Garden Bloom Day July 2008

...meets Wordless Wednesday!

To read some chat from other garden blogs posting on what's in flower this month pop over to Carol's post and browse the comments.

All photos were taken on 14th July 2008.

Garden Bloom Day June 2008

On Sunday, the 15th of the month, I took some video from my garden for my Bloom Day post. I am perhaps a little late in adding my post to Carol’s comment list of 104 tonight but I plan to anyway. Carol won’t mind – it’s the taking part that counts.

My Friday posting has already shown some flowers of the moment but it might be assumed that from these photos my garden was a blaze of colour. Not so, as you will see from my videos below. The flowers are really sitting in a sea of greens. I love the way my garden is looking at the moment. Soon more flowers will burst into colour but I like this time just before when green is still the dominant colour.

I could chat on about the videos before you view them but this time I will just keep this post simple and relaxing.










I have a new video camera that I just haven’t had time to experiment with properly. The quality of capture is much better than my old camera but after my initial video upload to Google video tonight I was unhappy with the viewing quality. That is why I have tried out Blip.tv for a change.

I am trying to find a way to show clearer video with the camera moving. This is tricky over the internet. Although the videos above are still not of the original quality they are much improved and I am fairly happy with them. You will perhaps notice that there is a toggle button to full screen but for a better image I would suggest you view it the size given above. I enjoy experimenting with moving film as much as with my still camera.

Finally, I have to add that I do have a few other flowers that have not made it in this posting as they were still in pots at the time of filming on Sunday morning. It was a very busy weekend and I do have a very special story to tell concerning one of the plants I bought and a garden visit I made on Saturday. I will keep you waiting a little longer for that!

The videos shown above were taken in my garden on June 15th 2008.

Garden Bloom Day May 2008

My bloom day posts have finally come full circle and now this is where these postings will become interesting. May 2007 saw my first Bloom Day post and now I can compare the stages of flower in my garden month by month. I can confirm that, like Carol, my garden is further behind last year.

May is such a wonderful month and without a doubt my favourite month in the garden. The growth that the plants have put on in these last two weeks since we have had warmer weather has transformed the garden. Tonight it is raining so this will refresh the plants once more. My garden is mostly in partial shade and spring is a great time of year for plants that like shade.


My wisteria buds now have opened and the flower racemes are putting on strong growth. The flowers will grow approximately three times the length of the ones shown in the larger photo above before they will begin to open.

I am trying once again to grow sweet peas by sowing straight into the ground in my front garden. They are now starting to grow inside my obelisks so we will see how successful this will be. I have never really mastered growing this plant. If it comes up weedy looking with very few flowers I usually pull it out!

The borage seed I did not sow – well not this year any way. It was probably about three years ago when I did but they self seed quite freely so it comes back every year. I always let a few grow and pull the others out.

Some small stemmed tulips are coming into flower now too although I am not sure that I am going to like these ones. I found the bulbs about a month ago when tidying my shed. I now don't remember my thinking when I bought them! They had started to sprout so I decided I was as well putting them in the ground. I used baskets once again so I could move them if I didn’t like them there. Behind the bulbs you can see the fresh new growth of the hosta too.


There are lots of tiny delicate flowers in varying stages of growth in my garden at the moment. The alpine strawberry flowers are now going over and the fruits are beginning to grow. Geum, heuchera and astilbes are close to opening. London Pride flowers are opening and Brunnera Jack Frost and wild violas have been in flower for a few weeks now.


My magnolia is now in full swing of flower where the first buds of clematis are soon to open. Celmisa and cirsium are also showing sign of flower buds developing and it is always a delight to see the white flowers of the choisya. I love the scent of this plant. I am also guessing that the pea like flowers of the polygala have a scent too as the bees do seem to love it.


Ah… the alliums have buds near to opening now and I cannot wait to see the display they will give this year. The pink ‘bluebells’ hug the rock edges in my front garden – although I don’t really remember planting this colour. My single clump of chives look like it is about to flower now too. There really are so many plants I could ramble on about! However, now I'll just leave you with some of the bigger bursts of colour in my garden at the moment.



This posting was due on the 15th of the month and although my posting is a little late all photos were taken then. Garden Bloggers Bloom Day is organised by Carol at May Dreams Gardens where she invites others to join her in a posting and asks that we leave a comment on her posting so we can all browse the gardens. My posting is going to be the 109th!

Garden Bloom Day April 2008

Well here we are in April already and after a chilly start to this morning it is definitely shaping up to being quite a different April than last year. We have had plenty of rain, hail stones and some snow – very different from last year which was very warm and dry. Now, I do hope that the weather this April will be much better for nesting birds looking for insects and caterpillars to feed their young. In Scotland we really are used to April showers!

This month I am just in time to join Carol at May Dreams Gardens with a post of what’s flowering on the 15th of the month. Carol mentioned on her post of Blooms in her garden which is in Indiana, USA that her plants are a week behind last year. I hadn’t taken part with a post last year but I did post on the 13th of April 2007 and I would say that the leaves on my Acer could be a week behind too. I see that my magnolia had flowered too. At the moment my Magnolia buds are not near opening. I have to say that the birds are behind with nesting this year too.

