Blog

Posted on

Flower of the Day: Yellow Roses

Close up of a double yellow rose in a flower arrangement
Neat yellow rose

I thought we could all do with a little sunshine today.

We are often warned not to ascribe human characteristics to animals – although it is clear to anyone who spends time with animals that they share at least some of the characteristics and emotions we reserve for ourselves.

How much worse must it be to ascribe them to flowers? Yet I find it so tempting. The neat rose has a calm, self-satisfied look as if everything is going to plan. Ending its days in an arrangement in a floristry marquee is right and proper. Continue reading “Flower of the Day: Yellow Roses”

Posted on

On The Edge: I’m Offering A Mixed Bag And Being Nowty

Tree that snapped and twisted as it fell
Tree that snapped and twisted as it fell

Today’s images are linked by featuring edges of various types. I never saw the wonderfully scenic, 300 year old Sycamore Gap tree which has been felled this week by vandals with a chainsaw, but I recently encountered the word ‘solastalgia’ which expresses the shock of the thousands of people who loved this tree. Along similar lines to nostalgia, solastalgia is the distress we feel when much-loved surroundings are altered and we are powerless to do anything about it. It’s a form of homesickness where we are at home, but sick because our home is no longer the same.

In contrast, my fallen tree with splintered edges is an unsung one. I fully feel the outrage about Sycamore Gap, but while it was leading the headlines, the UK’s State of Nature Report 2023 was quietly published, with little attention paid to its reminder that ‘the UK is now one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth.’ Continue reading “On The Edge: I’m Offering A Mixed Bag And Being Nowty”

Posted on

Alcalthaea: Crossing Hollyhocks with Other Mallows

x Alcalthaea suffrutescens hybrids with verbena bonariensis

x Alcalthaea suffrutescens, as the name kind of suggests, is a result of crossing Althaea, herbaceous perennials that include Althaea officinalis (the marsh mallow), with Alcea species (hollyhocks).

Now we’ve got that out of the way, we can relax and enjoy the floral fantasy they were creating outside one of the tea rooms at RHS Garden Bridgewater a few weeks ago. Continue reading “Alcalthaea: Crossing Hollyhocks with Other Mallows”

Posted on

Cottage Garden Plant Combinations From The Hampton Court Palace Show

Echinacea and Salvia
Echinacea and Salvia

At the Royal Horticulture Society’s Hampton Court Flower Show earlier this year, I had chance to indulge in one of my favourite pastimes – looking out for flowering plants that are companionable minglers. 

Catanache caerulea and Lychnis coronaria
Catanache caerulea and Lychnis coronaria

Floral threads included various colours and forms of Achillea, Campanula, Catanache, Digitalis (foxglove), Echinacea, Geranium, Knautia, Lychnis, Nepeta, Salvia, Scabious, Stachys and Verbena. Continue reading “Cottage Garden Plant Combinations From The Hampton Court Palace Show”

Posted on

The Lizard’s Rose (And Yellow Star Jasmine)

Creamy-white rose with double flowers

For several years my sweetheart has been growing a white rose that has been very reliable in his Mississippi garden. I have my fingers crossed as I write. He’s due back home this week and will find out how many plants have survived the summer’s drought, which is reported to have killed even well-established plants.

If the rose has survived unscathed it will have been thoroughly tested. A couple of cold spells last winter put paid to a fine rosemary bush that had been growing beside it and bit off star jasmine below ground level. Continue reading “The Lizard’s Rose (And Yellow Star Jasmine)”