...to many it may look as if it's full of weeds...but I much prefer the term "wild flowers" or "native flowers"...some of our most common weeds are often the prettiest...the ones that all those prim and proper gardeners like to dispense with as quick as they can...
...but I love them...in fact I plant them on purpose!!! I love to see the colours spreading across patches of the garden...sometimes even straying onto the lawn...until hubby wants to know why there are flowers in the grass?!?!
We have a long (150ft almost 46m!!), house width garden...
This is the view at the moment...the "Winter table and chairs" are still out...
...Because we've had no good weather to get the "Summer table and chairs" out...
...which is pretty typical of houses around us...and we are lucky to be semi-detached and have nothing backing onto us other than the local Tennis Club...we never have a shortage of yellow tennis balls to play with or share with dogs in the family!! The garden is mostly laid to lawn (for football, bikes, swingball, climbing frame and trampoline purposes!!) with borders down both sides...one of which houses the "Woodland Bank" an area that has deliberately been planted to look like a natural woody bank...the borders have a mix of spring bulbs, roses, wild flowers, and purposely planted shrubs...much of it is pretty young as we inherited the garden eleven years ago today, as a very mature garden that over time (most of it in the last 4 years or so) we have dug up replanted and reshaped to suit our family (which includes an eight year old and an almost eleven year old)...but as I walked down to the compost bin this morning, I thought it would be nice to share more than just the veggie patch with you all...so here are some of my favourite plants in the garden at the moment...of course, being the time of year it is, many other plants have yet to surface this season...so no doubt you will get a Summer Update :-)
...Corydalis Lutea...I used to pull this up but now I leave it as I think it is a pretty little plant...
Welsh Poppy...that self-seeds all over the place...
...new fern shoots unfurling...
Goat's Beard (Aruncus Dioicus)
starting to grow...
Iris bud...a beautiful purple Bearded Iris...
Primula...a Mothers day gift from about 4 years ago...self seeded and going strong...
A Purple Heuchera, some more bluebells, the Dicentra and my Fatsia Japonica...
Bleeding Heart (Dicentra) and the lime green foliage belong to a plant that I don't know the name of...it has small, white daisy-like flowers...I just love the colour of the leaves though, a great contrasting green...
Variegated Fuchsia starting to grow...
no idea what this is...think it is a type of euphorbia? whatever it is I like it, it came from my MIL's garden in Wales...
Lungwort (Pulmonaria)...so pretty...
Wild Cornflower (Centaurea Montana)...first one this year...
Aquilegia, Columbines or Granny's Bonnets...I have loads of these scattered through the borders, and more seeds to sow...love them!
White Bluebell amongst Forget-me-Nots...
The wild woody bank...Dead Nettle, Bluebells, Forget-Me-Nots and Wild Geraniums...
More Dead Nettles...
Pink Bluebell, Wild Geranium and Welsh Poppy
The Woodland Patch under the Apple Tree...the ideal place to sow my wild flower seeds from Friends of The Earth The Bee Cause
The "Bug Arch" as Hubby calls it...it's actually just a late flowering Jasmine trained over the archway to the bottom of the garden...which is due for a big makeover this year...
...the view from the other side...complete with a ten year old!!
Another Woodland patch under a Hazel tree, opposite the apple tree, so another prime spot for some wild flower sowing...
Sweet Woodruff...so pretty...
My lovely bright pink Rhododendron...
...which is starting to bloom...
...can you spot the otter hiding beneath the trees??
A tiny stunted Gerbera, that was planted last Spring/Summer...came to nothing and has now decided to bloom...albeit in a rather short way!!
A pale pink dwarf Rhododendron...buds look promising...
...and two Hostas that were given to me last year as teeny tiny weedy little cuttings...but just look at them now...wonderful healthy plants, ready to pot on and add to for the patio...
...seeds to sow as soon as the rain stops...again!! It has taken me a few years to start "getting into" my garden...but now that I am, I love it...love being in it, love sitting in the conservatory, at the breakfast bar (my workspace) looking out at it...which bit of your garden do you like the most?? I think if I had to choose I would have to say my wild flower areas...
Share many of the same natives, here in Ridgefield, Washington. Thanks for your post. Noticed that the hummingbirdies love the natives as well as the red tubular flowers, non natives, I have in pots. They especially love the wild pestamins. They tend to stick around all year now, here. So I try and provide flower food for them along with the sugar water. Wendy D.
ReplyDeleteI wish for the great of success in all of our destiny endeavors
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