RHS Chelsea week...and in my garden - all the As (along with a few others)

Chelsea Garden photos from the RHS Chelsea website

I have been enjoying the TV coverage of RHS Chelsea over the last week.  It is always interesting to see what the designers, construction teams and gardeners come up with.  I haven't ever visited the show myself, nor am I likely to - way too many people for comfort!  Sustainability, gardening with nature and the gardens being relocated after the show seemed to be themes this year, which are all good.  I liked bits of a few gardens including the area above from The Myeloma A Life Worth Living Garden by Chris Beardshaw.  My criteria is 'would I like this outside my back door?'  In the case above, yes I would, a lovely calm green space with ferns and a water feature. 

I also liked the Royal Entomological Society garden by Tom Massey with its wildlife and insect friendly (as you would expect!) planting.  The colours this year seem to be green, white and magenta/purple, and these could be seen on a lot of the gardens. 

There were some beautifully designed, constructed and planted stage sets such as Cleve West's Centrepoint garden, showing how nature takes over a derelict Victorian Terrace and bringing homelessness into focus.  I can appreciate this, but wouldn't want it outside my back door! 

With Chelsea over for another year,  what is happening in my garden?  It's the As - Alliums, Aquilegias and Astrantias.  Above is allium Purple Sensation.

I don't know that name of this allium, but is is another lovely one.  I think I may need more of these in the autumn.

Aquilegia Navy and White was the starting point for my aquilegias but they seem to have changed as they have self seeded about.

I like the darker purple of this one.

I do like an astrantia and have several of the darker ones.  Above is Star of Love or Star of Fire - I'm not sure which. This one is in the border.

Astrantia Burgundy Manor is in a pot and I love this one.  It is a stunner!  I have got three Astrantia Roma young plants growing on, which should be a nice pink shade.  I hope they will flower next year.

Other plants making a show at the moment are Philadelphus Little White Love. This took a while to get going but has started to grow and flower profusely.  As with most Philadelphus, it has a lovely scent.

The peony I repotted last autumn has rewarded me with more flowers than it has ever had.  

My latest camassia, Silk River, is nearly in flower so I am checking it every morning at the moment.   I am really enjoying the garden and the sunny weather has helped a lot, particularly after the cold Spring.  I have lost two agapanthus plants which were overwintered in the shed and obviously did not like the cold snap last December, and a few other small plants, but I am realistic and it just means I can replace them with something else (like another rose?) Funnily enough, I have got my eye on a new rose by David Austin, Dannahue.  I don't really have room for any more roses, but may have to squeeze this one in.  Speaking of roses, they have started flowering, so there will be a couple of posts to come... 

Roses (and others) everywhere

This post is very picture heavy - I love roses and this is their time, so I'm celebrating it.  Above is 'Mary Rose'.

Gladiolus Byzantinus, echoing the pink of the roses.

Rose 'Geoff Hamilton'.

Rose 'For Your Eyes only'.

Rose 'Eyes for You'.

One of the patio peonies 'Athens'.  Again, there is a bit of a pink theme!

Rose 'Cottage Rose'.

Rose 'Constance Spry'.

Rose 'Charles de Mills'.

A white peony 'Madrid' - just coming into flower.  This one is a patio peony but I have planted it in the border.  It has taken a while to get going.

Another patio peony 'Rome'.

Rose 'Bright as a button'...

Rose Ferdinand Pichard.

Lewisia Plum.

Lewisia Plum close up , showing the lovely striped flowers.

Rose New Dawn and Blush Noisette aren't quite in flower yet, but have lots of buds. More to look forward to.

Rose Winchester Cathedral started to develop rust as well as black spot, so I made the decision and it has gone.  However, a replacement white rose, Susan Williams-Ellis has just arrived, so I am looking forward to seeing what she will be like.

The roses are certainly centre stage at the moment and some have grown very tall this year.  I am really surrounded by them and I love it!

