When taking photographs for July’s Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, it dawned on me how many flowers there were in the garden, in the British patriotic colours of red, white and blue. Crocosmia Lucifer has just started flowering up by the pond and takes the eye as soon as you step into the garden by the back door.
Backlit by the sun, some of the petals look yellow.
But surrounded by green, it is bright red.
All the Hemerocallis are starting to flower now,
I think this one is H.Stafford, which is slightly different from the previous one, it has thinner petals.
Candelabra Primula Inverewe has almost come to the end of its flowering in the bog garden, this is the last whorl to open. It has been flowering for over a month, so will soon have a rest. Unfortunately this is sterile so it can only be increased by splitting.
In a damp corner of the rockery around the alpine scree, is a red Astilbe. The concrete wall is the edge of what was the old pond, which we turned into the scree bed with good drainage.
Fuchsias are also starting to flower with dangling earrings for their flowers.
It can’t be autumn yet, but the berries of Arum italicum marmoratum are turning red already!
My poor Phormium is now flowering, I hope this doesn’t mean that it is about to die! This used to be a huge plant, height as well as width. Then came the cold winter of 2010/11 and I thought it was dead. It put up a few spiky leaves the following year and a few more the year after.
I don’t think it liked all the rain last winter either and seemed to be going backwards again. Suddenly it has put up two huge spikes of flowers, I’m thinking maybe I ought to dig it up and put it in a pot for a while so that I can give it a bit of TLC, what do you think, I would hate to lose it?
A David Austin rose in the rose garden in the front, is Winchester Cathedral. I have never noticed before that it has a touch of pink in it.
A lovely spire of Digitalis alba, the white foxglove. I will have lots more next year when all my seedlings should be flowering, brightening up shady corners.
Some of my Alstromerias have been grown from seed. I have only just found out that they will keep on flowering if you pull the stem away from the base when either deadheading or wanting to pick them for a vase.
Polemonium or Jacob’s Ladder are coming to the end now, I will save some seed of this as they don’t seem to spread as easily as the blue ones do.
Saxifrage stolonifera is covered with lovely, dainty white flowers which dance around in the breeze like tiny butterflies.
Philadelphus Belle Etoile is pumping out its perfume on the breeze, filling the garden with its fragrance.
The latest spathe coming from Zantedeschia aethiopica is as huge as the earlier ones were, this plant has been magnificent this year, everything about the plant is huge. This shows what a difference it makes when it has a permanent supply of water in the bog garden.
This plant of Z. aethiopica is so much smaller in all its parts and is planted in ordinary soil, it is easily a third of the size of the one in the bog garden.
A white Astilbe which will go into the woodland in an area where rainwater makes the soil rather soggy, this will enjoy it.
Lychnis coronaria likes well drained soil, I have heavy clay, so the plant is still in its pot, but has rooted through to the soil for any moisture it needs. It seems to work as the crown and the roots in the pot stay dry in the winter.
I couldn’t leave Rosa mulligani out of the white flowers, this is the view of it from round the back, that I get from the greenhouse which is on the back of the garage.
In complete contrast to the rose above, is a tiny Dianthus which is in one of my alpine troughs. A tiny plant maybe but a big perfume!
Climbing one of the posts of the pergola is Trachelospermum asiaticum which literally stops me in my tracks as I wizz up to the veggies, the perfume is totally amazing! It was bought as T. jasminoides which has pure white flowers, but as you can see, these are more cream coloured. The perfume is the same however, so it is staying.
Climbing up the first upright of the pergola is Mdme Alfred Carriere, a white climbing rose which will flower on and off all summer, she has an owl for company which was brought back from the Canaries by our son and dil. She also has a clematis for company but that isn’t flowering yet.
Where would I be without feverfew, Chrysanthemum parthenium, it has put itself through all the borders linking the garden together. My book says it is an annual but I am never without it.
Under the kitchen window is Hydrangea Mdme E Mouillere which has white flowers that eventually turn pink as they age. It puts out new flowers all summer long and certainly earns its space.
This is a seedling from one of my white Buddlejas, the parents are not quite flowering yet. I have found in past years that all the butterflies love the white ones, quite often leaving the purple/lilac/blue ones if the white ones have flower spikes that are open.
Malva moschata alba has been toppled by the rain. I was given one years ago by a friend, it is now in most of the borders here, so easy to remove if there are too many.
Agapanthus in the bee and butterfly border are just starting to open, this is a favourite for the bees.
Now for the blues. Iris ensata have opened up in the bog garden, but one at the top left looks quite a bit paler than the others.
Yes, it is definitely paler than the others.
Lovely star like flowers of Amsonia salicifolia which is being swamped by the huge Acanthus next to it, I must move it soon!
A lacecap Hydrangea which my mother had in a pot. It has grown so much since it was set free in the garden here.
