The colour of the blue trumpets in the Gentian below is one I have loved for many, many years. Heather on the other hand, shown in the last photo of this post, is not a plant I am fond of in a garden setting (preferring to see it on hillsides).
As this blog celebrates flowering blooms in a small Scottish garden outside on some hillsides, fields and in some gardens, banners of ‘Yes’ and ‘No Thanks’ are being displayed. For those outside the UK, on Thursday the people of Scotland are voting on the question “Should Scotland be an independent country?”. We will no longer be a part of the UK and Great Britain if the answer is ‘Yes’. This is a very scary week for everyone voting – both young and old.
Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day (GBBD) is an invitation to bloggers from Carol at May Dreams Gardens to share what’s flowering in our gardens on the 15th of the month. Its relaxing to browse the links to gardens around the world and a great way to discover new garden blogs and get inspiration for our gardens!
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Back after a long absence, my September star plant – Gentiana sino-ornata.
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Pre breakfast ‘Marmalade’ blooms from the Heuchera’s above wildlife pond.
It was a 7:30am GBBD camera dash yesterday morning before the rain came on.
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A GBBD first – flowering plants from the new wildlife pond 🙂
Penny Royal (Mentha pulegium) & Lesser spearwort (Ranunculus flammula).
Back on land, the borders are lush with green foliage. Rich, late season colour contrasts with the white blooms. Lots left to feed bees & butterflies 🙂
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Erysimum ‘Bowles’s Mauve’ is a favourite feeding stop for bees & butterflies.
A fav plant at this GBBD garden, it is appearing in more borders each year 🙂
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Borage appears in borders all by itself which the bees will be happy about.
The delicate white borage spreads more slowly than the pretty blue above.
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Red Campion (grown from seed with the Borage a number of years ago)
needs a bit more keeping in check as it can swamp the borders if left alone.
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Bird’s-foot Trefoil (grown from seed 2 yrs ago) was a childhood like. Its name refers to the appearance of the seed pods on their stalk seen above.
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A Californian poppy was a surprise pop-up for this September GBBD.
It first appeared in the garden a few years ago as an annual seed sowing.
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Winter losses a few years ago included a Jasmine. I doubted it could ever regrow but didn’t remove its roots. This year it has lots of sweetly scented blooms 🙂
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Bought solely to attract Bullfinches to feed on its spent flowers when gone to seed, Heather ‘Peter Sparkes’ has its first flowers in my basket planting.
A winter gardenwatching experiment is the plan for the heather above – any variety would have done. Getting the idea from a piece on BBC Two’s Autumnwatch/Winterwatch, two plants were bought ‘in seed’ back in January. We didn’t get a particularly cold winter to test them out. Perhaps the Bullfinches will find the heather seeds without the very cold temps that bring the larger groups of mixed finches into the garden 🙂
Ooops… here I am mentioning winter in the garden when the leaves are yet to turn! Sorry about that… let’s rewind a bit… back to September where I would like to wish you a very Happy GBBD! Oh yes… one quick question for you before you go… what’s your September star plant?
Copyright: Original post published on https://www.shirlsgardenwatch.co.uk/ by blog author Shirley, September 16th 2014.
I lobe gentian blue – our borage is the same (similar) colour.
I hope things turn out for you whatever the result of the vote,
You have so many beautiful plants blooming now Shirley. I love the heathers. I guess that may be because I can't grow them here. It gets too hot and dry. I do purchase them as fall annuals. They last well into winter.
I wish you and your country well no matter how the vote goes. I can imagine how scary it would feel to be going through this process.
Oops, forgot the stars in my garden now. I think I would say the Toad Lilies and the japanese Anemones. They always make me smile.
Bellissima quella Gentiana! Non la conoscevo! D'altronde anche tutte le altre piante che mostri sono molto belle, Grazie!
Un saluto 🙂
I love your gentian… you just moved them on to my "must have" list. 🙂
Thanks for your comment at WMG also… It was nice to remember your lovely blog today and have a look around!
~Julie
I sowed Gentian this late spring , they are still quite small, something to look forward to next year !
I hope all turns out for the best for Scotland !
Love your Gentian, such a super blue. You certainly have lots flowering in your garden at the moment.
