Scented Saturday

My Cornish Palm or Cordyline Australis is flowering madly at the moment and the scent is absolutely amazing!

There are two great plumes of flowers pumping out scent in the sun like it's going out of fashion.

Because the tree is planted on one of the terraces in the back garden, when you go up to the upper level you are next to the flowers and so get the full effect.

And the bees are mad for it!

Oh, for smellevision so I could share it!

No 25 - Perfect perennials for cottage gardens - pt 2

Next in my feast of pinky purpley loveliness is no 25 on my list, Perennial Geranium.

There are literally hundreds of variants in this family and I am determined to have as many as possible. My collection isn't doing badly so far (most of my geraniums have been gleaned from family and friends so I've tried to identify them for you, but don't take it as gospel):

Geranium sanguieum, this one is a creeper and loves to wander through other things. This year this Geranium flowered pretty much from last April right through - it only paused when I chopped it back on a couple of occasions.

'Blue blood' This is more of a clump forming variety, with large, papery flowers about 4cm across.

 'Cranesbill' Geranium This is close to the wild geranium and is low growing with taller stalks of small flowers above.

Pencilled Cranesbill. Beautifully marked petals and clump forming.

Kashmir White. Delicately streaked and large flowered, this one also has lovely divided leaves.

The drooping, delicate buds of the Kashmir White.

This is a Geranium I inherited with the garden and I have struggled to identify it. It creates huge mounds of foliage and the flowers appear both pale and dark pink. It does flower endlessly but it looks very untidy a lot of the time and totally takes over. Quite a lot of it has found it's way onto my compost heap (and not in a good way)!

Geranium nodosum. This prefers a more shady position and has a smaller though vibrant flower and chunkier leaves. (The flower in the pic has just been beaten to a pulp by the rain, usually it looks less bedraggled!)

This is a Geranium that came from my Mum which has clusters of bright small flowers that last really well and bob around in the sun beautifully.

Geranium and Heuchera leaves intermingling.

Geranium leaves are almost as varied as the flowers, and also vary in colour.

This one is Geranium pratense Black beauty, it's not flowering yet but has lavender blue flowers and gorgeous dark leaves.

Geranium flowers range from about 1cm across to nearly 4cm, come in all shades of pink, blue and purple. They are all easy to grow and spread if they are happy. They are gorgeous at this time of year but can become a bit tatty in the summer when some people recommend chopping them back so that they reshoot with new leaves. Some may also have a second flush of flowers.
My next target Geranium (that sounds a bit un-gardener-ish!) is a Phaeum which is tall and has very dark reddish, small flowers. I had lots in my London garden but I don't think I brought any west with me - can't think why, I brought a bit of almost everything else!

23-24 Perfect perennials for cottage gardens...

...and they are so easy to grow, in fact quite hard to stop!

'Flowering in my garden' at the moment are 2 of my favourite perennials. they provide a riot of colour and spread themselves about to fill in unintentional gaps in your borders (not to mention any intentional gaps, paths and pots!). The only thing required with these plants is a bit of control (I'm famously bad at this, you only have to look at my garden, I have no idea how to control anything!)

Consequently the collection of no 23 Aquilegia in my garden is growing slightly alarmingly but they are so beautiful that I can't bring myself to be stern with them. Their common names include Columbine and Granny's bonnet and you can see why.

The only one that I actually planted about 4 years ago was this really dark one...

and now I have them in shades of purple...

and even dark pink...

through to pale pink!

Which is quite clever for a plant to manage I think. The lovely, dainty, fluted flowers are held on graceful, tall stems which sway elegantly in the breeze, looking like beautiful fairy party dresses just like in the book from my childhood Flower Fairy Alphabet, or fairy bells! 

The buds come first with their fat promise and their weird twisty-ness, followed by the flowers and then...

the whole reason for the need for control - the seed head. These are equally graceful and elegant BUT, they are also full of zillions of tiny black shiny seeds, that get everywhere! So whisk them off before they dry and go brown and you can stop (ha! ok, maybe slow down) the world domination of the Aquilegia and it's constant reinvention of itself.

My Aquilegia are of the common variety, vulgaris, and semi-wild but Aquilegia are bred in every colour and size. There are alpine ones, which tend to be more dainty, larger flowered ones, doubles, ones with longer curlier horns/spurs, ones with no horns/spurs and bi-coloured ones. All of them will grow pretty much anywhere that has some sun and is reasonably drained. Their self seeding is a bonus, but remember if you start off with the more exotic hybridised versions, the chances are that over time they will revert and cross with what's around them and quite probably end up looking like the ones above!

Here are some alpine ones I grew from seed last autumn (left) and some Lime Sorbet that I planted this year (right). Come on you two - get moving!!! Who knew they would grow this slowly, I might just revert to leaving the wild ones to do their thing instead.

(yes that is rain, the poor things are almost battered flat or washed away!)

Next is a plant with many of the same characteristics as the Aquilegia but a very different flower.

 No 24 Thalictrum, or meadow rue, has very similar leaves to the Aquilegia and tall elegant stems. 

It is also flowering at the moment but the flowers are altogether much fluffier!

