Uncategorised

Evening Bloom Day preview

For the last few weeks I have been privileged to be able to see the reality of the processes of a nesting bird. I have seen this in detail through the camera in my Nestbox. In this time the plants in my garden have also gone through quite a few processes.

The Spring bulbs have all died down and alliums are now running through my garden in many different stages of flower. The herbs are growing well now too and didn’t this simple chive flower look fantastic in the evening sun last night. It is by photographing the plants in my garden that I really appreciate the details of the flowers. The chives look great joining in the parade of alliums!

On Sunday I will join Carol at May Dreams Gardens for a posting of what is in flower in my garden then. So these photos are just a taster from last night. I do like to take photos in the evening or early morning light. I love the colours captured then especially white flowers like the celmisia.

Ah… but my wisteria flowers really catch the evening sun on its top branches climbing over my pergola. Some flowers get a little shading from the leaves but look equally beautiful. The deep vibrancy of the orange flower of the geum looked fantastic too last night – I only wish this flower would last longer!

My front garden gets the most sunlight. In the evening sun you can really see why stipa gigantea gets the name of the golden oat grass. Its flowers did sparkle like gold last night. The lighting last night really shows the value of textural plants in the garden too. We had the silky golden grass flower, the shimmering spikes of the sea holly and the soft blanket of the stachys. I love the interest these type of plants have in the garden – you just want to touch them gently as you walk by.

Depending on the weather I might use my video camera on Sunday for my Bloom Day posting. Below the montage mix from last night shows some of the firework flowers of the allium coming and going, aquilegia, clematis Picardi, cirsium, clematis Miss Bateman and the blue meconopsis.


Later last night I spotted a large fat orange moth at the aquilegia above. It was almost dark. We have had a lot of bat activity just before dusk these last few nights and I can now see why. As I walked around I spotted quite a few moths visiting my flowers. I must get my video camera out to see what I can capture. The bats appeared bigger than last year but I am guessing they are adult pipistrelle. Bat visits are not new to my garden but I have never noticed so many flying together. My garden must have a good food source for them at the moment.

So the warmer evenings are the nights to see some more interesting wildlife visiting the garden. However we have another visitor to my garden at this time of night that I get itchy just thinking about. The infamous Scottish midges have just little swarms around my garden, often near my hedge, but they bite just the same! However if you were going hill walking in Scotland I would recommend you take a midge net with you. Simon King when presenting for BBC’s Springwatch last night was wearing one in the Cairngorms. They are definitely not the most glamorous of head gear but I would consider it – although not while gardening!

Enjoy your garden this weekend. I wonder what you will see there?

All photos above were taking in my garden on the evening of June 12th 2008.

13 thoughts on “Evening Bloom Day preview

  1. We are to have a good rain this afternoon and I will take some pictures of blooms. Right now my garden doesn’t have many blooms. I will have to work on that this year with looking for more flowers that will bloom in shade at this time. Your blooms are wonderful. I love the way you present them.

  2. You have quite a few plants here that I hanker after, alliums, and blue meconopsis are currently high on my must have list.
    Lovely pictures, lovely plants
    Regards
    Karen

  3. What a fabulous display!!! Wow! Thx for sharing.
    Remember a few months ago when I asked for advice on a fence? Well we have been building a custom fence for our front garden, Stop by and see. It should all come together in the next 2 weeks as the local Garden Tour is coming through then!
    Carol
    terranovadesign.blogspot.com

  4. Beautiful pictures – your garden must look wonderful right now and I totally agree with regard to the midges – I think this was one of the biggest downsides of living in Scotland – having said that the Mosquitos in Brittany have a mean bite as well – not far off that of horse flies or Clegs as they call them in your neck of the woods!

    Have a great weekend… Miranda

  5. Hi Shirl, your note re the midge brings back memories… and not good ones 🙂

    As for Stipa gigantia, I planted one last year, it didn’t do anything (not a suprise) but this year it’s gone from 12 inches to 7 feet in a month…glorious in the sun.

