My plants in Chelsea week 2016

 My plants have been busy during Chelsea week too.  The recent sun and rain has helped everything to shoot up.  Above is Clematis Asao.

 Cirsium rivulare Atropurpureum with its beautiful maroon flower heads.

 Clematis Guernsey Cream, which I had planted and totally forgotten about.

 Astrantia Hadspen Blood, I think, but am not sure, as it could be Moulin Rouge or Ruby Wedding...

 Lilac and Magnolia looking lovely together.

 Allium Purple Sensation against the shed.

 A rather pretty combination of Gladiolus Byzantinus, Nemesia Confetti and Chive flowers.

Clematis Arabella.

 The star of the show has to be my patio peony 'Athens' which is in its second year with me and looking amazing.

Even when the flower is shut up in the rain, it still looks beautiful.

Wow!  Peonies may not last long in flower, but when they are in flower, nothing else comes close to them for sheer glamour.  They get my gold award this week!

More plants and a blog swap - 'From My Home to Yours'

 I had a very nice afternoon on Saturday as a plant nursery near to my Mum's house was having an open afternoon.  I was hoping that they might have some dark astrantias and dianthus. After seeing the dark astrantia at the Open Gardens last weekend, I have been thinking I need to try them again.  I have tried growing them in the border before, without any success.  I was pleased to find three different varieties: Hadspen Blood, Moulin Rouge and Ruby Wedding, so snapped them up straightaway.  I am going to grow them in pots this time and see whether they do any better for me.  I also bought a fuchsia 'Thamar' and a red Dianthus 'Dark Passion'.  Then I saw a lavender 'Hidcote', so that joined the others.  I was very pleased with my purchases.

 While we were having tea and cake (yes, more cake!) in an open barn at the nursery, I spied these baby swallows in their nest, waiting to be fed.  Every now and again, a parent would swoop in and the babies would immediately spring into action, beaks wide and chirping loudly.  The photo isn't too bad, but they were right up in the rafters and this was as much zoom as my camera could manage.

I am taking part in another blog swap; this one being organised by Betty   - I do enjoy these and haven't done one for a while.  This one is based around your home county and country.  You have to include four things, one of which must be hand made by you.  Of course, you can include as many little extras as you like, little souvenir items which are relevant to your home town or country, or little things your recipient will like.  You can get a lot of information about someone from their blog and also when you email them too. It sounds as though it will be a lot of fun.  The closing date for signing up is 20th June, so a couple more days if you are interested.