There are three areas in the garden where interest is being held by all the blue flowers that there are. It doesn’t seem to matter what the neighbouring colours are, yellow, orange, pink or white, blue goes with them all.
Mopheaded Hydrangea.
Mophead Hydrangea.
This hydrangea in the corner of the back garden is such a beautiful blue, the colour really sings out of the shade.
Corner of the back garden.
From a distance it can easily been seen.
Corner of the back garden.
View from the house.
Even from the house, it shines in the corner. The back lawn is covered in brown Horse Chestnut leaves, anyone would think that autumn had arrived, I’m still enjoying summer!
Planting around the front of the pergola.
The left hand side of the pergola which goes through to the veggie garden, has a lacecap hydrangea, a blue buddleja, and blue Clematis Perle d’Azur, all mingling together, so this combination is blue on blue.
Lacecap Hydrangea.
The Hydrangea has grown to a good size now and the flowers are a delicious shade of blue.
Clematis Perle d’Azur
The clematis is the same shade of blue and it grows through the white climbing rose Mdme Alfred Carriere, it gets pruned back at the same time as the rose.
Seedling from Geranium Spinners.
Not the main flower in this shot, but weaving through this border by the house is a seedling from Geranium Spinners. Spinners was a fantastic geranium, flowering from May to November, but then suddenly it died. I had assumed that it was sterile because we never saw any seedlings. The year after it died, seedlings popped up all along the border, some blue, some more purple, they have all been allowed to stay as I think they look so pretty with all the other plants nearby.
Agapanthus
If July is the month for Hemerocallis, then August is the month for Agapanthus. This is the bee and butterfly border at the side of the drive and the Agapanthus are looking really beautiful.
Agapanthus and Kniphofia
They look nice next to yellow flowers.
Agapanthus.
This Agapanthus is a paler blue, but it still contrasts nicely with the kniphofia.
Kniphofia.
The kniphofia is getting better and better each year with more flower spikes each year.
Agapanthus.
I have to admit though that I prefer the darker blue flowers.
White Agapanthus.
Of course there are also white Agapanthus, but I still prefer the darker blue ones! I must buy more Agapanthus for a couple of borders that I think could do with an injection of blue at this time of year. I shall enjoy looking through all the catalogues, choosing which ones I want for the garden here, a lovely way to spend the next wet and windy day!
Begonia.
The pots by the back door are a glazed blue and this looks fine with the fiery orange Begonia and also with any other coloured plant I put in them.
Blue has always been my favourite colour, I can remember when I was little, I always wanted to wear blue and my favourite dresses were always the blue ones that my Mum made for me. Do you have a favourite colour that has stayed with you all your life?
Blue is wonderful in the garden as you so rightly say, it looks good with almost every other colour and is so elegant with white, I love that combination for my vases. your Hydrangeas are a stunning blue, with just a hint of pink at their edges.
I agree Christina, white with a touch of blue is stunning. Gertrude Jekyll is famous for saying that white gardens cry out for a touch of blue which would lift them up to another level (or words to that effect!)
I’m planning a few blue pots and thinking about what to plant. Perhaps a variegated Felicia, since I love those kingfisher blue flowers.
I’m so pleased with my blue pots Diana, as they give me colour even when the plants in them are only young and not flowering. I like the sound of your idea of a variegated Felicia in a blue pot.
I particularly love your blue lacecap Pauline.
Yes, I am a blue person too – always have been. It was only when I left Montreal that I managed to give away two dance dresses that I had had for ages ! Tony preferred jiving in jeans and T-shirt anyway 🙂
Rosemarie x
Thanks Rosemarie! I know what you mean about giving away favourite dresses, but I suppose there isn’t much call for dance dresses any more! From what I remember Tony’s favourite colour was yellow. maybe he changed when he got older!
Oh I had a same themed post in my mind! I should do it and let you know – then we can compare our blue blooms! I’m so sorry we cannot grow agapanthus and mophead hydrangeas outside all year round, as these are not hary enough. So you are really lucky and yors look really lovely! Thanks for sharing!
Do write your post Tistou, I would love to see it! We can’t grow the evergreen Agapanthus as it is too cold here for those, but the deciduous ones are fine.
It is written now, and all look pretty blue! 🙂
I’ve had a look Tistou, it all looks wonderful! You have so many beautiful blue flowers, far more than me!
Another fan of blue here, especially the true blue of the agapanthus. It’s been a great year for them.
I agree Jessica, the Agapanthus are good this year, lots more flowers than last year, I must buy more.
I love the blues of the hydrangeas – there are few shrubs as generous with their massive, blousy blooms and they do go well with just about every other colour nearby.
I wish I could send you some of my agapanthus, to save you the expense of having to buy more. Here, they grow on concrete, rocks, gutters…anywhere and everywhere.
They are very easily propagated; this September/October, dig a clump of plants up roots and all.
Look for the thick, brown bulbous rhizome that connects the clumps (not the fleshy white roots) and drive your spade or a handsaw or an axe through that to separate it into smaller plantlets. Once replanted, they will quickly take off.
At any rate, once agapanthus get too crowded, they stop flowering as well, so do need to be divided every 5 or so years.
