Monday 26 July 2010

Weekend Bounty

Firstly I’d like to thank Laura, Kyna, Cheryl and Frances for giving the sun back! It worked a treat, only I’ve spent the weekend constantly sticky and hot. I’m not so sure which I’d prefer.

Such a fickle thing aren’t I?

My bounty from the weekend garden centre spree are:

3x Heuchera ‘Palace Purple’
2x Scaled Male fern
2x Lavender Hidcote
2x Veronica ‘Twilight’
2x trays Violas
1x Atilbe ‘Showstar’
1x tray of Rudbeckia ‘Toto Gold’
1x Lupin ‘Gallery White’
1x large hanging basket
1x Stick of Unicorn Rock for Pete (tee hee)

Oh and did I mention that I only actually picked up 3 things I planned to get at the garden centre? I knew it was the wrong time of year for them, so I am not too surprised.

Between the gardening jobs a lot of time was spent chasing the Butterflies. It was wonderful to see so many along the hedge, the most I counted within a couple of metres was 7. 4 Gatekeepers, 2 Whites and 1 Meadowbrown. I was in awe, but sadly did not catch the Meadowbrown or Whites, so you’ll have to be happy with the Gatekeepers!

Gatekeeper


There were 2 Commas on the Buddleja too.


Some sort of fly…




A Dunnock is quick to pick up the Insects/Spiders we disturbed when cutting the hedge. You can just make it out almost in the centre of the photo… Sorry I had the wrong lens on!

Gatekeepers enjoying the Sea Holly again



Bees don’t often get this close to each other!

Rudbeckia ‘Toto Gold’

I spotted this sneaky moth, very well hidden indeed! It’s a Silver-Y and you can easily spot its name sake…


Is it just me, or is it common for Nicotiana to get so huge? See the bright green plant in the centre of the photo???! I certainly have never seen them so large.

And of course, no summer would be complete without warm, golden evenings watching the grass sway…



11 comments:

Laura Bloomsbury said...

Glad you have your sun back but please send me your rain.
Your garden is so glorious it's given me more than a touch of the green eyed goddess. How wonderful to see your butterflies (so far none for me) and the lovebird bees. Grew Nicotina last year and they were the huge variety you seem to have whereas I'd been expecting something much more sedate

Laura

Cheryl said...

Liz....you are so difficult to please. Now do you want the sun or not?.....ha!

Lovely selection of plants from the garden centre......

It is really good to see so many butterflies in your garden. You obviously have the right plants to suit their needs. Have you done the butterfly conservations survey? I have, you might want to join in.....
I have never seen the tobacco plant that large......plants seem to grow huge these days.

Best photograph, the grasses, I was swept away for a brief moment.....sigh......

Nutty Gnome said...

I love those grasses Liz - and the butterflies, obviously!

I need a bit more sun - we've got a man in! He's painting the outside of the house - rendering and all! I've had enough of workmen around the place, so I need sun so that he can finish the job and go!!!

Liz said...

Hi Laura,

I take it you’re still having high temperatures in London? We’re mostly having muggy days, which in my eyes is worse. I get pressure headaches and have had paracetamol for the past few days because of them. It isn’t cold, it must still be early to mid twenties which I am happiest with.

Strange about the Nicotiana’s because I’ve grown these for the past few years and they’re the exact same packet and I’ve never yet had any grow huge like this. There’s one around a metre away closer to the camera (you can’t actually see it) which is the usual size I expect. They’re very late in flowering too and have only just begun to bloom.

Liz said...

Hi Cheryl,

Teeeheee, yes I’m very picky! I like sun, I don’t like 25+ temperatures… But I guess if it’s Sun and heat or slightly cooler temperatures and high humidity I’d opt for the Sun any day.

I think the Butterflies visiting is also because we’re near woodland/wasteland so they probably lay eggs and hatch there but visit me when they’re on the wing. One of the neighbours behind me leaves their garden, they’re elderly (which is why we have to cut the hedge) and no doubt they have perfect conditions for wildlife too – even if it is an eyesore.
Sadly we get that a lot around here, there are many elderly residents just on my street and not all can cope with keeping their gardens in check.

The Nicotiana has surprised me, these are the same packet of seeds I’ve used for 3/4 years now and they’ve never grown so large… I think it might be because that back corner of the new border is where I piled my home-made compost… The Geranium next to it has also grown enormous so perhaps they’re loving the compost??!!

I’m glad you liked the grass photo, I really need to find myself a nice overgrown field and take some dusky shots…

Liz said...

Hi Liz,

Thanks! I need more grasses! Next on my list is a few of the cool fluffy ones like Squirrel or Rabbit tails!

Even though the sun is lacking, it’s still too warm and muggy. It’s horrible! I’m getting pressure headaches all the time because of the high humidity. I hate it.
Perhaps you could use hairdryers to dry the plaster render and paint???!!! Teee heee. Typical isn’t it? All that sun we had an no rain for weeks and here we are now.
I bet we’ll have another rubbish August like last year and then September and October will be very dry again (had less than half the average rain last Sept/Oct). Let’s just hope we don’t have a repeat of last Winter.

Pam's English Garden said...

Hello Liz, I really enjoyed walking around your garden today. The butterflies are beautiful. I also love the pictures of your grasses best. (I am not going to mention the weather because I am sick of it.) Pam x

VW said...

Oh, I wish you lived down the street! I just gave away several dozen Palace Purple heucheras, from our nearby temple, which had been planted in too much sun and dry soil. I could have supplied you with all you neede for free :-) Enjoy all your new purchases - I just brought home a green coneflower, a double-blue aster, and Kopper Kettle peony - so exciting.

Liz said...

Hi Pam,

Lol, I hope you’re not having terrible weather too!
I can’t really complain too much to be fair, at least the plants are getting watered now and dead grass is growing back :)

I’m glad you liked the photos, I look forward to the garden maturing and having blooms year-round…

Liz said...

Hi VW,

Teeheee, I’m sure we could all have full gardens if we all lived closer to each other! Although it may feel like a small world sometimes, other times we’re brought back down to earth when we realise just how far apart many of us are.

Your green coneflower sounds lovely, I don’t think I’ve seen one before – so many new colours are appearing recently! I’m getting a little too Aster friendly at the moment, but they’re just so attractive to wildlife, that who wouldn’t love them??!! I have three different species now and around 10 plants, but they should hopefully flower at slightly different times and therefore extend the season for the Bees/Hoverflies/Butterflies.

Karen - An Artist's Garden said...

Lovely butterfly pictures - butterflies are a bit scarce in my garden at the moment as we have not had musch sun - but my favorite images are of the grass lit by the evening sun - stunning
K