Thursday 6 August 2020

Plant portraits


The hydrangeas are looking lovely, so I thought I would meander round the garden and take a few photos. Above is Coco.
Here is Sundae Fraise (I think) which is just starting to turn pink on the very edges of the petals. 
Merveille Sanguine, which I pruned wrongly in Spring, so only have a couple of flowers - lesson learnt!
Gorgeous Arborescens Annabelle - stunning flowers!
Other plants catching my attention include Agapanthus Silver Baby which is looking so delicate and pretty.
A new plant this year - Lysimachia Clethroides - which is flowering.
The flowers hang down and open from the base.
They are small individually, but make a statement together.
Agapanthus Navy Blue, adding that cool blue/purple to the garden...
...echoed with Hibiscus Oiseau Bleu (I hacked this back last autumn and was worried I had killed it, but it came through the winter and is flowering away now, just not with quite so much abandon, or trying to take over the whole border!
Hydrangeas again - some from the Magical Revolution series.  
The one above was a beautiful blue when it arrived, but has more of a pink colour now, even though it was planted in ericaceous compost.  I did give it some hydrangea colorant, but then found that blue hydrangeas need to have the colorant every year after their first, so I am not sure I want to go down that route.  The pearly pinks and purples are pretty. so perhaps I should be happy with them.
White hydrangeas stay white no matter what soil they are in, and this one is right at the end of the garden, in front of the black fence (which needs repainting...).  This one is Endless Summer White, again pruned wrongly, so only two flowers this year.  Note to self: write down the correct pruning for the macrophylla varieties to remember what to do.
A nice bit of the border with roses, geranium, agapanthus and phlox.
This is a lovely white rose called Winchester Cathedral, with one pink rose on it - not sure how that has happened.  I have removed the pink rose, but took this photo prior to doing that.
The crocosmia will be in flower shortly so will inject some orange into all the pastels.  More plants have been purchased in the last couple of weeks so no doubt they will be featuring.

12 comments:

  1. Loving your garden.
    Ours is a bit quiet at the moment, though some spring bulbs are flowering (too early).

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    1. Thanks, EC. I seem to be enjoying the white flowers in particular at the moment and am expecting a new white rose to arrive this morning - exciting! I also bought another white hydrangea which will be featuring soon.
      Things are still early here too - japanese anemones are in flower, usually towards the end of August and some of my asters are also flowering, usually September. I am just enjoying it all as much as I can.
      Best wishes
      Ellie

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  2. You always have such a lot going on in your garden. I do love the pure which of Coco hydrangea and the vivid blue agapanthus.

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    1. Thanks, Jo. The garden is completely stuffed full of plants. I really have run out of room now, except for the new white rose which was just delivered today, of course...
      Best wishes
      Ellie

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  3. Dear Ellie
    You have so many beautiful hydrangeas. They look so stunning.

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    1. Thanks, Poirot. I do seem to have collected quite a few hydrangeas quite quickly. They are beautiful plants. I have run out of room now though, so I need to stop collecting!
      Best wishes
      Ellie

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  4. Wow your garden must look amazing! Full of wonderful blooms, all so interesting looking individually but together they must look fantastic.

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    1. Thanks, sustainablemum. For a small city garden, I have packed it full of plants. I don't have that much produce - blueberries, raspberries in pots and some herbs, but all the flowers bring me a lot of joy.
      Best wishes
      Ellie

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  5. I have all of these blooms in my Pennsylvania garden except agapanthus that wont grow in this zone. Love your navy blue one. P.x

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    1. Thanks, Pam. One of my agapanthus hasn't flowered at all this year and I am not sure why, but the other two have made up for it. I would like more, but I just don't have the room!
      Best wishes
      Ellie

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  6. You have so many hydrangeas, they are all beautiful.

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    1. Thanks, Maria. I didn't set out to have quite so many and for many years I actively disliked them as plants. I have come to realise how useful they are and once I have sorted the correct pruning for them, they are pretty trouble free. My favourites are the white ones as it doesn't matter what soil they are in and they don't need any colorant to keep their colour.
      Best wishes
      Ellie

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