This pale lilac one grows in front of my Black Sambucus and contrasts beautifully...

and this brighter one is shorter and looks lovely amongst it's own bright green foliage.

These are Thalictrum aquilegifolium (there is the clue to the similarities to the Aquilegia I've described!) and I would love a Thalictrum delavayi, which is taller and even more gorgeous.

Thalictrum are slower growing than their relatives, Aquilegia, and less all-conquering (at least they have been so far, but then I only planted them last year!) but they do self seed. They are not choosy about soil type but prefer not to be parched by hot sun. So my semi shaded, cooler border should be perfect!

Given a level playing field (or garden border) I wonder who would win in an Aquilegia Thalictrum flower off. We'll have to wait and see!

Now that's what I call a tray of seedlings!

Ten days ago I planted the third batch of seeds this spring.

I was, frankly feeling a bit meh about the whole thing. I have planted Aquilegias, Catanache, Poppies, Pennisetum and a whole range of perennials and annuals and I have had a good germination rate. However the seedlings are all tiny and are growing so slowly that I am loosing the will to live.

So imagine my joy at this batch - and this is in just 10 days!

From left to right they are:

Ipomoea 'Star of Yalta', Ricinus impala, Borlotti Beans (Firetongue) and French Beans (Cobra).

So a mixture of ornamental and vegetable seedlings which all grow in a similar way. The compost erupts to reveal a doubled over stalk as you can see from the Ricinus which is a little slower than the rest.

By the time the stem and leaves unfurl you have a whopping great seedling - no wondering if this is what is meant to be happening, or squinting to see microscopic shoots.

I love an enthusiastic seedling - they are life affirming and give you the courage to give anything a try (my Ricinus is an impulse buy - no idea where it is going to go!).

Now all I have to do is get on and pot them up!

19-22 Pretty in Pink

The garden is awash with drifts of pink at the moment, and, unusually, it is the shady side of my garden that is showing it's best. Most of the "Flowering in my garden' offerings this week like a slightly cooler and shadier spot, although not necessarily deep shade.

19 Primula

I have 2 shades of candelabra Primulas, one paler, one more vibrant, and I bought them both last year from Polgwynne on the NGS open day. Niether were in flower so they have been a lovely surprise. Their tall spires of tiered flowers zing out from among the fresh green growth all around them, and the bunches of buds just keep coming.

Candelabra Primulas like the ground damp, but don't want to stand in water. They will grow in partial shade and don't respond well to being hot, but they are not choosy about soil type. The main problem with them can be slugs (no surprise there then!) which like to eat the forming buds.

The flowers are held on tall, robust, silvery stems

...and wave gracefully in the breeze (which has been quite enthusiastic in recent days). The leaves are less interesting and can become tatty looking, but they can be removed as they become unsightly and clumps can be divided in the autumn/early spring.

20 Wigelia florida varigata

Wigelia is deciduous shrub with arching branches and comes in a wide range of varieties. This is a variegated one with creamy margins to the leaves and a pale pink trumpet shaped flower. It looks lovely at the moment with it's graceful branches waving in the breeze/wind, and the flowers and the darker buds appear all along the length of each branch.

The bright buds zing out from the lovely foliage.

It's a very unfussy shrub, it will be happy with full sun right through to shade and just gets on with it!

21 Londons Pride - Saxifrage x urbium

London's Pride is one of my favourites and has been part of my garden memory ever since I can remember. It grew in the garden of the house I grew up in, I took some from there to my first garden in London, and eventually brought some of that down to Cornwall. It's a well travelled London's Pride!

It has a haze of tiny flowers held on tall, wiry, reddish stems but when you look closely you see a wealth of delicate detail in every bloom.

...and the rosettes of bright green, serrated, fleshy leaves, each with their central downy stalk, stay lush for most of the year. London's Pride likes a sunny to semi shaded, well drained spot and new rosettes will grow roots and can be divided off whenever they appear.  The only other thing that needs doing is to cut the flowering stems down when the flowers are over - Easy!

I also have a variegated version with lovely yellow streaked leaves, but it isn't quite as reliable as this one. This year it hasn't flowered at all.

22 Deadnettle - Lamium Maculatum

This is another winner in shade - The Deadnettle or Lamium, this one is the Spotted Deadnettle, although it isn't spotted at all! It is a perennial, is great as ground cover and this time of year has spikes of pink flowers rising above the mounds of decorative leaves. Even when the flowers have dropped their petals the spikes are left with their jagged, bronzy bracts and look lovely against the green.

The downy leaves with their central painted stripe start pale green with a slight bronze edging, and then darken to a richer green that shows the stripe more clearly. It is semi evergreen in my garden and divides well. There are white and yellow flowered variants, and a smaller trailing white leaved variant. I would have to say that one is harder to establish, as I planted 3 of them and they all died! But we mustn't hold that against these lovely Lamiums, which are flourishing in the shade with not very much care and attention.

So the pink extravaganza ends - hope it finds you in the pink!

17 and 18, an injection of colour!

It's been a while since I added to the 'Flowering in my garden' strand, it's been a difficult couple of weeks but it's time to get back to normality and push on forwards. So it seemed apt to introduce something loud and jolly. 