This month I have a video to let you hear the sounds as well as see images from my small, very ordinary garden. I have neighbours very close by but with hedges and planting my garden is quite secluded and private. Of course you can’t shut out noise when houses are built close together. This morning was a lovely sunny one with just a light breeze. It was almost perfect to take video in the garden.

I turned on the pump of my small pond for the first time this year (after fishing out the leaves that had fallen in) and started to film. The birdsong was wonderful and you could imagine being completely in the middle of the countryside. Ah… but then from a neighbour’s garden this tranquillity was shattered with the starting up of a styl cutter! I could easily have edited this sound out but I decided to leave it in as I was trying to capture the sounds from my garden today. I stopped filming as I guessed it would be on a while and I didn’t have time to wait.

Later on during the afternoon I returned to a shower of (you’ve guessed it) hailstones once again. It was followed by rain which eventually opened the skies to some sunshine. During this break I went out with my camera once again.

Starting at my sunnier front garden I walked round to my back more shady garden where I have lots of foliage plants. The closer to the back I filmed (I noticed when making my video) the louder the sound of birdsong could be heard. Another neighbour was working in his garden now but the birds were singing once again and I was back by the side of my pond where I started.




I am glad I made this film as it will be great to look back on now for next month and next April too. Next month I expect that I will not be able to see bare earth in my borders. How quickly the garden evolves at this time of year. This is my favourite time of the year and like Carol, May is my favourite month.

Finally, do remember if you would like to see more flowers blooming in gardens around the world at the moment check out the comments on Carol’s post. It is great that so many people get involved!

The video above was taken in my garden on April 15th 2008.

Garden Bloom Day March 2008

What flowers can be seen in my garden in the middle of March? Well, as recent posts have shown it is bulbs that have been making the biggest impression with crocus and narcissi. However there is a lot more going on in the garden at the moment.

Perhaps you might like to browse through some other gardens by visiting Carol's Bloom Day List where many other garden blogs have posted on what is on flower in their gardens on the 15th of the month. This is all organised by Carol at May Dreams Gardens and what a great idea it is. I do like this new list format Carol!

Bulbs grown under grass have worked well for me as when moving plants around I tend to disturb the bulbs and loose them. We are now in the second stage of flower in this grass area shown above. Crocuses have been joined by the first flowering of the three species of narcissi growing here. There are also fritillaries in this planting too.


The tiny area that is my silver themed border is just bursting with signs of spring. You can see that I now have some snowdrops in the garden and I chose to plant them here as the leaf colour would blend in well with other silver foliage plants. I would aslo seen them from a window.

Just look at the growth in the tulips – I cannot wait to see them in flower especially as I don’t usually grow them. Although I see this as a silver border I do want to have some seasonal punches of colour with it. Next month’s photos will be quite different! The close-up photos below show the clematis ‘Miss Bateman’ and a rose ‘Silver Anniversary’ both growing in this border.


Above my silver border is a hanging basket that I gave a make-over last autumn. Over the winter months I have been able to enjoy seeing the deep red of the grass and the soft fluffy silver of the stachys. The sedum ‘Rose Carpet’ died back but on my walkabout on the 15th I was delighted to discover it is growing back once again. I will now get the previous years flowering branches trimmed out.


Alliums can now be seen growing through gravel where they have self seeded very freely!

Alliums can also be seen in square pots – these were my bargain bulbs from last year and as I wasn’t sure where I would put them I planted them in pots. I have buried some in their pots already but of course they should really be planted directly in the ground. I will see how they grow and look first. This is an experiment so we shall see how it works.

Alliums are also growing in ornament pots where other pants have self seeded with them – including dandelion. Mm… but I’ve plans for the dandelions this year!


Primulas are also sarting to show great promise. The drumstick ones are continuing to grow as you can see above where the ball almost forming and one just starting form. You can also see more alliums in the background – drumstick ones!

Candelabra primulas are now starting to form a flower head and the beautiful native lemon primrose is also showing some flower buds. Ah… but what is the last primula in the selection above. Just testing – that is not a primula but I am thrilled to show the first leaves of the stunning blue meconopsis!


Rich reds are being seen in my garden at the moment from the hellebore, heuchera, euphorbia and new growth of a green leaved ligularia. For the moment I still have the red stems too from my coral bark Acer tree but by next month that too will be changing.


Some plants have toughed out the cold of the winter months and some have even continued to flower like the delicate white flowers of the arabis. The polygala carpet on my rockery has had lemon flowers for a large part of the winter. They look like they are resting for the moment but now the pink ones are now about to open. The last photo on the top row above shows the tiny alpine strawberry which stayed green throughout the winter. The chives behind it died down but as you can see they are growing back too.

What do you do with self sown plants growing in cracks and other places? Well, I did consider lifting this buddleia that is growing in the pot with the christophii aliums, potting it up and putting it in the safety of my greenhouse before winter. However, sometimes when I have done that the plant has died. I decided a higher risk strategy would be to leave outside where it was. This has paid off this time - look how well it looks in the first photo of the second row above. Ah… but it is the buds on the trees and shrubs that make me really think of spring!


