My Star plants

It's a bit of an in-between time in the garden, in late May.  The roses are in bud and lots of other plants are getting ready, but the tulips are over and the Spring flowers are fading.  So, what is there to look at in my garden?

 Magnolia Fairy Blush in its second year with me and looking very pretty.

 An aquilegia my sister gave me - I don't know what the variety is, but I like the delicate pink and white flowers.

 The stalwarts of the May border - alliums.

 Another aquilegia bought last year and not planted out or potted on yet - shame on me!  I wonder whether it would seed with the white one and make a pale blue variety?

 Erigeron karvinskianus which has pretty white and pink flowers.

Reliable Geranium Phaeum, or mourning widow, to give its common name. I think this might be Lily Lovell, but am not sure.

 Geranium Phaeum Album - a lovely plant.

 Clematis Crystal Fountain just unfurling.

 More deep purple Geranium Phaeum.

Finally, another geranium, versicolor, I think, but I could be wrong.  I love the veining on the petals. This one seeds all over the place and is trying to take over, but can be removed easily. I let it stay where I want it to be, but take it out if it gets too unruly!  So, a few plants to enjoy and keep me going while I wait for the roses, peonies and clematis to flower.

Positive signs in the garden

 With all the terrible things going on in the world recently, it is sometimes difficult to believe there is anything much to celebrate.  However, nature reminds us to go on, despite everything.  The stoic attitude of the snowdrop is one such example.

 This delicate little flower has a core of steel running through it and it will fight to bloom every year, despite the weather.

 Something for us to try and emulate, perhaps?

 The winter flowering jasmine is also a plant I admire, even though it spends much of the year resembling a straggly bird's nest.  For a few weeks and sometimes months, it enlivens the winter garden, creating a little sunshine with its flowers.

For the ultimate optimist, how about this?  (Apologies for the awful glare on the photo, but the flash insisted on being used, despite my best intentions!) This is a flower of Erigeron Karvinskianus - Mexican Fleabane - which by rights should not be flowering at this time of year, or through the snow we had or through the frosts, but here it is.  Positive signs indeed.

Any colour, as long as it's pink...

 In June, my garden turns pink - not intentionally so, originally, but many of the plants flowering at this time of the year seem to be pink. Above is the beautifully crumpled bloom of Rose Jacques Cartier.

 As there are so many pink tones, I collaged some together (courtesy of Picmonkey).  From top left: Hydrangea Endless Summer Pink, Rose Ferdinand Pichard, Rose New Dawn. Middle row: Dianthus (not sure which - Iced Gem, perhaps), Rose Blush Noisette, Clematis Princess Diana. Bottom row: Geranium endressii, Erigeron Karvinskianus, Rose Gertrude Jekyll (which is scenting the whole area around it).

This year, Rosa Mundi (Rosa Gallica Versicolor) is flowering its socks off.  I do like the stripes on this rose.  As the summer goes on, the colours will change again, moving to richer red and even the odd yellow, but for now, I am enjoying this plethora of pinks.