Wednesday, 5 June 2013

In Bloom

It's nice to have lots of colour in the garden now that the sun is shining. It took a long time for some things to flower this year owing to the cold start, and some things are really late. My tulips are still in flower and my lilac was about a month later than it usually is to bloom, still, better late than never as they say.

The tulips are just starting to fade now. I planted Queen Of Night, an almost black variety, which were underplanted with these white anemones. They looked very good together.


This is aquilegia vulgaris, a plant which I bought, but I have other aquilegias in the garden too, mostly ones which self seeded, though I've also got some McKana Hybrids which I grew from seed.


This aquilegia has just popped up this year. It's a very pale pink, almost white, which is quite unusual as all the self seeded aquilegias in my garden have always been either purple or pink, it's nice to have something a bit different for a change.


The chives are in flower at the moment and the bees are loving them. I don't use many herbs in the kitchen but this is one herb which I use quite frequently.


I love the chives' cousin, the ornamental allium. I've had these in the garden for some time now but the numbers have dwindled, I really must buy some more as they're such a stunning flower. I believe these are Purple Sensation, but I'm not totally sure.


My dicentra, or Bleeding Heart, was very late to flower this year. The blooms are just starting to fade now.


Foliage is also looking good at the moment. I love the rich colour of these heuchera leaves, I'm not sure which variety it is. As you can tell, I'm not very good at labelling plants or keeping notes, I must do better.


It's good to see that summer has arrived at last, long may it continue.

22 comments:

  1. I love aquilegias too and alliums. We planted the alliums only this year, scattered around the garden in groups of three or four. I will buy more next year as I think that they may look better en masse. Our lilac is flowering too and I love the smell as I walk past.
    June

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    1. I like alliums spread through the border, mine are very sparse now so I'm definitely going to buy more. The lilac scent is intoxicating, absolutely beautiful. My tree is right outside my bedroom window so the scent wafts in when I have the window open.

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  2. Lots of colour and foliage for you to enjoy. I second your last sentence! Flighty xx

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    1. It's taken a while for everything to get going this year, so I'm going to really enjoy it all now that the blooms are here.

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  3. Gorgeous photos! My chives haven't flowered yet, but they are covered in buds.I think they may have been checked slightly as I brought them from the allotment and put them in the garden a few weeks ago.

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    1. You do well with all the plants that you move. It may check them but they soon catch up again. I have a geranium which I moved in to the front garden from the back last year and it's blooming away. I think it prefers it's new position, though geraniums seem to do well wherever I plant them.

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  4. My chives have just flowered this week Jo. Are they late? I've also got alliums in flower too and the odd aquilegia.

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    1. I'm not sure when chives usually flower, but most things are late this year so perhaps the chives are too. I'd like to get some different alliums, they're such lovely flowers.

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  5. Great photos! My clematis is finally starting to flower. It's been in bud for WEEKS and I'd almost given up all hope of anything happening. I hope that weather stays nice for you into next weekend. Jx

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    1. I bought a new clematis this year, but it isn't doing much up to now. It seems to have taken most things an age to flower this year so your clematis isn't alone. Enjoy the blooms now that they're finally here.

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  6. Love all your flowers and wish we could grow dicentra here. Have tried, but always lose it. Have you ever tried the drumstick alliums? I have a couple and noticed they are coming up again this year.

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    1. I love dicentra. It's grown so big though that I'm going to have to have a go at dividing it. If I'm successful, it should give me some new plants for free. I've never grown drumstick alliums, though I'd like to try some different varieties than those I've already got.

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  7. Great photos, Jo. My chives are just beginning to flower and my aquilegia is a glorious purple colour. :o)

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    1. It's great when old favourites start to flower again. I look forward each year to the chives flowering, it isn't only me who waits in anticipation, it's the bees too, they love the flowers.

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  8. I love white flowers and have been gradually adding plants with white flowers into the garden. I can imagine your anemones looked good with the dark tulips. We have a lot of purples and reds in the garden at the moment though - the colour scheme seems to change from year to year depending on where Hubs has decided he will plant some of his propagated plants.

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    1. I used to have very few white flowers in the garden, but I'm loving them more and more as time goes on. Gardens tend to evolve and colours change. I have lots of pinks and purples at the moment, as I'm sure you can tell by the photos.

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  9. Hi Jo, your flowers look lovely. I like the bleeding hearts, the allium and of course the lilac. On my walks in the morning with my bears, I have spotted a few bushes amazing smell! We have heuchera in the garden here as well big canopy leaves. Nice to know what it is called. Did spot some at Harlow Carr but forgot the name!

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    1. There's lots of lilac trees which I pass on my walks with Archie, the scent is just fabulous. I always look forward to passing each one at this time of year.

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  10. Hi Jo, not sure if my first comment went through, usually it says so. But your flowers look lovely, I like them all especially the bleeding hearts, the allium and of course the lilac. See alot of it on my morning walk with my bears. Amazing smell. We have heuchera leaves in the garden as well, had not seen it before, lovely big canopy leaves. The bluebells are still in bloom in my garden, as long as we can keep Farley from sitting on them!

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    1. You can get heuchera in lots of different colours, but I prefer the darker leaved varieties. It must be hard keeping Farley from doing anything he wants to. My bluebells are looking past their best now, I don't think they'll be around much longer.

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  11. I love all the plants you have shown us, I bet they are all enjoying the sun as much as we are!
    I like the sound of the dark tulips with the white flowers.
    Lisa x

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    1. They've certainly put on plenty of growth since the sunny days came along. The dark tulips really stood out with the white underplanting.

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