More star plants (for Chelsea week)

It would have been RHS Chelsea this week and as the show was cancelled, the BBC have been looking at the last ten years of the show with the presenters in their own gardens.  There have also been films on Youtube.  In my own garden, there are lots of star plants.  Above and below is Rhododendron Tinkerbird which has pretty flowers and the most gorgeous jasmine scent which wafts round the garden when the sun is shining.

The flowers are a lovely combination of pink and white.

Some of my lewisias are flowering too...

This one has pink, apricot and coral coloured flowers.

The blue aquilegia is flowering well this year.

 Iris sibirica is in a hot and dry part of the border, so shouldn't be looking quite as good as this as it prefers slightly damper conditions, but it is lovely to see it.

 The stainless steel spheres echo the alliums really well and it is a happy coincidence that there are three alliums here.

 Another allium.

 Gladiolus Byzantinus is flowering too, although I don't have as many of these as I would like.

 Of course, those divas of the plant world, the peonies, are delighting me...

...this is a patio peony (Athens, I think) and is grown in a pot.  The peonies I planted in the border are not as happy as this one. 

This double red astrantia is hidden behind a rose and easy to miss.  I am not sure of the name but it could be 'Star of Love' and came from RHS Chatsworth two years ago.  

The garden is doing me proud this May.

Poppies and Peonies

Although the poppies and peonies in the garden are now just a memory, I did remember to take a few photos.  I don't think they particularly enjoyed the rain we had in June, but I did manage to get some images before they were too battered.  Above is a pink poppy which I can't remember the name of - I will check to see if I wrote it down.

I don't remember seeing the red blotches at the base of the petals on this white poppy (Checkers) before - I thought they were black.

 I need to pot this peony on as it is in a small pot.  It was beautiful.

 This white peony took a while to get going but gave me a lot of pleasure once it did.  The blush pink and white petals give it a delicate look, even though it is a very blowsy flower.  This one is in the border next to an allium and miscanthus and seems to be liking it.

Poppies and peonies are the divas of the garden as they don't stay around for long, but there's nothing to compare with them when they are centre stage.

Early April in the Garden

 I do like this time of year - in fact I would go so far as saying that April to June is my favourite time of the year.  Everything is fresh and beautiful.
Above are tulip 'Negrita' from last year, which I forgot to remove from their pot and they have flowered again this year, so that was a lovely surprise.  This was last week.  The large expanse of gravel is in next door's garden, as since the wall came down, there is no boundary. However, we have decided to have a wall again, not a fence, so Chris has been very busy removing the remains of the wall and digging down to the foundations, ready for the new foundation and wall. It will look lovely, I'm sure. We are hoping to have it done by the summer.

 Lathyrus vernus has beautiful purples and pinks and brightens up a shady corner.

 Erythronium Pagoda looks so exotic and I am always pleased to see it back.  I took this photo last week too.

I planted a small tub of tulips in the Autumn which is brightening up the front door.  Purissima is the cream/white/green one and Angelique is the pinky/white double.

Angelique has a delicate blush of pink spreading over the petals.

 In the back garden, I have a couple of pots of lily of the valley.  I tried growing them in the border in the past but they weren't happy.  So far, they seem to like the pots.

 A Peony bud on 'Athens', I think.

Tulip Negrita this morning, opening out in the sunshine.

 My favourite, Ballerina, in the sunny border, enjoying a sunbathe.

 More Purissima and Angelique, with a Ronaldo at the back.

 Ballerina in the border.  The ones in the border have flowered much earlier than the new ones I planted last autumn.  I love the way the sun lights up the petals.

 Erythronium Pagoda this morning - lots more flowers now.

 A little group of Spring flowers - Hellebore, Pulmonaria, Lathyrus vernus, Anemone blanda, and lots of leaves,

 Magnolia Susan and the lilac tree against a Spring sky.

 I think this is Ronaldo, just getting ready to flower.

 Leaves of Camellia Yoimachi, an autumn/winter flowering camellia which I bought earlier in the year.  I am looking forward to seeing it flower later in the year.

Nemesia Confetti flowers - this plant has lasted outside over winter with no problems and has a delicate honey scent.
So, that's what I saw this morning...