I was concerned when I read in your post that Scotland will be leaving the UK if people vote "no" Surely it is the other way round, it is the "yes" vote that will mean the break up of the UK. We are all hoping here that the vote will be for you to stay.
Hello everyone, thanks for all your comments 🙂
Sue, There are many gentian blues but there is something about this one I love – it has striped markings too. Yes, the shade of the blue borage is similar (we have it too) I love to see that dotted about and the bees love it too as you will know. Thanks 🙂 Whichever way it goes, there is no going back (as you will know) which is the scariest thing.
Lisa, Thank-you! Isn’t that just the way, we all fancy plants we can’t grow – I admire many of yours especially those toad lilies every September GBBD! I never thought of the heather being used as an annual – great! Thanks, it is very scary when the polls say it is neck and neck. Every single vote is going to count.
pontos, delighted that you enjoyed seeing the gentians and my other blooms. Happy GBBD 🙂
Julie, brilliant – I love when that happens. I’ve added to my garden lisits many times over the years of viewing GBBD posts. I enjoyed my visit today – I’ve missed blog hopping as much as I used to 🙂
Linda, Ah… I’ve never sown seeds for that gentian but I have lifted and carefully spread its fine roots around successfully – perhaps we will see your blooms next Sept GBBD! Thanks, it’s going to be a big day whichever way it turns out.
Pauline, Thank-you! That gentian blue is a cracker isn’t it? Oh but that was a cracking mistake I made when I published this post – thanks so much for pointing it out… Phew! I don’t believe I wrote that. My brain must have corrected it the many times I re-read it. I was writing this post in the wee small hours and scheduled it to print in the morning – I’ll reconsider doing that again. A mix of tiredness and emotions were clearly to blame but how I didn’t see my mistake in the morning is beyond me! I properly wrestled with my conscience on mentioning the vote at all and how much to say. Be reassured, I fully understand the question I will be answering on Thursday.
It is indeed a very important day for Scotland Shirley. It has certainly encouraged plenty of dialog.
Your some great colour still going on in your garden.
I had no idea about the heather and the bullfinches. We have bullfinches here but they never visit my garden. Guess what I'll be buying next time I'm in a GC.
So many pretty flowers in your garden right now, love the way you have photographed them and the collage too. I especially like the borage and the red campion, they look so delicate and mystical.
Loved your Gentiana, I have never had it before, something to put on my wish-list. And you have a lovely collection of flowers right now, as for September star plant…very difficult to choose! The sunflowers are looking great in my garden, so are the dahlias, but I think I have to choose the fuchsias, they are in full flower and will just go on and on until we get frost, if we get any.
Really enjoyed your post Shirl – and we all wish Scotland well.
I love gentians but only have limited success with the type you picture so beautifully.
I was privileged to see masses of Gentiana verna in the wild on my holiday in Tignes recently.
Oh and I love my heathers – colour and character all the year round!
Hello everyone, thanks for all your comments. Apologies for my delay in replies. I am very relieved that Scotland has chosen to stay part of the UK .
Angie, It was and the dialog is still ongoing and will be for some time to come I suspect. Thanks, my colour is spotty now. I believe it was a new discovery for the Autumnwatch team to film Bullfinches feeding on heather moors. They never mentioned it in gardens but I’m trying it out just to see 🙂
Suzie, thank-you! I take a ridiculous time deciding which photos I finally use with much time cropping and editing wasted. I have many, many images as record shots. I agree about the borage in particular 🙂
Helene, that gentian was my first and will always be my favourite – do add it to your list! Sunflowers and dahlias – I’ve seen quite a few stunning dahlias recently that’s for sure – individual shots didn’t make it to my next post 🙁 Ah… but fuchsias are one of these plants that you love or hate and I’m afraid I’m in the hate camp. I have gardening friends that love them though – enjoy yours for as long as you can 🙂
Roger, thank-you! I suspect there will be much discussion yet in Scotland and now in other parts of the UK. After having this vote hanging over us for 18 months it is a relief that part is over. Sorry to hear you haven’t had success with this gentian – I think once it establishes into a good clump it is happy. I’m too comfortable in pulling it’s delicate roots apart and replanting them – it lets me away with it some of the time though! Now… verna in the wild must have been a stunning sight – I’m going green there 😉 Oh yes… heathers certainly have character right enough – enjoy yours 🙂