Looking for long lasting winter colour?

The Lenten Rose Helleborus x hybridus is strutting her stuff around the garden with her 'profusion of perfect plum petals'.  She's taking advantage of the mild November weather and has certainly pulled off an early floral display which will last now until Spring.


All the text books will tell you that these herbaceous perennials are in flower from late winter to late spring.......... well this particular unknown variety of  Helleborus x hybridus seems to break all the rules.  She's never without buds around ground level at this time of year but never has tall stems and curvy open petals like this.  My clumps all grow in soil that is shaded by the midday and afternoon sun and a soil that is full of decomposed leaves  ........... I've never claimed to be a tidy gardener!  

So if you're looking for long lasting colour in the garden until Spring  I can thoroughly recommend this hardy perennial (Zone 9 to Zone 4 and colder if there is a blanket of snow on top of them). It grows well with Euphorbia, Pulmonaria, Bergenia and Epimedium plus it shouldn't end up as an early morning breakfast treat as the deer and rabbits avoid it like the plague!


What surprises have you in your garden.......... is there a plant makes you want to get into the garden despite the time of year?



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! 

"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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© 2009- 2011 Leavesnbloom ~ All Rights Reserved.

Novembers Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

Well I might have colour in the garden but not necessarily all from blooms!  I almost forgot about Novembers Garden Bloggers Bloom Day so this evening I quickly went out and took a few shots.  Time was short, the light was awful and it would be dark in less than an hour. There were hungry teenage boys  about to get off the school bus at any moment and dinner had to be made............ 

Hebe 'Purple Pixie ' is a great little Hebe for central Scotland and it can cope with our really low temperatures (lowest was -18c in the garden last year).  It might say that it's an evergreen shrub on the label but it isn't in my garden.  I prune it after the winter and it flowers late summer/autumn.

The Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii 'Goldsturm' is still holding on and it's been a winner for me in the garden since August. Even the dying flowers have made some great photographs.  (see here: Nature Paint me a Picture)

I love this Carlina acaulis as it has wonderful thistle like foliage and flowers that the bees just adore.  Even when the flowers are dried like above they still are quite a feature in the garden.  (Note to self: remember to pinch out the growing tips next year to prevent flopping).

Just look at that colour of the Cotoneaster horizontalis and forget for a moment about how invasive it can be in the wild.  These red juicy berries are just waiting for the blackbirds to feast on when the weather gets really cold.

I should rename this plant "Old Faithful" as the Sedum spectabile 'Autumn Joy' with it's claret coloured flowers is still making an impact in the borders.

How can you not cease to be amazed by Beauty Berries! Callicarpa bodinieri var. giraldii ‘Profusion’.  I've 2 shrubs both at least 8 foot tall covered in these small clusters of purple berries until December each year.  (Note to self - prune them for the first time next April)

Okay this weed Centaurea montana really shouldn't be in flower at this time of year. (Note to self: DON'T  let this one flower go to seed!)

It's not a great view of the flowers as they are only a few inches off the ground. Two weeks ago I saw the buds pushing through the earth so I trimmed the old leaves away in anticipation for the GBBD photo. I don't know what type of Hellebore this is as it came from a very old garden and if  the last 2 winters are anything to go by it will probably be covered in snow for next months GBBD.


Ahhhhhhh there's the knock on the kitchen window - no time to take shots of the yellow rose, the red crabapples or the pink Sorbus berries.............these boys need fed!


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! 

"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.

Do you pin on Pinterest yet?

Have you heard of Pinterest yet?  There's tweeting on twitter and now there's pinning on Pinterest. It's a virtual inspirational clipboard that's great for keeping images of a wish list of gardening products/inspiring photographs of plants and gardens/clothes/recipes/art/books and much much more that we come across while on the web.  I first found out about it through other photographers who were using the boards to help them plan their photo sessions  and props with clients but I also use mine to collect ideas for incorporating into my own garden.  Now that I've discovered Pinterest I never use those boring text bookmarks and favourites as I much prefer to see my bookmarks visually. You might as well say that it's an image  bookmarking website with a social networking side to it.

Here's my pin board on gardening and nature:

The etiquette for members is:

1. Be nice

2. Credit your sources and give links to the original website page you found the item on.

3. Avoid solely using Pinterest for self promotion of your own work/projects though pining some of your own work isn't discouraged.........just in moderation.

4. Nude or hateful content is not allowed

5. Giving feedback when necessary on how Pinterest can be improved as it's relatively new on the Internet.

I've been a member for many months now after submitting an invite to join the site.   You can follow other members pinboards and repin material from their pinboards as well on to your own clipboards.  If you use FireFox you can download a "pin it" button for your tool bar and every time you come across something really useful  or would like to add it to a wish list then you click on the "pin it" button and it places it into a virtual board you've made on your account.   (There's a plugin available for wordpress users  aswell as an app for Ipad and Iphone users already).


Projects

One project that has really inspired me on Pinterest is the Pallet garden which is made from an old disused pallet.  I have two pallets in the garage and it would be a great project to try out next year as I'm running out of space and I'm thinking vertical. I've always admired the different plants belonging to the Sedum family and  this pallet garden would be a perfect way to display them together so that they could 'show off' their diversity in texture and form.  From the pictures I found while  on Pinterest I was able to find the original tutorial online "How to Turn a Pallet into a Garden"

Source: lifeonthebalcony.com via Rosie on Pinterest

If you want to find out if any of your own work on your blog has already been pinned by someone just use this url placing your own blog url without the www. or http://   in the red spaces between the two forward slashes.  Mine would be /leavesnbloom.blogspot.com/

 http://pinterest.com/source/------------------/

I've a few invites left and you're welcome to contact me (click on the link in the blog header) with your email address (your email address is safe - it will never be forwarded to anyone else other than Pinterest) so that I can send you a  personal invite as it's a quicker route to becoming a member rather than applying directly to the website yourself.


Lastly I have to warn you that pinning can become addictive for some! 

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! 

"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.

Nature paint me a picture.

A light chaser came into the garden one frosty November morning just as the plants were frozen in time.   She waited and observed and how the light worked its magic by leaving sparkles all over the garden.   She chased the light as it moved around the garden  and she let 'nature paint a picture' just for you..............

Back lighting the frosted Potentilla seed heads hedge

The first light of the day permeating through the frosted Magnolia leaves.

Light dancing off the final Lavender 'Hidcote' blooms

and finally the melting moments on the Rudbeckia 'Goldstrum'

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! 

"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.