Category: flowering bulbs

Our Crocuses

We look forward to late February and early March as that is when those little jewels, the crocuses burst into bloom, attracting the local honey bees and any winter flying bumbles and solitaries.

Our crocus lawn is in its second season and is looking great.

In almost every other part of the garden they open their sunny flowers whenever the slightest sunny ray catches them. We thought we would take a wander around the garden with camera in hand and see how many different crocus we now have in the garden. Enjoy the journey with us.

Tags crocus, crocus lawn, flowering bulbs, spring, spring bulbs, spring garden

autumn flowering bulbs garden photography gardening hardy perennials irises Winter Gardening

Schizostylus – three pink flowers

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date November 18, 2013

Schizostylus must be one of the most neglected and under-planted bulbous plants there are available to gardeners. And now the poor thing has had its name changed by the botanist boffins! We should now be calling them Hesperantha. Their common name is Kaffir Lily. They hail from South Africa and are members of the iris family.

The commonest must be S. coccinea “Major” with its deep coppery red colouring that zings in any part of the garden when the weather is gloomy from October onwards, often well into early spring.

We recently planted this variety “Pink Princess” with flowers of the palest pink possible.

Our latest addition is this small flowered pink with the evocative name “Fenland Daybreak”. The pink of each petal has the finest dark pink lines on like spiders webs. It is a real beauty.

So there they are our three Schizostylus, three sisters one princess by name but all princesses in beauty.

Tags autumn, autumn colours, autumn plants, garden photography, gardening, Kaffir Lilies, Schizostylus, winter gardens

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A Garden Bouquet for September

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date October 1, 2013
5 Comments on A Garden Bouquet for September

September is the month when the first signs of autumn creep in and there is something special happening to the light. Misty mornings give the garden a fresh atmosphere. Darkness comes too early each day. Fruit picking is the order of the day and we get out our pruning kit, secateurs, pruning saws and loppers large and small to tackle the trees and shrubs.

Grasses begin to change colour, some flowers and seed heads are turning redder and more purple others towards the pale tints of biscuit.

The Blackberry vine is so heavy with fruit that it blocks the pathway and apples hang in thick bunches but seem slow to ripen. At last colour is creeping into the greenness of the grapes. Fingers crossed that the weather is kind to them and therefore kind to us.

This Buddleja is a special one with purple flowers at the tip of each arching branch. The out side of each individual flower is dusty purple-grey but the rich bright purple inside provides a beautiful contrast. Buddleys lindleyana is a very special shrub. A real favourite! And it looks even better alongside a bright orange neighbour in the guise of a Crocosmia. While we are on the subject of bright flowered Crocosmia the yellow one nearby is gentler but still a true bright beauty.

Shrubs and trees are thinking ahead to the winter and painting their leaves in reds, oranges and yellows. The first two photos are of a special Ribes which will give us yellow flowers in the winter. These are followed by deciduous varieties of Euonymus and Cercis “Forest Pansy”.

On the gravel garden, our Beth Chatto Garden, grasses are starring alongside the autumn stars, Michaelmas Daisies.

Bulbs usually mean late winter or early spring but these cyclamen and tulbaghia are showstoppers right now.

So off we go into autumn!

Tags apples, autumn, autumn colours, foliage, foliage plants, fruit and veg, fruit and vegetable growing, fruit., garden photography, gardening, grasses, grow your own, grown your own, harvest, September, shrubs, trees

colours flowering bulbs garden design garden photography gardening grasses hardy perennials light quality ornamental grasses photography village gardens

Taking advantage of the light.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date September 8, 2013
9 Comments on Taking advantage of the light.

Early September sees the light values changing in subtle ways. As the sun dips against a blue sky and evening takes over from the day, light comes into the garden from much lower down. This angle has a magical effect on the prairie planting in our Beth Chatto Garden.

I couldn’t resist taking my camera with long lens out the first time I was lucky enough to spot these first signs of Autumn. Please let me know what you think of these photos. I have included every shot I fired off in a brief ten minutes of special light. Catch the moment!

So here is the gallery warts and all, no interference from Photoshop. As usual click on any photo to get going and then click on the arrow.

Tags agapanthus, flower photography, garden photography, grasses, hardy perennials, light quality, light vales, photographing plants, photography

colours flowering bulbs fruit and veg garden design garden photography gardening grow your own hardy perennials outdoor sculpture Shropshire shrubs spring bulbs

A Bouquet for May

May has been overall cooler than we expected and wished for and it has been far wetter than we had hoped for and wanted but the garden has loved it, revelling in the dampness and the special quality of the light that late spring/early summer delivers. This light makes the gardener feel happier too. Neither Jude the Undergardener nor I can cope with dull weather very well.

