This yellow daylily caught my sweetheart’s eye during yesterday’s  visit to Bodnant Garden. The plant produces striking, dark, bronzy stems topped with buds that open to rich yellow flowers. Broad mahogany stripes linger on the backs of the outer petals: a legacy of the bud.
Continue reading “Yellow and Mahogany Daylily”
Shrub Roses As Companion Plants
To accentuate the beauty of a shrub rose, allow it to mingle with other plants, while indulging its desire to be the star of the show. Companion planting has a practical purpose as well as a creative one. Foliage of other plants can help to cover the bare soil and gnarled branches often found at the base of roses, and any mixed planting always attracts a broader range of beneficial insects, helping to keep the rose healthy. Continue reading “Shrub Roses As Companion Plants”
Wordless Wednesday: Aeonium
Plantlust
Every now and again, we gardeners spot a plant we really want. Not having the space or the conditions it deserves doesn’t always help reduce the cravings, but when we’re lucky enough to have the perfect spot, we’re almost powerless to resist.
If the plant is a mass propagated, named cultivar (and we know the variety name and can find a supplier) there’s something we can do about it, when it’s not, it’s more tricky. I’ve recently been bewitched by a hellebore I saw in woodland at the Ness Botanic Garden that I fear falls into the latter category.  Continue reading “Plantlust”