#foxgloves

Six on Saturday – a walk around my garden 29 June 2019

/ karen / 25 Comments

Foxglove. Sutton’s Apricot.

Ethereal. “Extremely delicate and light in a way that seems not to be of this world.”

Exquisite, dainty, graceful, lovely. Will it seed about and make a glade. I hope so. There is so much hope in gardening.

Already seeding about successfully; pale geraniums. A hybrid, crossed with the native geraniums all along the lane, and my Johnson’s Blue varieties inside the garden gate. Looks just as beautiful at dusk when moths find the flowers irresistible. Seedlings vary from white though mauve to deep violet. Always a lovely surprise to see what turns up. You can buy a similar variety called Geranium Mrs Kendall Clark, or grow your own from seed.

I wrote about geraniums in my garden here https://bramblegarden.com/tag/wild-geraniums/

Wild dog roses – Rosa canina. The scent. The essence of a summer’s day. And beetles are welcome here too. Food for the bluetits and wrens currently feeding noisy fledglings all around the garden.

Rosa New Dawn. Another pale beauty. Easy to grow, climbs to the top of a willow tree and drips petals on to the pond. Never needs any sprays or pruning. Just looks after itself.

I hope you’ve enjoyed your walk around my garden today. After all that rain, it feels like summer is starting at last. It’s sunny and the temperature is 28C. I’ll be spending a lot of time sitting in the shade. Enjoy your weekend.

Links: SOS : https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2019/06/29/six-on-saturday-29-06-2019/

Foxglove Sutton’s apricot: https://www.mr-fothergills.co.uk/Flower-Seed/Foxglove-Seed/Foxglove-Suttons-Apricot.html#.XRdUymfTWfA

Geranium pratense: https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/7914/Geranium-pratense/Details

Rosa canina : https://www.hopesgrovenurseries.co.uk/shop/hedging/rose-hedging/rose-dog-hedging/

Rosa New Dawn :https://www.davidaustinroses.co.uk/new-dawn

You might also like to read : https://bramblegarden.com/tag/wild-geraniums/

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Six on Saturday. Joining in for the first time.

/ karen / 37 Comments

Six photos from my garden and potting shed this week.

Catching the light in my potting shed window: Old Man’s Beard, wild clematis vitalba. Commonly called traveller’s joy. I stand on tip toe, reaching into hedgerows to harvest long stems with silver seed heads. They’re a lovely addition to winter flower arrangements.

Silver coins. Honesty seeds. Hanging from the rafters to dry. They will be tucked in amongst rosehips, holly and ivy for Christmas decorations.

Chinese lanterns, harvested in October. I love the various shades of orange. They fade to a delicate papery apricot colour. And left long enough, they become transparent.

My potting shed window looks out onto the wild garden. So heartening to see hazel branches with lambs-tail catkins. A welcome reminder that spring will return. The twigs make useful supports for my paperwhite narcissi and hyacinths which are in the dark under my point shed bench at the moment.

The last few golden leaves are fluttering in the breeze. Hazel, maple, ash trees make a mini woodland. I’ve planted 200 foxgloves in the wild garden. We sowed the seed in mid summer, pricked them out in August, and planted out, they will sit making roots over winter. I’m growing Sutton’s Apricot, a glorious silky, peach- coloured foxglove, and Pam’s Choice- white with a blackcurrant thumb print in each flower.

It’s dusk before I finish planting. I stand by the pond watching blackbirds taking a last-minute bath. I wonder how they can stand the cold water. I expect it keeps their feathers in good condition. A tawny owl glides silently along the field hedge. Short-tailed voles live in the long grass here. Within minutes, it’s dark. It’s not like in summer, where there’s enough moonlight to potter around. November dark is cold, pitch black. Time to go indoors, light a fire and make hot chocolate.

I hope you’ve enjoyed a walk around my garden with me tonight. I’m joining https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/ for his Six on Saturday meme. What jobs are you doing in your garden this weekend?