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.

The oddness of English seasons

I took advantage of Sunday afternoon, when it wasn't actually raining, to have a brief tidy in the garden (not that you would realise I had tidied anything!)  There was a clematis (I think it is Etoile Violette) in flower and with buds coming too.  I had cut this one back hard at the end of the summer because it had gone brown and horrible, and I was hoping it hadn't got some nasty disease.  This must have either sent it into shock, producing more growth and  flowers, or made it think it was next year and time to flower again.  Yes, it was lovely to see, but the sad thing is that it will more than likely get another shock from the frosts.

 A hardy geranium still flowering, despite the rain.

Rose Molineux also with lots of buds.  This isn't all that unusual, as roses often do flower into winter.  It is still a wonderful thing to see and lifts the spirits.

Chelsea Week - in my garden

 So, Chelsea is over for another year.  I decided to see what was flowering in my own garden this week and things have changed very quickly thanks to the sun since Tuesday.  The alliums (well, it wouldn't be Chelsea week without them, would it?) have suddenly exploded into life and the complex flowers warranted a close up (thank you, Photoshop).

 This is a Verbascum which I grew from seed last year, planted and promptly forgot about.  It wasn't until I noticed the flower spike that I realised it wasn't a rogue primrose.  I've forgotten its name though. (I know that my roses have got rust - I blame the weather!)

 Clematis 'Crystal Fountain' is looking lovely and has lots of buds which is encouraging.  I like the exuberant petals.

 Hydrangea Endless Summer Pink is the first of my hydrangeas to flower and is looking the most healthy too.

 Clematis 'Asao', also looking lovely with an interesting combination of colours from cream to green to pink.

 The always reliable hardy geraniums (I have lots of different ones) are busy too - above is Trevor's White (self-seeded from the original and shoved unceremoniously into a pot).

 Geranium Versicolour - it was originally 'Lace Time' but may have reverted back.  The delicate pink veining makes an intricate pattern.

 An unnamed geranium, which may be a sylvaticum, but I'm not sure. It does have almost luminous purple petals.

Finally, a geranium (probably Johnson's Blue) peeping out from its foliage and that of roses and nigella.
I can't compete with Chelsea, but I think my garden is managing to put on a bit of a show!

Clematis and wallflowers

These photos are of plants from my own garden. The combination of colours was a bit unexpected (and I have to admit, not necessarily planned by me, as I didn't know what colour the wallflower would be when I planted it!) but I think it works. The wallflowers were bought at the local market, in the traditional way, wrapped in newspaper. I planted them last autumn and only two survived the cold winter, both of which were this deep red.

I have lots of clematis in my garden - Piilu, Asao, Arabella, Princess Diana, Kingfisher, Ice Blue, Rebecca, to name but a few. However, for flowering at this time of year, it's hard to beat the alpina and macropetala cultivars. This clematis macropetala has flowered beautifully this year and the pale lilac-blue compliments the spring flowering bulbs and early hardy geraniums very well.