Some of my favourite flowers are in bloom now, or in bud, waiting to burst forth. There are plenty of Dicentra throughout the garden.
I love the way this one is mingling with the Chives and Aquilegias.
And the Aquilegias, my favourite garden flower, are everywhere. And I do mean EVERYWHERE! These are Clementine Purple, a really lovely variety for contrasting with other brighter colours.
I have so many, I've kind of lost touch with the names of each one, but I know there are Winky Blue and Whites and Black Barlow around somewhere too.
As anyone who has them in their garden will know, they are prolific self-seeders. I love spotting little patches of their new seedlings, and really don't mind that you never know how the flower on the grown plant will eventually look. I love them all!
Foxgloves and Poppies are getting ready to bloom, with the promise of glorious colour.
And the Alliums dotted all over the garden are emerging from their jackets. I added some white ones late last year, so I'm keen to see how they'll look.
As far as work in the garden goes, well, I've been really busy again. We had a few very warm days so I got all the jobs done that I didn't know needed doing until I really studied certain areas. Some of the Ferns in the shady area got trimmed back now their new fronds are emerging. The larger Dryopteris ferns were done about two months ago as they looked messy and tend to unfurl earlier. Underneath some of the dead leaves, I was thrilled to find a self seeded baby fern.
It may look like a lot of bare space in front here, but when the fern leaves fully unfurl, they drop and cover this whole area.
I added a new Astilbe, just behind the foxgloves and poppies here.
And a Brunnera, which I love for it's delicate Forget-Me-Not type flowers and variegated leaves. It should like it here as the soil is moist in front of the wildlife ponds.
I also think I've solved the climber dilemma I had in THIS post. I've planted Clematis Special Occasion to scramble up the shed, and an evergreen Honeysuckle Henryi to twine around the Lilac. That may take some time to get going though, as I managed to snap off the main growing stem while planting it!
One other purchase was for the back wall. This was exposed when the Leylandii were chopped down a few years ago and since then I've been trying to clothe it in plants to cover up it's ugliness. The Pyracantha has done brilliantly along with Clematis Pixie, and the Ivy is now getting a good foothold and has started to creep upwards. I spotted this pretty Solanum 'Glasnevin' in the garden centre though, and thought it would be perfect to fill the left hand side. The little flowers are so pretty. If it's happy here, it should spread out nicely.
I also did some rather back breaking digging, moving my large Bay from one side of the back area to the other. It was sitting just in front of the Raspberries before and they were threatening to overtake it, so it's now in a new home with only a Hardy Geranium for company at present. I gave it a good trim too, and it's looking much healthier.
A whole new patch in the garden was added too, taking inspiration from my visit to KEW GARDENS. Can you guess what I planted? All will be revealed in my next post.
Hi Paula...we have many of the same flowers! I just love Columbine and allow it to self seed all over. This year they all did really well. That Solanum is so beautiful...I'd never seen it before and I just love it!! Looks like you've been really busy and your garden looks just awesome!!
ReplyDeleteI'd never seen the Solanum before either, Christy. It just called out to me in the garden centre :-)
DeleteYou've got so much going on in the garden, there's so much interest already and I can see that there's so much more to come. That's a lovely selection of Aquilegias, apart from an odd couple, mine tend to be pink or purple self sown ones. My dicentra is huge this year, I think I may have to consider moving it.
ReplyDeleteThe Dicentra do get big don't they! I made divisions from my largest one last year and the smaller plants are now dotted all over the garden.
DeleteYour garden is looking woderful! You sure have been a busy gardener and your hard work shows. I am lookig forward to seeing what you planted in your new area after visiting Kew!
ReplyDeleteThank you, all the hard work is worth it :-)
DeleteAs in my garden - everything seems to be coming on in leaps and bounds - there is so much to do at this time of year isn't there - I get exhausted just thinking about it. Love your Solanum it is a gorgeous blue.
ReplyDeleteI know, Elaine, hardly a day goes by where I can't find something to do out there.
DeleteI'm sure your climbers will look great. We have aquilegias and ferns growing from self propagated plants all over the garden.
ReplyDeleteAs you will know from my blog I love brunneras too
Well, this is my first fern baby, but I'm hoping there will be many more. I've often thought of having a go at propagating them, but it seems like such a faff.
DeleteIt is Paula - I had a go and it took ages to end up with a tiny fern that died on me. They do the job better left to their own devices. I suppose they do produce millions of spores so relatively few end up as plants.
