Wednesday 19 August 2015

Late summer colour

I took a walk round the garden this morning before the rain set in. Small birds were everywhere, wrens and tits darting amongst the foliage, busy foraging the seed heads. Wild bees were just as busy.
A good job that we were all up early because it's tipping down with rain now!


Marigolds edge the vegetable beds
but at this time of year my flower borders seem to be predominately pink.  I'm always on the look-out to add my favourite colour blue but never seem to get the mass of rich blue that I would like. 
There's no problem growing purples but right now I'm on a search for a really BLUE aster. I've tried  before and the results were poor, not at all what was promised on the label!




So for now the colour pink is winning and the stars of the late summer show are phlox, Japanese anemones and hydrangeas.
(Although my white anemone, 'Honorine Jobert', is a sickly little soul.)



Will  'Gertrude Jekyll'  be my last rose of summer?

14 comments:

  1. Lovely flowers and beautiful images! Have a happy day!

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    1. Thank you, Eileen. Love the photos of your wrens, I only know of one type here in England.

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  2. What a lovely variety of plants you have, thank you for sharing it. My garden has suffered this year, due to prolonged heat here in France.

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    1. Although a drought-stricken garden must be distressing I do envy your having had a long, hot summer, Barbara, especially after my day of constant heavy rainfall!

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  3. It is so hard to find a true blue plant here also. I had some salvia, but the flowers which were plentiful and vibrant in the spring, are no longer.

    As the summer dwindles, the yellows take over and they are magnificent in your garden.

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    1. Yes, there are good yellows in the garden but they would look so much better with a lot of blue beside them! I'm pleased with the globe thistles that I grew from seed, both the colour and the structure work well with the soft yellow of the fennel.

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  4. Since we moved from our big farm to our little farm I am sorely missing all my established flowers but your post gave me that color fix I needed. Next spring we'll start rebuilding our gardens but first busy building a new home out of an old grain bin. I imagine the outside of it covered with bright colors. Thanks for all the inspiration!!!

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    1. Donna, how good to hear from you - and what a lot you've been up to since I was last over at your site! I'm steadily working my way through all your news and am pretty awestruck by what's going on. Forget Robert Mitchum, where's Harrison Ford when a barn needs to be raised?!!! If I wasn't here over the pond I would be striking a whole lot of cuttings for your new garden.

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  5. Lovely flowers of summer, my eye was especially drawn to the yellow Buddleja, I tried that one twice with no result, Blue flowers are always in minority, however, a real blue one at this moment is Lobelia siphilitica.

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    1. Aren't plants contrary, the yellow buddleja was grown from a little piece just stuck in the ground and it has to be hacked back rather often while other plants that I nurture refuse to thrive. How sturdy is lobelia siphilitica? I have had half-hardy lobelias in the past that were a beautiful blue but they lived for only one season.

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  6. You have the most beautiful garden.
    I can't believe how outstanding the first photo is !
    Perfect.
    So very different from where I live. I live in a very green desert but it is a desert.

    cheers, parsnip

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    1. Yes, that particular combination of globe thistle and fennel flowers is especially pleasing. They like all the rain but I doubt that you would, Parsnip! (I would like an arrangement where it would just rain at night and then be warm and dry throughout the day.)

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  7. Such beauty and I love the variaion of colors. It sure as been a beautiful summer and here in Sweden we're still enjoying those hot high summer days. Lovely.:)

    Take care.♥

    Charlie
    xx

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