi Lona,

Thanks, I really need to get more confident moving plants, in general I try not to disturb anything and with the experience I’m slowly beginning to realise plants are far more resilient then I thought!

Liz said...

Hi Deborah,

I never thought it would give such a sense of achievement filling my own vases, but it really does. I’ve begun branching out into using other flowers and not just the Sweet Peas/Bluebells. As the plants mature it’s allowing me to ‘steal’ a few of their blooms to enjoy in the house too.

Liz said...

Hi NS,

Your garden sounds like my ideal with the blues and purples, I love the cooler, romantic colours rather than hot shades.
Hmmm, cooler weather would be appreciated right now too… It’s been too hot for the past week with talk of hosepipe bans in various places. The worst part is, I know in a week or so we’ll be back to our more accepted cool weather! Never, ever happy :)

Liz said...

Hi Sue,

I look forward to seeing your new tubs filled with plants! I think I need to get some more plants as my pots are looking very dead – it’s been too dry. I have a few by our front door and all look really rather sad at the moment… Not quite the impression I was going for as people come to the house!

Yes I cut some of the comfrey back to the ground, but keep some stems to grow as it puts out new growth.

Liz said...

Hi Cheryl,

As it happens I had my first sweet peas too, I love this time of year because I know I will have sweet peas well into October and November. They’re always a fantastic mood lifter, their perfume is to die for.

I haven’t had any real problems with slugs all year, it’s been too dry for them to have a major impact on anything – even the Lupins and Coneflowers haven’t had any problems at all.

Liz said...

Hi Jan,

When I bought this Campanula I hadn’t expected it to quite have this strange habitat – I’d bought it to trail down the walls, but instead it insists on growing up and out. I’m not sure what type it is… So as a result I now need to move it, or move the Veronica instead… Whichever!

Sneezing hasn’t been a problem for me this year, I don’t seem to have got Hayfever at all, and neither has my mum. She usually has hayfever really bad, red puffy eyes etc. For me it’s more mild, I just sneeze a lot.

Liz said...

Hi Kimberley,

I know exactly what you mean!!! I’m getting very impatient with the new border, flower already! The Astrantias are beginning to die off it has kept me waiting so long! C’mon!!!!!!!

Liz said...

Hi Pam,

Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed the photos :)

Liz said...

Hi Debs,

Amazing isn’t it? Macro is so amazing, all this detail we would never be able to see, so much we are missing. Is it obvious I love taking macro shots? ;) hee hee

Liz said...

Hi Amy,

Sorry to hear about the flies! We get the odd big black fly like Bluebottles, they buzz around a bit and I’ve discovered that if I leave the backdoor wide open then they soon fly back out again. Rather than leaving it open a small amount, they then can’t find their way out and buzz around for hours annoying us all.