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. 

A plethora of purple

I know that I have had a blog post about purple before, but looking round the garden tonight, I realised that purple has gradually become the dominant colour, taking over from the mass of pink in June and last month.  (There still is plenty of pink and some yellow and red too, but purple is the main colour.)  Above is my favourite hardy geranium 'Rozanne', who sprawls elegantly and seems to flower for ages.

Clematis 'Perle D'Azur', looking beautiful.

 A more burgundy purple from Buddleia Buzz 'Magenta'.

 Clematis 'Arabella'.

 Clematis 'Etoile Violette' with a lovely deep amethyst shade.

 The pom-pom flowers of Clematis viticella 'Purpurea Plena Elegans' which I really need to move into a bigger pot.  I do feed and water it well, but it does need more space.

 Verbena Bonariensis, which has self-seeded into a pot.  The flowers are a lilac purple, but I'm still including them.

The ever reliable hardy geranium 'Johnson's Blue' - as plantswoman Margery Fish once said, "If in doubt, plant a geranium" - good advice!

 A little campanula which grows like a weed in some gardens, but is very well behaved at the moment in mine.

How could I forget lavender angustifolia 'Hidcote'?  Rich purple colour and a wonderful scent.  This is a relatively new addition to my garden and I am going to try hard to look after it.
Purple is one of my favourite colours, and I am pleased to have been able to celebrate it.