When my Mum had it, it was pink but now look, it is the most beautiful blue! It has only had leaf mould added to the soil when planting, no chemicals, but the one next to it is still pink, even though it had the same treatment!
A neat bun of golden campanula foliage contrasts with its blue flowers, this lives on the alpine scree. Is this one called C. Dickson’s Gold?
Campanula poscharskyana, on the steps up onto the lawn in the back garden, has to be kept clipped otherwise someone is going to be tripped up and I know who that would be!
Polemonium or Jacob’s Ladder seems to be in most of my borders, probably introduced by seed in the compost.
Corydalis elata is supposed to be reliably perennial so I hope it lives up to its reputation. The flowers are such a beautiful blue with just a hint of purple.
A geranium whose reputation goes before her, G. Roxanne who flowers all summer.
The last of the forget-me-nots, they have been so wonderful, unifying borders and making all the other flowers look even better!
Clematis Etoille Violet has climbed its tripod by the swinging seat and has escaped up Rosa Mulligani and the dead oak, certainly a very strong grower!
All the buddlejas are flowering and the butterflies have arrived. All the butterflies so far are looking very bedraggled, I’m assuming that they must be last years that have overwintered.
Lithodora Heavenly Blue is still flowering. It started about April time and still flowers on with more buds to open.
Agapanthus flowers are just opening from their papery casing and displaying their long tubular flowers for any passing bee, maybe another day and they will be open.
That’s it now for the red, white and blue flowers for Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day hosted once again by Carol at May Dreams Gardens. Thank you Carol for hosting, do pop over to her to see flowers from round the world.
You are truly patriotic Pauline, no-one could deny it. I love the clarity of the white Winchester Cathedral rose. I moved Crocosmia Lucifer after seeing it on your blog last year and for the first time it is flowering its socks off. It’s planted next to an old tree stump which I hope will help to contain its spread.
There are lots of other colours flowering at the moment Jessica, but I thought if I limit it to red, white and blue, then it shouldn’t be too long or boring! So glad C. Lucifer is performing for you, he certainly likes to be the centre of attention. Mine have moved inside the pond area, getting nearer the pond each year, I think I will have to move some of them, I can’t believe how they have spread over the years.
A wonderful collection of white plants! Also an eyecatcher, the red astilbe.
Sigrun
Thank you Sigrun, so many plants come with a white member of the same family, I seem to have rather a lot now! All the Astilbe seem to like our heavy clay soil, it’s just as well that something does and the red one shows up very well against all the plants round it.
When I first saw you mention red white and blue as patriotic I thought wait, why are you using our colors from the US!? Then I realized what an uncreative bunch we were. 🙂
Your bog garden always has so much that’s interesting in it, I love all the treasures, and the calla lilies do seem exotic. Smart of you not to have drained it when it was suggested, you’ve made something really special there.
Frank, I had to look it up when I read your comment, and found that the Union Flag as we know it was only introduced in 1801 when Northen Ireland joined us. The three flags are the red cross for St.George, England, the blue diagonal cross of St Andrew, Scotland and the red diagonal cross of St Patrick, Ireland. Thanks for that, I’ve learned something today! Scotland will be voting soon as some of them want to split from England, but what will that do to our flag if they leave the Union?!
Thanks for your lovely comments about the bog garden, it is one of my favourite places in the garden, I think the woodland just about beats it. It would have been such a job to have drained it, far easier to plant the plants that really like it so wet!
Don’t worry there are lots of us up here that will be voting to remain part of the United Kingdom, so hopefully our flag will remain as it is.
Annette, I am so pleased to hear that you will be voting to stay in the Union. I think we are both better together, it would be a very sad day if the vote goes the other way.
All lovely specimens Pauline, Your Agapanthus are flowering at the same time as mine! When I visited David Austin’s nursery a long time ago I remember seeing Winchester Cathedral and it was almost entirely blotched with pink, it rather put me off, whereas yours is pure white with just a hint of pink which is most attractive.
This is the first time Christina, that I have noticed a touch of pink on Winchester Cathedral. Some white flowers go pink when they have a lot of rain on the petals, but I can’t really say that is the situation this year.
The Agapanthus are taking their time opening up, I was sure they would all be flowering for GBBD!
What an interesting bloomday theme! Being former colonies of yours, we borrowed your colors (and misspelled the word.) You have so many red, white, and blue flowers blooming in your gorgeous garden right now! Happy GBBD!
Thanks Peter, I had to cut down on the number of photos, there were so many, it seemed the easiest way! Even so, there were far more than I had realised, especially the white ones. I was surprised to find that we had only had our flag since 1801, I thought it was much longer than that, maybe you got there first with the colours on your flag?!
I loved how you arranged the post as red, white and blue – somehow it really showcased how much you have flowering. It’s always hard to decide how much to show on GBBD, isn’t it?
It is hard Cathy, choosing which flowers to show when there are so many! The garden seems to have gone into overdrive at the moment, everything is flowering at once, so many different colours everywhere!
