Celebrating gardens, photography and a creative life
The summer solstice seems an appropriate time to feature one of Britain’s most evocative wild flowers: Digitalis purpurea. Close ups of their spots, hairs and pouting flower lips, combined with dire warnings of their toxicity, help explain why so much lore has been wound around them.
Colourful folk names variously link them to fairies, dragons and witches, while scholars dispute the derivation of their commonest name, foxglove.
Continue reading “Digitalis Purpurea: The Essence of Summer”
Yesterday afternoon we felt very fortunate to be able to preview the flower show that is being held from 10-12th June at the RHS’s lovely Harlow Carr Garden. I’m sure it’s not a coincidence that the show is timed during the flowering of their blue poppies (meconopsis).
I’ve been admiring the pretty, pink, pinwheel flowers of wood sorrel (oxalis crassipes var rosea) ever since arriving in Mississippi. You can hardly miss them. Continue reading “Weekly Photo Challenge: Spare Oxalis Crassipes”
Spare a thought for Britain’s specialist plant nurseries and garden designers who will spend this weekend agonizing over their displays for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Driven by a love of plants, they also know that a Gold Medal or Best In Show will enhance their professional reputation. So a lot is at stake: the boundary between success and failure can be difficult to tread when you’re working with a finite supply of live plant material and trying to second guess the judges. Continue reading “Jubilant”
I’m sharing these peonies for Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge. Please join in the fun if you can. Continue reading “Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Peonies”
Susan Rushton 