Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day in June



I'm sure you're wondering what's in flower in my Scottish garden in June.  I just love this month in the garden as so many of the herbaceous and foliage plants are just looking so good.  The garden is predominately flowering in shades of pink, salmon and blue with little pockets of white and yellow (as seen in my Golden Hour Foliage post).  Mounds of low growing Dianthus are in bloom along with the Helianthemums, Potentillas, Tradescantia, Stachys macrantha and various Thymus.  

Like in previous months GBBD posts I'm just showing a small selection of the flowers in bloom. (photo to left: Papaver orientalis 'Royal Wedding') 
1. Top left - Astrantia rubra  
2. Top right - self sown seedlings of Primula bulleyana
3. Bottom row from left to right - Saxifraga x urbium 'Londons Pride',  Aquilegia seedlings,  Enkianthus campanulatus, Kalmia latifolia buds

There is less weeding to do in June as very little of the soil is visible in the borders.  Other than some deadheading and keeping the grass mowed and edged there is very little else to do other than having a good read on the patio when the weather is good or taking photographs of the flowers and wildlife.  

1. Large photograph left - Allium hollandicum 'Purple Sensation'
2. Small photographs top right to left - Iris siberica, Geranium 'Johnstons Blue', Thalictrum aquilegifolium, Geranium pretense 'Splish splash'.
3. Large photograph right - Nepeta racemosa
4. Small photographs bottom left to right - Centaurea montana,  Scutellaria altissima, Geranium phaeum 'Sambor', Allium schoenoprasum.

Watering and keeping the annuals (Marguerites, Osteospermums, Violas, Geraniums and Petunias) in the containers and hanging baskets fed will be the most time consuming job outside this month while next month I can add deadheading to that list.  It's not really a job that I enjoy doing but once the honeysuckle and roses are in bloom and the garden is full of their aromas in the evening then it will be well worth the effort. 

1. Large photograph left - Centranthus rubra
2. Small photographs right top and bottom - Paeonia lactiflora 'Bowl of Beauty' and Papaver orientalis 'Salmon Glow'
3. Small photographs left top and bottom - Geranium endressii 'Wargrave's Pink' and Physocarpus opulifolius 'Diablo'
4. Large photograph right - Sambucus nigra 'Black Lace'

So far we've found and destroyed 2 wasps nests and have discovered that wasp nest killer is great for killing the ants nests aswell. The little fledglings are getting better at flying and less of them are flying into the kitchen window though we've had a few sit on the windowsill outside and look in at us.  Over in the wildlife pond  the common newts have grown their legs so it won't be too long before they start leaving the pond and start to feed on the slugs and snails in the borders.  We have about 20 of them in the pond so I'm hoping that once they become land bound they'll not all migrate into the neighbouring gardens.

That's all for today and for more garden blogger bloom day posts across the world please visit Seepferds Garten and May Dreams Gardens

Until next time......


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and   my blog so you can stay updated on posts and information.  I look forward to getting to know you! 



"Ever since the creation of the world  his eternal power and divine nature, invisible  though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has  made. So they are without excuse." Romans 1:20

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Sunday, June 12, 2011

Golden Hour Foliage


Whether it's filigree, serrated, glossy, red, black, silver or green there's all sorts of foliage shapes, forms and colours here in the leavesnbloom garden.  One new addition last year was Corylus avellena "Red Majestic" which has twisting stems and crinkled leaves just like it's green relative otherwise known as Harry Lauder's Walking Stick.  What makes this corylus shrub so different is its stunning purple/ red leaves and its it purplish pink catkins in February.  Mine didn't produce catkins in 2011 so I'm hoping that now that it's a little more established in the garden that it will in 2012.

The shrub is supposed to be more compact that the green Corylus avellena 'contorta' though it has a tendency to send out the very odd green shoot which can be pulled away very easily.  The best leaf colour is maintained when it's grown in full sun though mine is growing in a semi shaded position. It will probably grow to about 2 metres but it can be kept to a more compact size through pruning in Spring especially if you are interested in floral art due to its bare twisted stems.

It grows here between a Phyllostachys aurea and an Acer palmatum 'Orange Dream' with  the chartreuse coloured flowers of the Alchemilla mollis that have self seeded at it's base.  Dark almost black coloured Aquilegias compliment the foliage in spring with the purple flowers from the Clematis viticella 'Flore Pleno' on the fence behind it during late summer. 
1. Small photo top left - Alchemilla mollis
2. Large photo bottom left - Corylus avellena 'Red Majestic' during the golden hour
3. Large photo top right - Corylus avellena 'Red Majestic' against the yellow bamboo
4. Bottom photo left and right - Aquilegia and Acer palmatum 'Orange Beauty'

For me the best time of the day to see its foliage in all of its beauty is about an hour before the sun sets as the light diffuses through the leaves. Lots of the foliage in the garden faces west and that golden light hour rejuvenates the leaf colours and brings them into another dimension.
1. Small photo top right: Cerastium tomentosum white flower
2.  Small photo top left: Gone gardening with the Heuchera 'Silver scrolls', Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens' and Origanum vulgare 'Aureum'
3.  Small photo bottom left: Heuchera 'Silver Scrolls'
4. Small photo bottom right: Acer palmatum dissectum 'Garnet' 
5. Large photo: Acer palmatum with fern and Cerastium after sunset.

Across the little path at the pond a beautiful arching Acer palmatum dissectum 'Garnet' stretches over the cobbles ever so gently while a little green fern hems it's edges along with the small silver leaves from the Cerastium tomentosum 'Snow in summer'.  Few plants survive at the edge of this pond as there is more rock and stone than pliable soil.  The Cerastium certainly has made it's home here whereas in other areas of the garden I could look on it's spreading behaviour as being some what excessive.  You can view more flowers here on my GBBD post for June.  This is my submission to June's  Foliage Followup.

What are your favourite foliage plants at this time of year in the garden?


Related post


This is a copyright post written for www.leavesnbloom.blogspot.com. If this is your first visit to www. leavesnbloom.blogspot.com you might want to take a second to subscribe to my RSS Feed, http://feeds.feedburner.com/LeavesnBloom 
and   my blog so you can stay updated on posts and information.  I look forward to getting to know you! Until next time......



"Ever since the creation of the world  his eternal power and divine nature, invisible  though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has  made. So they are without excuse." Romans 1:20

.

©2009 -  2011 Leavesnbloom ~ All Rights Reserved.

If you link to this site please provide appropriate credit. 
All Text, RSS Feed and photographs protected and monitored by DMCA.com Protection and Take Down Services  

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Web Maintenance - Wordless Wednesday


'Bot' the spider doing a little web maintenance outside the window. 



Sorry but I couldn't resist posting this bit of photo phun for Wordless Wednesday

This is a copyright post written for www.leavesnbloom.blogspot.com. If this is your first visit to www. leavesnbloom.blogspot.com you might want to take a second to subscribe to my RSS Feed, http://feeds.feedburner.com/LeavesnBloom 
and   my blog so you can stay updated on posts and information! 
I look forward to getting to know you! 

Until next time......


"Ever since the creation of the world  his eternal power and divine nature, invisible  though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has  made. So they are without excuse." Romans 1:20

.

©2010 2011 Leavesnbloom ~ All Rights Reserved.

If you link to this site please provide appropriate credit. All Text, RSS Feed and photographs protected and monitored by DMCA.com Protection and Take Down Services  

 

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