Celebrating gardens, photography and a creative life
HeyJude is challenging us to compare a colour picture with a black and white version and say which we prefer and why. While b&w most obviously lends itself to landscapes or portraits, I wanted to try some flowers. Continue reading “Colour or Black and White?”
Mike Powell (whose blog features wonderful pictures of insects) recently asked if ‘common’ is appropriate in a name. I know what he means. And even though these are our most common orchid, growing wild in deserted quarries, woodland, meadows, hedgerows and along footpaths, I caught myself hesitating before tagging them ‘wildflowers’. Continue reading “Dactylorhiza fuchsii | Common Spotted Orchid”
Rudbeckia ‘Giggling’ (looking sunny against a drift of white Gaura) is richly coloured, fast growing and short. I noticed that Walter Blom Plants have listed it as one of their Temperennials, a coinage, in their words, ‘to warn you that they cannot be left cold and wet through the winter’. Continue reading “Rudbeckia ‘Giggling’”
Lilium Marlon has huge, wonderfully scented, upward-facing flowers, held on sturdy stems. Each petal has a wavy edge, traced out in white, and a smattering of freckles. Continue reading “Lilium ‘Marlon’, a Pink Oriental Lily”
Lathyrus ‘Spencer Mix’ is sweet pea seed blend that includes white and dark flowers, and clear shades of pink, red, lilac and purple.
Sweet peas are sun lovers, but like their roots in cool, moist soil. They are usually grown for cutting: the more assiduously you pick the flowers, the more the plants will produce. Continue reading “Lathyrus odoratus ‘Spencer Mix’”
Clary sage is a biennial or short lived perennial. Showy white flowers, with pink bracts and lavender hoods tower above the leaves. Continue reading “Salvia sclarea var. turkestanica at Rosemoor (and a Rant)”