Finally, let’s jump all the way to summer and to the bees and butterflies on the delicate flowers of verbena bonariensis. Is this plant a perennial or not? Questions have been asked in other blogs. Well, many seem to treat it as an annual. It is very likely to be lost over the winter months so taking cuttings or lifting one and over wintering it in a greenhouse may be a good insurance against loss.

However, here in my Scottish garden the photo above shows my verbena bonariensis as I cut it down last autumn – looking pretty much as I left it! I decided the risk strategy here only as this area is slightly sheltered with the arbour and hedge. The plants were three good sized clumps too. I should also add that we have not had the coldest of winters this year. This plant really isn’t hardy in all areas but I cannot believe it hasn’t died back at all. Mm… I still may take some cutting this year. Ah... the garden year beckons!!

All photos above were taken in my garden on March 15th 2008.

Garden Bloom Day February 2008

Posting on what’s in flower in the garden on the 15th of every month is great to look back on. Like many other gardeners I have enjoyed joining Carol at May Dreams Gardens with a post every month and although I am a bit late this month I still wanted to take part. I will now leave a comment on Carol’s post where I will be able to browse the other gardens through her comments.

Crocus is definitely the flower of the moment in my garden! The top row in the montage above shows the varieties growing through my lawn. They really are very pretty in the morning sunshine and there are many other bulbs that will join them soon. This has been a very successful place to grow bulbs for me as I am very unlikely to dig them up – ‘Shirl-friendly’ bulb planting number one.

Arabis is still showing its tiny clusters of white flowers as you can see in the second row above with a good sized clump of crocus which are growing quite happily in some forest bark. The crocuses have been undisturbed there, at the bottom of my hedge, as I had forgotten they were there! You can also see the fresh leaves of drumstick primulas which always make me think of Spring.

New growth is appearing on clematis too which you can see if you look closely on the right in the first photo of the last row in the montage above. Did you notice what else was in that photo? Yep, my tulip bulbs are coming up thanks to ‘Shirl-friendly’ bulb planting number two. I have planted these bulbs in square pots (four per pot) and staggered the planting of these posts so there are spaces between them where I planted more bulbs. My theory here was that when I go to dig a hole or hand weed this area with a fork it will hit the pots and the bulbs will stay safe – and I can report that this has worked. Now I just hope I got the planting depth right!

Drumstick alliums are also coming up, in pond baskets which have been planted in the border, as you can see in the middle photo of the last row. I wonder if they will all flower this year. The final photo is of another fairly safe clump of crocus which are growing under gravel in my front garden where they catch the sun nicely.


Crocus Pickwick is continuing to flower as you can see in the last photo above. If you remember this is the one I saved in a garden centre sale for 10p a pot – I’m well pleased with it! Now, next month I hope to see quite a different posting for Bloom Day.

All photos above were taken in my garden on February 17th 2008.

Garden Bloom Day January 2008

January’s Bloom Day posting for Carol at May Dreams Gardens completes the first year of Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day. Congratulations Carol – you have organised this well! I am delighted that you intend carrying on with this for another year.

Okay, if you are a new visitor you may be wondering what this is all about. Well, on the 15th of every month Carol has invited others to join her in posting on what is in flower in the garden with photos or lists.

The plan is then to go to Carol’s post and leave a comment to say that you have taken part. From there you can browse the other posts and others will visit your posting. It is a great way of discovering new garden diary/blogs. I began taking part in May last year and am very interested now to compare last years flowers with this years.

The photos above show penstemon, skimmia with euphorbia (I like the red berries and the red stems here) and finally polygala which has still so many buds. One very interesting thing I have noticed about the polygala. I have a good sized planting covering part of my rock garden which began with the purple variety which you can see in the smaller photo below. I only had a little of the yellow but it now the yellow seems to have dominated this whole area! The brave little single purple flower was on its own at the back of my rockery – hiding from the yellow perhaps?

Crocus and daffodil bulbs are now pushing through my lawn. Although some did get a bit flattened after the last fall of snow with my daughters running up and down the lawn with a sledge. My new tulips bulbs that I have planted in pots in my border are also pushing through – I think they are perhaps too early so I may add some more soil on top of them to bury them a little deeper. My Sulphur heart ivy still has a number of flowers but they are beginning to go past now. I still have a few new euphorbia flowers and the purple-black berries of the ophiopogon still shine beautifully in the winter sun.

Tiny delicate arabis flowers are still hanging on – I had no idea that it could flower for so long either. It should be getting full sun but in the partial shade of my back garden it is still going strong! I have also noticed the buds are forming on my magnolia but I didn’t expect new growth on my clematis 'Miss Bateman'. I have just looked this up. 'Miss Bateman' is listed as a Group 2 clematis which flowers on the current season’s growth. The book suggest that I should prune before new growth starts – oops too late there then. Mmm I wonder what I should do now.

As you will have noticed I have posted a few rather lengthy posts recently. I am now going to take time over the next couple of nights to visit some blogs myself. I have a lot of catching up to do with my favourites and I am also looking forward to seeing all the Bloom Day posts too!

All photos above were taken in my garden on January 15th 2008.