Hi Pauline,
Lovely post, with so much at this time of year it’s so difficult to post about everything – not to mention getting bored half way through writing the post!! Is that just me?? lol. I’m not one for many words, so perhaps it’s me that has difficulty writing a lot.
I’m loving your white rose… I need more whites here – so far only Susan Williams-ellis but I have my eye on a few more… Always.
Can’t decide whether to get ‘Lucifer’ either… I just have some of the plain ole orange ones but they were here when I moved in. Perhaps it’d be nice to have a range and prolong the flowering season.
You’re so right Liz, there is so much flowering , it was hard to choose which to leave out, this seemed the easiest way.
I have far too many plain orange montbretia, they keep arriving in new beds each year and are the devil to get rid of. Lucifer really needs splitting, but will probably sulk if I divide it.
I seem to have so much white here from different plants, maybe I ought to make a white border!
I divide Lucifer every few years to keep it manageable and have never had it sulk yet. Go for it!
Thank you so much for this information Annette, I will definitely see to it come the autumn!
A lovely post Pauline. It is a good idea to choose a theme like red, white and blue and stick to that. There is so much in the garden in July that it is difficult to know where to stop.
I love Hydrangea Mme. Emile Mouillere, mine is not out yet. But it does bloom for ages. My Agapanthus are just coming out, they are such a delight.
I love your Iris ensata and Geranium Roxanne is fabulous.
It seemed the easiest way Chloris, when there was so much flowering in the garden.
The Hydrangeas are all doing so well this year, do you think it was all the rain we had in the winter! The blue ones have never been so blue before, I hope it wasn’t acid rain!
The Ensata iris prolong the iris flowering period, they are much later than most of the other varieties and they have such pretty flowers, I must find more!
I love how you lined up the pictures……….red, white and blue! Such beautiful flowers…..the red Daylilies and Phlox are really eye catching. I love the Dianthus and have never seen such pretty Feverfew! Mine are very plain compared to yours. You have so many blue flowers that are really blue…..I love Forget-me-nots. They’re such a sweet little flower. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Sally, there was so much flowering at the moment, it was difficult to choose which to photograph and which to leave out. I think my next post will be about Daylilies as there are so many lovely different colours which I had to leave out.
Blues are difficult as so many have lilac/purple mixed in with them, plus they don’t always photograph with their true colours.
It’s lovely to see lots of flowers in a colour scheme, especially nice for me as there are so many I couldn’t possibly grow in my garden. I love your hydrangea. Aren’t those petals intricate?! In fact I think I like the blue flowers most of all. My blue corydalis has not flowered since I planted it in May…. any idea what I’m doing wrong?!
The garden is certainly in overdrive at the moment, so many flowers whichever way I look, but we do need rain! Maybe your corydalis is just settling down and putting out new roots. They normally flower in the spring I think, I don’t know why mine is flowering now! I love the blue lacecap hydrangea, it is such a deep blue this year, it gets better every year!
nice idea to present the flowers as a patriotic theme. I love the colour combo of the Cordyalis, hope it does well. Happy GBBD! I haven’t managed to do it myself, so extra appreciate your post.
Thanks Catmint, there were so many flowers, I couldn’t have shown them all, there would have been far too many, this seemed an easy solution to the problem! The shades of the Corydalis are so pretty, such a beautiful flower.
You have so many wonderful flowers that I have bookmarked this page to come back to on a cold winter’s day when I am dreaming of what I am going to put in my garden the next year. I especially like all the different white flowers – you have some stunners. I think Lychnis Coronaria will be a definite and I already have some white foxglove seeds waiting to get planted.
Thank you Annette, the garden has never had so many of the plants flowering at once, could it be all the rain we had last winter? I do seem to have rather a lot of white flowers, maybe I ought to do a little white border?! I’ve been planting all my white foxglove seedlings lately, they should look nice next year. Even though the seeds came from a white foxglove, half the seeds came up with purple marks on their stems and leaf ribs, so they would flower purple if planted, the others are white on their stems and leaf ribs, these are the ones that I have been planting as I have enough purple ones.
I’m glad to read that the Jacob’s Ladder self-seeds easily, I only have one, plants being so expensive here, so I am looking forward to having lots more in the years to come. We also have a white and a purple buddleia and I am close to getting rid of the purple one, they are considered very invasive here, Switzerland, and they really are, huge areas that used to have lots of native wild plants are now covered in them as they self-seed all over the place. I have never seen a self-seeded white one, so I am hanging on to that one for the time being.
I think I have Jacob’s Ladder in most of my borders now Helle, it is a nice filler, linking the borders together.
The wild Buddleia is a weed here too, but usually I don’t let the ones in the garden set seed, I’m always deadheading them so more flowers open to keep the butterflies happy. I must have missed a seeding flower spike on my white ones because I certainly didn’t plant one where this one has turned up!