Number 17 on my list - Tulips - don't have to be loud, they can be very tasteful and discreet. Mine aren't! Mine are mad and over the top. You may remember them from my Easter post, I was so pleased they had done well, and they are still going strong!

They are Flaming Parrot and came from Fentongollan Bulb Farm last year.

My success with these reminded me that I do also have some discreet white ones in the front too so off I went to find them. They have done very well this year too, looking serene and classical. They are   Calgary and also came from Fentongollan, planted 2 years ago, but unfortunately the wind has been strong today and when I sallied forth with my camera there was not a petal to be seen!

And then I got an email from my Mum with this offering from her garden:

They are from Sarah Raven, called Chato, and I think they are totally fab (the white ones on the left are pretty lovely too!).

Which got me thinking - I need more tulips in my life! I was rather put off when we lived in London when I planted lots of them and watched the squirrels chew the buds off each spring! EVERY BUD, EVERY YEAR! I might have got one flower per year, but never more than that. However that was then and this is now - think positive and start making a list - I'd love some Chato, some black or very dark ones and some more parrot tulips, roll on August and the Fentongollan catalogue!

The other burst of colour which is new to my garden but has impressed me with it's enthusiasm is Number 18 Geum. This is 'Mrs Bradshaw' which was the start point for my hot pots (not in a northern meat stew sense, but in a hot colour scheme in pots sense!) in the back terraced garden.

There are lovely arching stems coming from a burst of green feathery leaves, with clusters of green buds that open to reveal...

bright crumpled petals that spread to reveal...

a golden centre.

It seems to like it's new home so I think I will try and find it a companion! They are available in all shades of yellow, orange and red. It will also compliment my dark random dahlia (Rip City) if it ever gets higher than 1cm!

Floral Friday

A speedy visit to London on business yesterday, and a bunch of flowers required at Old Street Tube Station for our hosts. Problem - oh no!

Look what we got!

Peonies, Alliums, Sweet Peas, Eryngium and Eucalyptus - stunningly beautiful and smelled heavenly. The flowers weren't British grown but they were gorgeous and were arranged with care and knowledge for us. Cost-wise I didn't look, it was a company credit card moment and therefore almost counts as being free!

Well done londonfloristshop, I'm impressed - wish they were for me!

Burncoose Nursery Garden - a hidden gem

This week saw Jayne and I shopping for one of our clients - on the hunt for a Deutzia and a shrub to replace a planned Acer that wouldn't get the shelter it needed. On our travels we passed Burncoose Nursery, and decided to drop in for a mooch around. Whilst I've been to the nursery on various occasions I had never looked around the garden attached.

 Billed as a woodland garden, it is an area full of specimen plants of enormous size that shows to fantastic effect at this time of year. The site is part of the Caerhays Estate and the garden was apparently an area used to grow on collected specimens from all over the world before they were taken for display at Caerhays Castle Gardens themselves. The Williams family who own Caerhays are historically well known for breeding Camelias, Rhododendrons and Magnolias, and the nursery  still continue this today.

There were long walkways with banked Rhododendrons, Magnolias, Camellias and Azeleas, in every shade, size and form (some of the combinations looked decidedly unplanned!)

And underneath were drifts of beautiful English Bluebells.

Some of the Camellias were over but there were still plenty going strong. The one above is Camellia Williamsii 'anticipation'. What a stunning plant to have named after your family.

The Magnolias were huge in size and impact...

and the Rhododendrons were just bonkers! Dripping with flowers, some as bright as can be...

and some a little more subtle like this Rhododendron Williamsianum (again with the name - lucky things!)

There were lots of trees, from Monkey Puzzle to Acer, all in various stages of coming into leaf.

This mixture of bright red Acer, yellow Magnolia (not sure if I can cope with that idea, is it just wrong?) and carpet of Bluebells stopped me in my tracks.

      

There were also some wonderfully architectural specimens, the Rhododendron on the left was huge with leaves that were well over a foot long, super glossy and topped with clusters of creamy bells. The shelter provided by the taller trees and shrubs also suited tree ferns, this one was a Dicksonia and the trunk was about 10' tall.

Then we saw this, it was a truly enormous tree covered in creamy flowers. What a stunning Magnolia we chorused, but no! It is apparently it is a Michelia Doltsopa. I had never heard of this so looked it up, it is a relative of the Magnolia and has scented flowers and, funnily enough, is available from Burncoose Nursery! How perfect is that - if only it didn't grow to 30ft height and spread, and was frost hardy I'd buy one tomorrow!

So could some of these shrubs be the original ones that arrived in the late 1800's? Who knows but some of the trees might be, and there were Magnolias and Pieris larger than I have ever seen before. 

My one criticism would be the lack of information. Some of the most notable specimens are labelled (especially if they are called Williams) but much is not and there is nothing about the history of the place (unless I was being very unobservant - which is always possible). I found this on the Caerhays website on the history of the gardens but no specific mention is made of Burncoose.

The garden is open all of this year to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the nursery, so get along there soon - there were still lots of buds and things to come, it's definitely worth a visit.