Bluebells and Bowles Golden Sedge sit on the shower room window sill, whilst in the lounge fireplace Aquilegias, Red Campion, Cow Parsley, Bistort and Wallflowers add life to the slate fireplace. These bouquets illustrate how we balance cultivated plants with our own natives.

Growth is lush – greens are rich. Flowers burst with bright colours and are generous with their exuberance. Enjoy my May gallery. Just click on any shot and follow the arrows.

Tags foliage, fruit and veg, fruit and vegetable growing, garden photography, gardening, grown your own, May, outdoor sculpture, shrubs, spring bulbs

colours flowering bulbs fruit and veg garden design garden photography garden wildlife gardening grasses hardy perennials Land Art ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture photography Shropshire shrubs spring bulbs spring gardening wildlife

A Bouquet for April

At last spring has arrived in the garden and taken it by storm. Buds are bursting, birds are nesting and bees buzzing searching the blooms.

Any bouquet for April will have to embrace flowering bulbs.

And how about adding a few bursting buds of trees and shrubs? Our miniature chestnut, the sweetly scented daphne flowers and the froth of snow-white amelanchier flowers.

All around the garden fresh fruit blossom promise beautifully scented and delicious, delicate flavours. The pinks of apple blossom and whites of plums. Oh so tasty!

The insects are appreciating these new signs of life too, in particular the bees and butterflies. This little bee knows that there is something good awaiting him inside the tulip once it opens. He is just a centimetre or so long and coloured a rich gingery orange.

I shall finish off by inviting you to enjoy a little gallery of garden delights taken on the last day of April.

Dusky pink primula hides in arum and stipa leaves.

Copper sculpture with copper leaved phormium.

Kingcups on the dge of the wildlife pond.

Tags amelanchier, apples, foliage, fruit and veg, fruit blossom, fruit., garden photography, garden wildlife, gardening, grasses, insects, ornamental trees, outdoor sculpture, sculpture, spring bulbs, spring flowers, spring garden

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A Cold Woodland Walk

A cold dull day with a biting easterly wind. Stay at home and enjoy a book in front of a roaring homely log fire? No, we decided to get out into it and enjoy a walk in the woodland in the grounds of our local National Trust property, Attingham Hall.

We visit regularly and no two visits are ever the same. We set out on this particular walk expecting to see the first signs of spring, perhaps the fresh green growth of Hawthorn, buds on trees fattening fit to burst or birdsong all around. How wrong we were. The wood is still in the grip of winter and birds remain quiet, except for a Mistle Thrush who cast his song far and wide over the tree tops, a melodic uplifting tune. One patch of Hawthorn displayed some green but only one.

However in the protection of a brick wall this Flowering Currant defied the winter and cheered us up with its soft pinky-red flowers hanging in so many tassels. Nearby just beyond the warmth provided by the wall the tight yellow buds of a variety of Mahonia aquifolia patiently wait. The odd splash of blue sky above us reflects in the gloss of the leaves. Close by their cousins the Berberis are a little behind but both will respond to some kinder weather.

The last of the Snowdrops still hang on, and wherever there is protection flowers respond.

Where elderly specimens of trees begin to break and fall sculptural shapes are created. This old split trunk looks huge amongst younger trees and its boughs stretch out across the ground rotting where they fell and colonised by a carpet of mosses.

There is something magical about woodlands, they make you feel calm and relaxed and they make some visitors more creative or more childlike. They build dens, climb trees or create little bits of land art. The National Trust are doing a brilliant job in encouraging these effects on their visitors, in particular with their little booklet “50 things to do before you are 11 3/4“. Right in the depths of the woodland we came across these two simple but beautiful land art pieces.

Tree surgeons at work have left their marks. We were amazed when we spotted the beautiful “fern” chipped into the bark by a chainsaw. The off cuts were used to make a wonderful big logpile to attract insects especially all the beetles who make Attingham their home. The National Trust’s woodland management keeps wildlife in mind. It is heartening to know that Stag Beetles now live here.

In the walled garden the extra warmth afforded by its tall brick walls has allowed flowering plants to make some progress towards Spring.

The best feature of our walk was to see a Honey Bee at work feeding on Wallflowers in the walled garden.

What a great walk we had, cold ears and noses but plenty of fresh air and sheer joy at being outside and in woodland. I hope you enjoy the collection of pics below!

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A Bouquet for March

Here is this month’s “Bouquet” post. The first photo says it all!

There are in fact two flowers visible – both yellow. Our Cornus mas is still in bloom and the flower buds of daffodils are spearing their way through their white duvet.