New paintings and regular art updates.
I may be wrong, but I think this plants colloquial name is Fox and Cubs? I think you get a main flower then a number of smaller flowers around it. I’ve seen it growing as a weed, with dandelion style seed heads? But I may be completely wrong and it could be a different plant entirely? If anyone knows please tell me. I think we saw these plants at the Dorothy Clive garden last year when we visited in the summer.
Rhododendrons look lovely, but they can be an invasive species. They shade out smaller plants and the ground around them becomes bare. I know in some places they are removed. Rhododendrons are native to Asia but were imported by plant collectors in the Victorian era. They ‘layer’ themselves to spread, a branch can touch the ground and where it rubs against the soil it will send out roots (or layer). This also happens with other plants. Forest and parkland have to be managed to protect it from invasive species like this and others such as Himalayan Balsam and Japanese Knotweed.
Little buds into purple flowers or bracts. The flowers on our new hydrangea are coming out. They were a surprise. Hydrangea usually have blue or pink flowers depending on the acidity or alkalinity of the soil. I’ve heard of people putting copper nails in the soil with them to change their colour. I don’t know if it works as its probaby a old wives tale? A good garden plant and can grow into a small shrub.
We used to buy more plants in the summer, this is a poppy from four years ago. I loved buying plants, but apart from ordering some hanging baskets for my birthday I don’t think we will have as much on show this year. But the trees are growing up and so are bushes. I might try and get some foxgloves…
Alliums are part of the onion family and are grown for their spiky round flower heads in purples and reds.
This display was at the Dorothy Clive garden a week ago. I think the leaves are from a different plant that was growing below the allium stems. I think if we go back in a few weeks a completely different set of flowers will have opened up. If you are in Staffordshire I would recommend a visit. The garden is down a country road and is on a sloping hill. Lovely on a summers day.
I wish our garden was sunnier but we planted a lot of trees soon after moving in and now the garden resembles a jungle. Still that must be good for our carbon footprint.
Blow wind, loose seeds
Fly high over grass
Dandy lion
Mane of fluff
Lifting up
Gossamer parachute
Land and grow.
Spiky leaves
Golden flowers,
For bees to drink…
Deep tap root
Ties it down
Weed or plant?
Who cares…
New seeds
Afloat….
I saw a post on my friend Martha’s blog and I realised her lilac and ours are flowering at the same time despite being on different continents.
At the side of our house near the front door are several bushes and trees. These include a white buddlea (not in flower yet) and a tall white lilac which has ivy scrambling up through it. The lilac is two thirds the height of our house and is happy there, which is strange because the two purple lilac bushes we had in the garden died off because they were shaded out.
I can see the lilac bush as I’m driving home down our hill. The white flowers are all over it. It sparkles in the sunshine. The blossom should be there for a while. I only wish I could smell it, but a head injury several years ago means my sense of smell is limited. I will post a few garden photos soon.
It’s growing,
a bit of water
It’s gone mad!
Pots overflow
Burgeoning leaves
With green waterfalls
Bubbling out of the soil
Brown turned green
Ferns in the wall..
Yellow Welsh poppies
And dark mauve geraniums
Fun to see it grow
But no room to walk
A path is required
But raspberries
And blueberries
Have flowers
Now I need bees!
A few miles from Stoke on Trent in the Staffordshire countryside is the Dorothy Clive garden. We went there today because I knew the rhododendrons would be in flower and also I wanted to see if I could drive that far (my arm is still shaking and very sore and it’s hard to drive). Luckily I was OK and it was a gorgeous day and a lovely place to visit. You walk up from the car park at the bottom, past the pool, up a steepish slope covered in trees and flowerbeds. There is a cafe at the top and a dry garden and quarry garden at the top (where the majority of the rhododendrons are). There is also a stag sculpture and a waterfall. From the top of the garden you can see three counties, Staffordshire, Cheshire and Shropshire. Worth a day out….
How do you balance work and home life?
Balance, what’s that?
Retired: bored or busy?
Sometimes life sucks
Other times it’s lovely.
Time passes quickly
Flowers grow, and fade
Trees shed leaves
And bud.
Stay up late
Lose the daylight
A twylight time?
Prevaricate and regret…
Loss of what’s left…
I should work more
But my mind is tied
In gossamer threads
Of nothing…
Frustrated by
My lack of
Vision and
Determination
To do more…
Mallaband-Brown