While I didn’t get the effect I was hoping for, fate has granted this picture a floral, textural, whirly, fantasy feel that has something going for it. I don’t know if the perspective makes it dreamy or nightmarish, but I do like the way the colours work together and the sweeping of the grasses. Continue reading “Two Crops Of Alliums (Not That Kind Of Crop)”
Fragrant Flowers: Lilacs
Earlier this week, I was encouraging you to overhear flowers talking. This one might be easier. You just have to imagine the smell of lilacs. Continue reading “Fragrant Flowers: Lilacs”
Friday Flowers: Sitting Pretty
Roses, clematis, nigella, veronica and hypericum berries in shades of pink, blue and purple look wonderful combined with creamy lisianthus buds, natural wood and lichens. Lest anyone should think I have the talent to have done this, I’ll make it clear that it’s a detail from a floral design by Eleanor Griffiths that I admired at last year’s Southport Flower Show. Continue reading “Friday Flowers: Sitting Pretty”
Leucanthemum x superbum ‘Old Court’ (Shasta Daisy)
Leucanthemum x superbum ‘Old Court’ is a quirky, spirited, ornamental, spidery double that takes wild to a whole new level. It’s one of my favourite flowers at any British flower show. Continue reading “Leucanthemum x superbum ‘Old Court’ (Shasta Daisy)”
Hardy Double Geranium pratense ‘Summer Skies’
Geranium ‘Summer Skies’ is a clump forming perennial that is hardy in the UK. The flowers are pastel coloured doubles with yellow centres . Tiny central petals form a distinctive, open bowl shape. You’ll see the base colour described as sky blue (sky-blue pink is, for once, more accurate); the colour tends to deepen as the flowers age. Dissected foliage and branching stems complete the picture.
The overall effect is ethereal – if fairies were cavorting in and around geraniums, these would be the ones they’d choose. Continue reading “Hardy Double Geranium pratense ‘Summer Skies’”
Blue Iris With A Fake Beard
A type of flower that may have beards, falls, flounces, horns, laminata, standards, signals and ruffles has to be accorded respect. Having said that, some of you might observe this ‘ordinary’ blue iris is lacking some of the twiddly bits its fancier bearded cousins can proudly display.
You might agree with me that the sunlight dancing on its upper petals and its clear, veined beelines left little to be desired: that the simple iris need not aspire to anything more. Continue reading “Blue Iris With A Fake Beard”