DeleteYour garden looks so lush and full! I love that solanum. Beautiful! I have a lot of columbine (aqulegia), too, but mine often reseeds into my patio so the seedlings don't stand a chance. They're either stepped on by humans or peed on by dogs.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, lol. Maybe you could rescue some before they have a chance to get battered ;-)
DeleteA very apt post title as it all looks and sounds wonderful.
ReplyDeleteHappy gardening, Flighty xx
Gorgeous flowers! I love aquilegias, too, but have lost mine over the years; I imagine they probably weren't in the right place to start with. Looking at your beautiful photos reminds me once again that I must replace them!
ReplyDeleteI started mine off initially by seed Wendy. They took really well in a small patch of raked over earth, and I just spread them around the garden as the seedlings grew. Of course, my greediness for them means I've bought new varieties since then, but it was cost effective to begin with.
DeletePretty photos. I do love aquilegia and flowering chives as well. I always hope the aquilegia will self seed but none so far.
ReplyDeleteThey look really nice paired together don't they, and they are both spreading all over my garden. It's lucky I love them both. Fingers crossed your Aquilegias seed this year.
DeleteWhat a wonderful riot of fabulous colours. I love it. You are way ahead of me, I don't even have poppy buds yet. I too have lots of self seeding aquilegias and can't get enough of them, they really are a hardy little plant.xxxx
ReplyDeleteIsn't it strange how the weather affects us differently across the country. Fingers crossed for a warm bank holiday so the plants start to bloom.
DeleteI just love bleeding hearts, and yours is so pretty surrounded by the purples. And I love the solanum. Very pretty! I really need to add a brunnera to my garden. I think I may have just the spot! How fun to have a new planting inspired by Kew! Can't wait to see what it is!
ReplyDeleteI wish I'd bought a few of those Brunneras, but my trolly was already full. The little flowers on it are so dainty. Hopefully it will like it here and I'll be able to start dividing it in a year or two. There are a few spots in the garden I think it would look great in.
DeleteI have lots of climbing plants too. As well as providing vertical interest, they are great for hiding what you don't want to be seen. Love your Aquilegias. I have no luck with them at all. And I now have Solanum 'Glasnevin' envy! Your garden is beautiful. P. x
ReplyDeleteHello Pam :-) Yes, climbers are fantastic for covering all the ugly bits. I have no idea why anyone thought it would be a good idea to put up a wall made of concrete, but it's there now, and I just have to make the best of it. I hope the Solanum grows quickly!
DeleteThat is a fantastic variety of plants going on! All so beautiful, colourful and different.
ReplyDeleteSuch a lot going on in your garden at the moment, so many flowers but also lovely foliage combinations, ferns are so interesting in every stage of their unfurling. Glad you have sorted out how to hide your shed, the clematis should be happy there and help to beautify it!
ReplyDeleteThe snails have been having a good munch on the clematis, Pauline, so I hope it manages to survive.
DeleteOh, it's just lovely. My dicentra are fading, but the columbine are just coming on, along with the new fern growth. Your columbine pictures are so pretty! And I love the solanum/clematis combination. Lovely. ~Angela~
ReplyDeleteHello Angela :-) Columbines and Ferns together are such a great combination.
DeleteA lot going on here! Great to hear you found something to go up your shed, hope they both take well. I broke two of 4 growing shoots of my clematis too, because I didn't get it a trellis in time, not sure what it will do now!
ReplyDeleteI don't have any Aquilegias, but looking at yours I might get some, they are lovely!
Oh, you must get some Aquilegias, Helene, they'd be perfect in your garden!
DeleteThanks for visiting my blog! I love Columbines too, I think yours are all different from mine. I'm trying to start some new ones from seed now, some are reluctant but Crystal Star's all sprouted. I like my concrete house foundation because it is a heat sink and I can plant some tender things there. Maybe your Brunnera will self-sow like my plain green one, they are so cute, and the little seedlings are so dainty. I don't have the silvery one so I don't know if it self-sows too.
ReplyDeleteOh, I hope it does self sow Hannah, I'd be more than happy to have it all around the garden.
DeleteIt certainly is a lovely time of year Paula which your planting reflects. I recognise a lot of my favourites :) Must find out more ferns as I think that they would do well in my garden. Glad to hear that you have resolved the climber dilemma :)
ReplyDeleteYou've reminded me about Brunnera. I had several plants in my last garden and loved them, must get some for here. I like the way the flowers grow into and soften their neighbours.
ReplyDelete