Slow painting

Sunday 22 August 2010

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day August


My favourite blooms this summer are on the courgette plants that are mingling with the more standard-issue container plants in the front garden. The patio at the back of the house isn't sunny enough, and the back garden is home to huge snails - a special mutant Edinburgh variety. But at the front, 3 pots of 'Black Forest' courgette are just prolific enough for our needs.


Continuing the edible theme at the front of the house, alpine strawberries Baron Solemacher. Everything I read about these before buying them said that they put out very few runners. Really? It has been my summer occupation to remove the runners.


Bargain nicotiana - just the sort of plant a Scot likes. A host of seedlings popped up between the paving stones in May. I didn't know what they were, but pulled some up and put them in pots. Et voila - self-seeded nicotiana from last summer.


Yes another plant that I've bought and forgotten what it's called. I am amazed by bloggers with vast gardens who remember the name of every plant they've ever bought. I think it may be Barbara Jackman. Anyone who knows their clematis care to put me right?


Another bonus plant - sweet little violas at the base of the clematis.


So pleased with these fragrant petunias. They were part of a bumper 50 plants for £14.99 offer. The slight drawback for me of these offers is that the plants are usually tiny plugs, and with no greenhouse it can be a bit touch and go to bring them on if we're having a cold spring.


An indication of the cool summer we've had. Normally this crocosmia has finished flowering at the start of August.


My bee-magnet, hyssop Black Adder.


Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day for August is at May Dreams Gardens.

14 comments:

Margaret Gosden said...

If you do not care for the snails, I have heard that it is useful to have a hedgehog in the garden. They would keep the population down! I like the look of the marrow - I do miss a good marrow to eat living here!

clairz said...

No snails here in the desert, we're too dry! We're more likely to have some kind of surprise snake. I wish a hedgehog would take care of those fellows (not that I've ever seen a hedgehog in person).

I love the idea of fragrant petunias. Wonderful photos--the colors made me feel much cooler.

Corner Gardener Sue said...

I enjoyed seeing your blooms. I am going to have to try crocosmia again. It doesn't always survive the winter here, but I sure do like them.

I love those petunias and violas, too.

Les said...

I wanted to stop by and thank you for visiting my site and leaving a kind comment. I like the photo of your Nicotiana. So many of your blooms are mere spring memories here in this heat and melting humidity.

Peggy said...

Hi Linda, I hardly ever remember the proper names of plants, and I am most likey to call a plant after the person who gave me seeds or a slip!
Crocosimia is blooming in wild profusion along road side ditches over here for the month of Aug and well into Sept. We consider it almost a weed!

thyme2garden said...

Hi Linda - thanks for stopping by my blog, and allowing me to discover yours! You have some beautiful blooms here, I especially love all your vibrant purple blooms. I'm so bad with plant names (unless they grow some recognizable edible vegetables), so the best I can do is refer to them by color - that red flower, or this orange blossom. :-)

Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens said...

Hi Linda, thank you for your visit. The courgettes look so healthy and the yellow flowers are so beautiful. It is such a nice and versatile vegetable. I have tried to grow Hyssop in my herb garden but after one season it has declined from the humidity and heat. Love petunias the scented ones are double delightful.
We replant our strawberries every year with the runners, as they are quickly exhausted. We grow Alinta which does not produce to many runners unless one induces them to grow. The veggie plots are delightful, it is so good and rewarding to grow your own.

Jo said...

You have some wonderful plants and lots of colour in your garden. I agree about vegetable flowers, they can be just as pretty as ornamentals.

Q said...

Always enjoy seeing blooms and bees!
You flowers look great...it was a hot August here. Your photographs are so vivid and bright...lovely
Happy September.
Sherry

L. D. said...

Your photos of such great color are wonderful. Iowa is shutting down now as our grass is starting to die down and the corn is shriveling up to be picked in a few weeks. I have colorful tomatoes to pick, lots of them. Your violet colors are so great.

isabella diaper said...

I love garden. The color combination and the flowers are really great! I can’t even say a thing of making it improve because it’s already perfect. I like your petunias and the violas. They are really gorgeous.

donna said...

The courgette bloom is my favorite. Have to admit that I had to do a search to see what a courgette was and found that it's what I call a zucchini. I have a couple of pumpkin plants and cucumber plants growing in plastic containers and every morning when I walked out back to take a look, those big yellow/gold blooms made me smile.

Luv the idea of the sweet violas growing at the base of your clematis.

As usual, lovely photos.

donna

Rose Forever said...

Hey, those flowers really look good on the lenses. I also have a black adder in my garden and it sure does get a lot of visitors! and I mean a lot! lol. The same goes with our roses.

melanie duck said...

I have alpine strawberries in my front yard and it always makes me remove all of its runners. Until I just put a stick all over it and hang the runners all over the stick. I just hope that it will work. I love your petunias! They are really wonderful!