Blue Flowers: Life and Art
Dactylorhiza fuchsii | Common Spotted Orchid
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”
Turquoise Door With Yellow Loosestrife
Four vigorous plants, growing together in a little, rock-edged garden without too much care (at a guess): a fern, Alchemilla mollis, Lysimachia punctata and Crocosmia.
Darwen’s moist climate has washed the door almost back to wood, while the window has been blocked in more than once. Continue reading “Turquoise Door With Yellow Loosestrife”
Wordless Wednesday: Plant Creche
Plants Outside the Gardener’s Bothy at Rousham
I wonder how many different cultivars there are in this small collection of pelargoniums and other potted plants at Rousham in Oxfordshire? Continue reading “Plants Outside the Gardener’s Bothy at Rousham”
Anthropomorphising Flowers
We’re not supposed to ascribe human characteristics to anything else, but I can’t help it. Somebody planted white foxtail lilies (eremurus) with alliums to provide height in a white flower border. The alliums are growing as the designer intended – upwards, but the foxtail lilies are demonstrating how they got their name. I’m fully aware that the light is drawing them in that direction, but that doesn’t stop my mind from doing its thing. The alliums are clustering in groups to gawp at and gossip about the wayward foxtail lilies. Continue reading “Anthropomorphising Flowers”