Thank you Matt for your thoughts on splitting Agapanthus. Last year they didn’t flower as well as previous years and I thought maybe they would need splitting, but this year they are better than ever so I think I might leave them for a bit longer. Over here the Agapanthus aren’t so free with their offspring, some aren’t hardy, mainly the evergreen ones, and have to either have a thick mulch or be brought in for the winter.
Hydrangeas give us so much colour all through the summer and are the first plants to show the effects of drought, so far this year, nature has done the watering for me!
Hi Pauline,
Your border garden is a real beauty. I can hardly believe how beautiful your Hydrangea is and how much it adds to the garden. You’re making me reconsider blue Hydrangea. It’s a real pop of color for gardens that are fading……which mine does in August. I’m on the hunt for more plants that will bloom from now through Autumn.
The Agapanthus is lovely as well…..I need to research them to see if they like my climate.
Happy Gardening!
Thank you for your lovely comments Sally! I think Hydrangeas fell out of favour for a while, but now there are so many different varieties on the market, we are spoilt for choice! August used to be the time when my garden began to take on a faded look, but now I’m finding various plants that will keep flowering until October and by then we should have lots of colour from the autumn leaves. It depends what sort of a winter you have where you are, maybe Agapanthus would be better in pots, brought indoors for winter, if you have severe weather normally. I hope you find some that will be ok with you.
My favorite color has changed drastically over the last decade or so. For a while it was burgundy red, then magenta. Now my favorite color in the garden and in clothing, is orange. I used to dislike it. I’m not sure what changed. Your blues are beautiful, very calming. I need to add more blue to my garden. I’ve been intrigued by Agapanthus, but I added one last year which didn’t return. I’m so jealous of your gorgeous lush Hydrangeas.
Blue and orange go very well together Alison, you could have both! I think I realised that orange is your favourite colour from the photos on your blog! I’m sorry to hear that your agapanthus didn’t come back last year, I wonder why that was. The lush Hydrangeas are thanks to all the rain we have, there has to be a plus side to all our rain!
I do agree, blue sits so happily with everything! I love the blue of your mophead hydrangea and the lacecap is gorgeous, I have that one too, mine starts out blue then ends up pink!
That is a rather lovely owl you have hanging in the tree!
Your agapanthus is a lovely colour, mine is rather scrawny this year!xxx
The owl Dina, came from the Canaries and was brought back for me by our son and dil.
I think hydrangeas have gone out of fashion a bit, I hope they soon come back as there are some really lovely ones out there. It’s fascinating how they change colour with the soil isn’t it. What a shame your Agapanthus is a bit scrawny, maybe a handful of fertiliser will sort it out or maybe it needs splitting, sometimes they almost stop flowering if they are too congested.
The periwinkle of the blue on blue near the pergola is my favorite shade for the garden. Great photo of the lacecap, what a beauty!
I love the blue lacecap too Marian, I am so pleased that most of the hydrangeas are turning blue, I was never a “pink” little girl!
Beautiful! You always have such nice hydrangeas and I enjoy the stories behind many of the plants.
Is there a secret to growing such nice kniphofia clumps? Mine are stingy with the blooms but I’ve always loved those exotic looking spikes of flowers.
I think I have to thank our heavy clay soil for the hydrangeas looking their best Frank. Again, I think it has an effect on Crocosmia Lucifer, I see it in other peoples gardens and it is only half the size. It is near to the pond and bog area, so I think it must like moisture too.
It’s blue for me too Pauline both when it comes to flowers and clothes although it’s not a colour that creeps in to the house much. Love the dangly owl. I was most interested to read about the demise of geranium ‘Spinners’ and the appearance of seedlings the following year.
Nice to meet another blue bird Anna! The only blue in the house is our bedroom which faces south and gets very hot in the summer, I feel the blue cools it down. The owl was brought back from the Canaries by our son and dil, I think it likes it’s new perch.
The seedlings of G. Spinners are nowhere near as free flowering as their parent, Spinners was covered with hundreds of flowers for months, I am still trying to find another, but no luck so far.
I agree that blue is the universal garden color. Every garden needs some blue! I love your Agapanthus and Kniphofia combination. I like their shape combination as well as the blue and yellow together. My favorite color, from earliest childhood, has been blue-green (turquoise), though my mother tried to convince me for years that it really was red. Well, I like a little red, too.
Everyone seems to love blue Deb, I’m not the only one! I’ve decided to repeat the Agapanthus/Kniphofia combo in the front border, as that half looks much better than the other half. I assume red was your Mother’s favourite colour, I like red too, but in very small doses!
I love all your blues, it is my favourite colour in the garden, and you are right, it goes so well with yellow. Your kniphofia is a lovely shade of yellow – infinitely preferable to the usual orange. Love the clematis too. What is it about Horse Chestnut trees, they always decide that autumn begins in August and begin to turn colour!
I too think the Kniphofia Bees Lemon ( I think) is a nicer colour than the orange kniphofias, I must buy more for that border.
Unfortunately the Horse Chestnut trees that we have have been invaded by a moth whose larva tunnel between the two layers of the leaf, causing the leaf to turn brown by July. The experts say it doesn’t harm the tree, but year after year the leaves are dropping early, I’m wondering if eventually it will weaken the trees as they won’t be able to photosynthasise properly.