garden photos

More Garden Sights

I’ve been busy in the garden lately, but I managed to take these photos.

Heuchera and white Arabis — Heuchera “Timeless Orange” and white Arabis

Labrador violet (Viola labradorica) — Labrador violet. The purple flowers and hint of red in the leaves are a delightful combination.

Cedar bench and potted Hellebores and Hostas — The cedar stump bench near the pond — a familiar sight I keep returning to. Hellebore “Pirouette” in final bloom stage.

White camellia visiting from my neighbour’s garden.

Tomato seedlings ready for potting on — Tomato seedlings ready to pot up.

Tomato seedlings potted on — Now potted up!

Gorgeous weather here — sunny and temperatures of 15+ C (60s in degrees F). Wishing everyone a Happy Easter weekend!

Spring Sights 2020

To my surprise, I forgot to schedule the post I had intended for today (March 22nd). I’ll schedule it for next week, and in the meantime, here are some photos from my garden taken on the first day of spring.

Rhubarb emerging — Rhubarb leaves. Wrinkly when young, smoothing out as they mature.

Erythronium oregonum, Fawn lily — Fawn lily (*Erythronium oregonum*) and *Chionodoxa lucilae*

Daffodil, white and yellow — Daffodil (variety unknown)

Sedge, Carex and garden ornament — Huge clump of sedge (*Carex morrowii*) and garden ornament

Hellebore "Ruby Wine" — Hellebore “Ruby Wine”

Hellebore, white with purple spots — This hellebore was a nice surprise. It’s a seedling from one of my old plants, which are mostly pink and purple.

I was about to say something about the garden being a welcome diversion in these days of staying at home and “social distancing,” but that would be inaccurate. The truth is I prefer messing about in the garden to most kinds of socializing.

Fellow bloggers, how are you coping with whatever virus-avoiding situation you’re in? Are you reading, watching, or maybe even writing? Is anyone getting bored?

Almost Wordless Wednesday: Winter Jasmine

This reliable plant starts blooming in November and doesn’t quit until April. If it were scented, it would be perfect, but even without that it comes close.

winter jasmine, yellow flowers, Jasminum nudiflorum

Almost Wordless Wednesday: Autumn Sights

I love fall, so I probably take more pictures of the garden as it goes through autumn than any other season. The first eight photos are from former years; the four at the bottom of the display were taken a few days ago, including the ones of the Amanita mushroom* and the dahlia.

*This is not the mushroom I wrote about in a recent post. It may be a relative, however!

Silent Sunday: Goodbye, Summer

Wordless Wednesday: Blackberry Bloom, Hydrangea, and Summer Flowers

Lacecap hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla)

Almost Silent Sunday: Lily “Golden Splendour”

I intended to beaver up a writing-related post this week, but couldn’t marshal my thoughts. So the trumpet lily “Golden Splendour” must stand in for me. It is well-named — huge flowers on five-foot stems. I only wish the photos could convey the luxurious perfume as well.

Confession: the photos are from 2010 and 2012. The lilies are blooming right now and look just like this, but I have them netted against deer. Our current gang of urban deer eat all sorts of things — fennel and pelargoniums (geraniums) as well as the usual daylilies and asters. I didn’t want to take a chance with “Golden Splendour.” The black plastic netting and the clothespins holding it to the stakes look a bit weird and detract from the beauty of the flowers.

Silent Sunday: Mellow Yellow Mullein

Verbascum chaixii, yellow mullein with purple stamens

Verbascum chaixii, yellow mullein with purple stamens, close-up

The Marvels of May

May is over, but here is a bouquet of sights from my garden gathered during that month. It was a great year for irises. Two managed to bloom that had not for years, probably due to shade and dry conditions. And I have blue poppies once more. I can’t take any credit for them as yet; if they survive the next winter to bloom again, I’ll have something to brag about. The mass of yellow bloom on the right side of the featured photo is a giant kale plant, almost a tree.

Pale yellow irises with dark red purple bearded irises — These irises (names unknown to me) have always been here. This year they’re blooming better than normal.

Pale yellow irises — Dependable pale yellow iris, type and name unknown to me. They’re increasing nicely in the dry shade of the back garden.

Bearded iris, white with blue edge — Surprise iris (not it’s real name). I vaguely remember it in bloom many years ago. I moved it to a better spot a couple of years ago; it must be happy there.

Purple bearded iris — Another surprise iris, a big purple one this time. No idea when I planted it. It must have languished bloomless for years, until now.

Primula auricula in bloom with tomato plants and potted dahlia with blooming thyme in background — Primula auricula. I have two plants, which both bloomed well this year. Small tomato plants in lower left corner, sprouting dahlia “Bishop of Llandaff” above.

White foxglove with thalictrum behind — Volunteer (meaning self-sown) foxglove. It’s right at the front of a border, but I’m glad I didn’t weed it out.

White foxglove spotless — Close up of the foxglove flowers. It’s totally spotless; a plant elsewhere has purple spots inside the flowers.

Urban deer — Trouble in paradise — plant-nibbling urban deer. They cruise by regularly and sample the garden buffet. On the plus side, I’ve seen them eating bindweed.

Mixed foliage in the front garden with "Pink Panda" ornamental strawberry flowers — Mixed foliage in the front garden, with a few flowers of ornamental strawberry “Pink Panda”

Here are four photos of the two blue poppy plants I bought a few months ago. Their labels call them Meconopsis sheldonii “Lingholm” (grandis).

Rosa glauca, red-leaf rose, blooming in the rain — Rain-washed leaves and flowers of the red-leaf rose, *Rosa glauca*. The inch or so of rain was most welcome.

I’m looking forward to June, but sorry to see the end of iris time.

Spring Sights: Tulips and More

I took these photos over several weeks in April and early May. Of course, gardens never stay the same. By now, tulip time is over and we’re into iris time.

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