  6. Hi there Lisa, Nancy, Karen, Mo, Carol, Miranda, Garden girl and Border 🙂

    Lisa – You had a good show for GBBD I see despite your predicted rain. I love your deep day lily and the fox tail lilies too. However for me it was the Tradescantia ‘Sweet Kate’ that caught my eye. I really should plant that in my garden. I love both the flowers and the foliage. Thank-you, it is great to see the flowers close-up but when you see the garden as a whole through video in my GBBD post you will see that my flowers are just a scattering among the foliage at the moment. Thanks, I love experimenting with my presentations. Have a good week.:-D

    Nancy – Yes, they really do! I just love them. Thanks, I was really surprised at how pretty the chive flower looked. Have a good week.:-D

    Karen – perhaps you will get them at Crug Farm! I enjoyed your posting on meeting up with your garden blogging friend. Great you had weather for paddling too. I can just imagine the chatting you did! Thanks, I also enjoyed your pics for GBBD especially the bee at the poppy. Have a good week.:-D

    Mo – well I wouldn’t have thought of the ‘Avon Lady’ coming to the rescue with the midge. Thanks, I do enjoy making the montages but they can take some time deciding what and how to group. I am just too fussy for my own good when it comes to colour. BTW Great bird shots on your Inspiring Moments blog and I enjoyed the views from your walk at the weekend too. Have a good week.:-D

    Carol – Thank-you! I have just popped over to see your new fence. It is certainly taking ‘shape’ nicely! Hope you get all the work that you want done in time for your opening. Have a good week.:-D

    Miranda – Thank-you! As I am sure you will know these are snapshots of flowers but they really are all surrounded by lots of green. You’ll see what I mean when I post my GBBD videos. Some areas of Scotland are worse than others re the midge. We really aren’t too bad in my garden – but they are always there if I work during the evening in my garden. Ah… ‘the Cleg’ I can feel bumps on my legs at the thought! Yep I can imagine that you would have mosquitos in your garden – the shear size of them bothers me. I suppose at least you can see them coming! Have a good week.:-D

    Garden girl – Thank-you, the colours are just lovely with all the green foliage in my garden. I just love the foliage you have in your garden. The lamium in your GBBD post brought back memories. I once had that and a golden foliage one too. Ah… but I smiled seeing your pic with the impatiens spilling out the broken pot. I also loved your aquilegia. Have a good week.:-D

    Border – Yep… don’t you just want to scratch when you hear just the mention of the midge? Ah… your stipa sounds fantastic. It will also be a couple of weeks ahead of ours in height. It is amazing how quickly they head for the sky. Mine didn’t do so well in its first year either. I then decided to move into a pot, then the next year into the ground and then the next year I divided it. It clearly wasn’t happy with its travels but now it is really making an impact in my front garden so I have decided to leave it where it is… for now! It is absolutely glorious in the sun as you say and for that reason I will probably leave it a few years in my front garden. Have a good week.:-D

  7. great pics. It is a wonderful time of year for gardeners. Thanks for commenting on my blog, I am glad to have found yours!

  8. I love the way you present all your beautiful and interesting plants in the collage. Alliums have gone here already some weeks ago. I’ve cut all my Spring flowers and also a lot of summer flowers already. Your garden must be very nice now!
    Enjoy the sunny days!

  9. It’s neat how we have some similar plants in bloom together, Shirl–your climate is more like mine at this time of year, or vice versa, though I STILL have lots of tulips and probably will for another week or so.

  10. Hi again Muum, Barbara and Jodi 🙂

    Muum – Thank-you! I agree it is a great time of year. I enjoyed my visit to your blog too. It is great to find new ones isn’t it? Have a good week 😀

    Barbara – Thank-you! Gosh I didn’t realise Switzerland was so far ahead of Scotland. Ah… but you have so many beautiful roses flowering now! Thanks, wishing you plenty of sunny days this year too. Have a good week 😀

    Jodi – Yes, especially with you being so far away in Nova Scotia! Oh… wonderful that you are still enjoying your tulips. All your plants seemed to take a while to wake up this year. I bet there is no stopping them now. Glad to hear that your internet is working faster now too – maybe you will be able to view my videos now. Have a good week 😀

Leave a Reply