Another week of tidying, weeding, watering and cutting back, the plants are growing so quickly having had rain and sunshine recently. We have only had a little bit of rain this week. but are expecting quite a lot today, whereas the last couple of days have been wall to wall sunshine. At least the soil is now nice and moist with the rain so weeding is so much easier.
I have a mixed bag for this weeks offering, they are as follows……
No 1
Star of the garden at the moment is the Yucca filamentosa in the bed just outside the back door. It can be seen from the kitchen and the dining room, so I am seeing it a lot during the day.
The flower spike started growing quite a few weeks ago, each week I have been watching it to see if it would open and I would be able to includs it in my SOS. Patience is rewarded, this week all the buds decided to open and I think it looks quite wonderful, like a tall candle in the flower bed!
No 2
One of my Clematis Etoille Violette, yes, I have 2! has only just stated flowering, I think because it is in too much shade on the pergola, I must rectify that and cut back the plants that have outgrown their space.
The flower is so dark, such a deep purple, but also so beautiful.
No 3
Also on the pergola but at the front where it gets lots of sunshine is Clematis Perle d’Azure.
The blue flowers have a striking purple line on them to guide the bees to the centre.
no 4
It’s Agapanthus time and the borders are looking better for their flowers.
This is one of my very dark Blue ones.
White Agapanthus have opened along the driveway border.
No 5.
Once all the buddlejas open their flowers, the butterflies arrive. There have been lots of Red Admirals visiting, but this is the first Peacock that I have seen this year.
No 6
Lysimachia ephemerum has been well behaved for about 15 yrs, suddenly it has started wandering, I must move some to the other end of the border to try and stop it exploring.
Looking back over these photos It has dawned on me that they are all blue/purple and white, while I still have lots in the garden that are also red, yellow and pink but I have shown those on differnt weeks.
Thanks once more to Jim at Garden Ruminations, if you want to see what other gardens are like around the world, do pay him a visit.
Your clematis are both beautiful Pauline. I don’t seem to get so many flowers even when they are in full sun. Lysimachia ephemerum is one of my favourites…but then I haven’t had it for 15 years lol.
Like the Lysimachia Denise, those Clematis have been in around 15 yrs or so! The Lysimachia is well behaved compared to some in the family, but genes will out, it is spreading too much so must be split, it will give it a shock anyway and might make it behave for a few years!
Loving the clematis, I really should get one for our garden. Nice to see the peacock butterfly, so good to see so much wildlife in SoSers gardens.
Clematis really do add something to the garden Gill, they take up hardly any room down below, but give such a lot up top. We have lots of plants to bring in the bees and butterflies, lovely to see them all in the garden.
Thank you for including the photo of a butterfly. It is the benefit of choosing plants for them.
I enjoyed the collection of blue/white flowers.
It’s a pleasure, they give me so much pleasure and bring such colour to the garden, there is so much food for them here. Most plants have been bought with a view to bees and butterflies enjoying them as well as me!
The peacock butterfly is lovely! I am seeing a lot of red admiral as well, but many have been camera shy. Now that my coneflower buffet is open for business, I think I will see more butterflies.
The red admirals just wouldn’t sit still to be photographed, maybe another week. The little meadow has attracted lots of meadow browns and one ringlet that I’ve seen and near the woodland we have lots of speckled woods fighting for a spot in the sunshine. I try to grow as many bee and butterfly plants that I can, it seems to be working, I must try some cornflowers!
One thing that I really enjoy about Six On Saturday is how many plant names I can learn. The Yucca put a name to a plant that I have been admiring in a garden that I walk past. Many thanks.
It’s a pleasure Rosie, glad it has solved the problem for you! I get a lot of inspiration from the SOS posts, all the plants look so tempting.
I love the Clematis, particularly the Perle d’Azure. I’ve yet to spot a flower spike on the Yucca plants here. That one on yours looks particularly magnificent.
It is looking rather lovely, isn’t it Catharine, hopefully yours will flower soon, mine had been in for a few years before they started flowering. I wouldn’t want to be without clematis, they bring so much to the garden, colour up on high.
Clematis Perle d’Azure looks very much like my Prince Charles! And I love the dark purple one. I have just bought two new clematis and wondering where on earth I can plant them! They are such lovely plants. And nice to see the Peacock, that’s one I haven’t seen for several years here. Butterflies and bees are definitely in decline and I specifically grow bee and butterfly flowers!
I have Prince Charles too Jude, but it is a paler blue without the purple stripes. Like you I tend to go for plants that have bee and butterfly friendly flowers, I do have a few just for me though! We usually have a few peacocks, far more red admirals, but not many tortoiseshells these days.
I love dark blue agapanthus. I bought one a few weeks ago but won’t have a flower this summer. Normally they should be small and dark blue too.Fingers crossed
Interesting Lysimachia ephemerum , it’s changing yellows I have.
The dark ones are so lovely aren’t they Fred, I hope yours settle in and start flowering next year for you. Years ago I bought the Lysimachia with brown leaves and yellow flowers, oh, how I regretted it, it spread everywhere! I have been pulling it out each year now, but some always manages to come back.
I have exactly this variety…a chore to pull it out every year.
It certainly is Fred, I try to cut the flowers off before they can go to seed, doesn’t always work though!
A great selection of blues, purples and whites. The Yucca is very pretty indeed.
Thanks Graeme, it was totally accidental that they turned out in that colour spectrum. I’m very pleased with the yucca, having waited for so long for the buds to open.
Another week of tidying, weeding and cutting back here too, but no watering (except perhaps tomatoes in the greenhouse)! Etoile Violette is s real star, isn’t it? Intriguing to read that yours has only just started flowering as ours has been flowering for at least a month. If it is because of the lack of sun, then it is a timely reminder and it has only recently occurred to me that our Gravetye Beauty may have the same issue as that never flowers well – it does face north, but I did think it had the morning sun but it may prove to be in the shadow of the house and I need to check it out on a sunny day…
I certainly haven’t needed to water anything, the rain has done it for me Cathy, yesterday it didn’t stop all day long! I have 2 Etoille Violettes, the other one is by the dead oak in sunshine all day and has been flowering for over a month now, I don’t think I cut it down as far as I should when pruning in the spring, but it has been covered in flowers for so long, just coming to the end now.
The Yucca is magnificent, well worth waiting for. EtoileViolette is one of my favourites, I have planted one here, but no sign of any flowers so far. We have had plenty of Red Admirals here but no Peacocks yet. We have had plenty of rain here too, a bit of sun would make a nice change.
The yucca is still looking good Liz,leaning a bit now, I just hope it doesn’t topple over with all the weight of the flowers! The last 2 days have been sunny even though rain was forecast, today is very grey and I think it will rain just as my gardener comes to cut the grass!
Your yucca certainly is a star! Those clematis are lovely, beautiful colours too. I am a huge agapanthus fan, love yours, they don’t do well here in the ground. Lovely peacock butterfly, they are fluttering around here too.xxx
The Yucca is still going strong Dina, still looking lovely as are the clematis and agapanthus. We have had loads of bees and butterflies this week, masses of red admirals, a few peacocks and one comma.x