So from heatwave to downpour, the weather has been undeniably British! And all following on from a cold, wet spring. All through March and April I've been consoling myself through the grim weeks of misty murkiness by watching the progress of my Himalayan Blue Poppy (note the operative word 'blue'). 'So what if the weather's distinctly Scottish,' I thought. 'Himalayan Blue Poppies love it!' And sure enough it's been lapping it up, growing bigger and stronger than ever before. With glee and great excitement, I followed the progress of the little bud, from its initial position nestled amidst the rosette of leaves, right the way to the top of its precarious stalk. I ran out to the garden after work everyday to make sure it hadn't been squashed by a pigeon or a cat and waited, with great anticipation, for the bud to open. And then it did. And it was white.
Yes. White. Not blue. Not that beautiful, vibrant, luminous blue I've coveted for years. Boring old white. I mean, it's very pretty and everything (as you can see in the picture below), but really if I wanted a white poppy I'd just grow a normal white poppy, which requires far less effort! So, I'm looking forward to my Himalayan Blue Poppy story continuining another year, but for now I have a Himalayan White Poppy...
In other poppy news, my self-seeded ones are such a delight!! I'm so pleased I didn't go around hoiking out the Shirley poppies that didn't come out dainty pastel shades in the past. Now I have this glorious profusion of dark red poppies and they're all so individual...from single, dark red poppies to ruffled, many-petalled ones, to a tiny one with yellow stamens, and lots of big, pink ones as well! It's such a treat! I go on little poppy tours, delighting in their differences!
And the poppies are all combining with other plants for a wonderful overall effect...for example with the flax, with the roses, and with my Royal Purple Cotinus...
Other exciting combinations are the Ferdinand Pichard rose, looking lovely with the Rhododendron behind it...
And this little blood grass with the Alchemilla Molls behind it...
In my verge, the Achilleas I grew from seed are doing better than I ever could have hoped! They're terrifically tall and teeming with buds...and rather excitingly a lot of the blooms seem to be this gorgeous faded shade of peach, which is looking great with the self-seeded speedwell things (not entirely sure what they are, but they turn up everywhere, look great and are a favourite of the bees)...
Lots of the great combinations are complete accidents, but I'm pleased to say some of them were planned, like my Apricot Delight Evening Primrose, nestled amidst my Briza Media Limouzi. The colours compliment each other perfectly, especially when the flowers fade from creamy yellow to sumptious apricot...
And the Purple Sage and Stachys, which have always been a lovely foliage combination, are looking particularly lovely now they're both in flower...
During my mammoth weeding session yesterdy, I was thrilled to discover another few baby Stachys plants. I've always been a bit disappointed these didn't self-seed more freely, seeing as everyone else's do! But now I've got more gravelled areas, they're turning up everywhere! Fingers crossed before long I'll have more than I know what to do with!
On the subject of self-seeding, the corn flowers have done me proud again! The blue ones always do such a great job of brightening up the garden, and this year a couple of white ones have turne dup as well. For the first time, I spotted the plants when they were still small and transplanted them to more suitable locations (with 100% success!) so they're sitting much better amidst the other plants than they usually do!
In the patio area of the back garden, I'm also very excited to see a Californian poppy has seeded itself in the perfect place...in a crack in the bricks right on the edge of a little gravelled bit. Last year I planted some into the bed and they got carried away and swamped everything, so really pleased to see they're a bit out of the way this year, but still around to brighten the place up! And I'm always delighted by their unual buds, which look like pixie hats!
In the same little gravelled bed, I've planted an Orlaya this year, which should be far less intrustive than the californian poppies and add a lovely splash of light to the corner. I took a photograph of this one in bud and was amazed by how curly and intricate it is!
And of course, aside from flowers, there are lots of dazzling seed heads in the garden. I'm always amazed by how lovely the Alliums look even when they're over and, while Cristophii is always a bit more impressive than Purple Sensation, they're still pretty cool!
And the grasses are doing all kinds of lovely things. Unfortunately I can't remember what this one is, but it's one of my favourites at the moments, a little cloud of seeds!
And, already mentioned on this blog, my Quaking Grass is such a stunner, particularly when it gets caught in the sun like this!
So, there's that blog! I had a spree the other day and picked up a load of gorgeous new additions to my plant family! As soon as I get some good light I'll be out to capture them on camera and pop them on here!
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