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Edinburgh Botanics for June GBBD

Twas a rainy day in my garden today… my camera never made it outdoors. However, yesterday on a visit to the Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh we had sunshine and a cool breeze and a few blooms caught my eye.

First there were the poppies. It’s been a few years since I’ve had them in my garden. How pretty the poppy looks in all stages of growth and what a wonderful selection of colours from bright to pastel.

Then there were the Irises. I can never really decide if I am a fan of this plant for my own garden but I can’t deny they are striking when I see their markings up close.

I am a fan of the deep red thistle blooms of Cirsium rivulare (as are visiting bees) and recently I have moved some around my garden. As for the deep red Astrantia, I have finally added it to a newly revamped border and when we get a dry spell I’ll get my camera out and share how it is settling in.

Oh… I always swoon when I see plantings of Primula vialii. I have tried to grow it in my garden but lost it. Perhaps I disturbed it and it wasn’t happy about that. It’s maybe time to try it again in my new border. On the other side of the path cranesbill geraniums scramble – I love this plant too and pink ones can be found in my new border.

New borders in a garden always catch my eye. I love the excitement and expectation they bring. I also love to see new ideas and plantings too. I rather like this one at Edinburgh Botanics. I love the use of tree stumps and the plantings ranged from Ferns and Hostas to more exotic looking plants. The delicate Aquilegia blooms caught my eye.

Of course, as in all gardens that are regularly visited, there was one planting I went expecting to see. I knew that it might be at optimum flowering. It was and I wasn’t disappointed. Yep… that infamous blue poppy that appeared in my last post at the end of May… the Meconopsis.

Today, on the 15th of the month, many garden bloggers will have joined Carol at May Dreams Gardens in Indiana, USA in posting on what’s flowering in their gardens today. It’s always fascinating to see how far ahead/behind plants are in other parts of the world on the same day – take a look here .

Back in my own garden I have been busy between showers (and during) trying to get it back into order and refreshing border plantings too. LOL…. the more I do, the more I find I need to do! Garden birds continue to bring wonderful life to my garden and when I stop evening gardening I find myself sitting at my PC monitor watching for Hedgehogs wandering by outside in my garden.

Tonight, it’s raining and I don’t usually see many hedgehog sightings on nights like this. However, the new ‘garden integrated’ location for Hedgehog Manor (hedgehog feeding station) is proving quite popular as I’ve seen via an IR camera inside. There have been four sightings tonight and I’m fairly confident that includes the same one twice.

I’ve located another cam outside and as I have been writing this post seen the second hedgehog spotted dining in Hedgehog Manor tonight chasing another hedgehog away outside when it saw it approach. Hedgehogs really can be quite boisterous towards each other. Bulldozers is a description I have heard regarding their behaviour and that is pretty accurate.

Wishing everyone taking part in Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day – a good one! I’m guessing the rain has caught many people/gardens out in the South of the UK and in Wales where there has been much flooding. It’s been a lot brighter up our way here in Scotland but we are getting some showers now too.

This post was written by Shirley for shirls gardenwatch in June 2012.

11 thoughts on “Edinburgh Botanics for June GBBD

  1. Thanks for the wonderful tour of the Edinburgh Botanic Garden!
    Happy Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!
    Lea
    Lea's Menagerie

  2. Hi Shirl,

    I think it's about time I made my way up to Edinburgh again to visit the Botanic Garden. I didn't get to see it all last time, so it would be nice to be able to spend the day relaxing and wandering around.

  3. Wonderful way of making use of a tree stump! The blue poppy is a native of the Himalayas, but I have never come across them in profusion although I visit the Himalayas often.

  4. Lucky you to have some rain. Here it is hot and dry. I have ran the sprinkler alllll day today. I was tired of looking out to see droopy plants and tan grass. It is a sorry sight here. Love seeing all of these spring (for us) plants blooming. Your little hedgehogs are always a delight to see.

  5. I love the poppies. After four attempts, I'd finally gotten one plant started in my yard. Then my son mowed it … I planted a patch with poppy seeds on June's Bloom Day and hope to be able to enjoy some blossoms in coming years. Thanks for the look ahead.

  6. Your photo of the poppies reminded me I should have taken a photo of mine today. Too late now, deluge forecast for tomorrow.
    That's a lovely display of primula vialli, I've tried to grow it, but not been very successful.

  7. Lots of people have been posting their wonderful poppies, they are special plants. I love seeing your webcam pictures. Christina

  8. I have already told you I am envious of your hedgehog friends as my hedgehog house remains empty. We have spotted black bits of poo though and I'm convinced we have a night time visitor! Saving up for a garden camera like yours.

  9. Hello everyone, thank-you for all your comments 🙂

    I’m delighted you enjoyed sharing our garden visit. There’s always something to catch the eye on garden visits – especially in large ones. My trouble is always in controlling the number of times I take my camera out as it can spoil the enjoyment of the garden. I suspect I’ll not be alone with this 😀

    Lea, Liz, lotusleaf, Lisa, cityslipper, Crystal, Christina, and Pat- sorry it’s been rude of me not to get back to my blog after I had posted but as you will see from my next post my garden works have been keeping me away – a bit more than I expected. I hope you’ve all been enjoying your gardens too. Those poppies were nice weren’t they? Hope you’ve seen some hedgehog visits by now, Pat 🙂

  10. It looked like a very pleasant visit Shirl. All the poppies are so colourful. I have tried to grow the Primula vialli but unfortunately without success, they are such attractive and unusual looking flowers!

    Good to see the Hedgehogs are still visiting 🙂

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