After a week of sunshine with nice warm weather, somedays even hot, it rained yesterday evening and overnight. I’m sure the garden was very happy and it saved me any watering this morning. The sunshine brought lots of bees and butterflies out, it was lovely listening to the bees buzzing and seeing the butterflies fluttering everywhere. This weeks six are a mixed bag.
My favourite Hydrangea, such a beautiful pale blue.
This is the white hydrangea under the kitchen window. I enjoy watching the bluetits eating all the little insects while I’m washing the dishes. They even come and sit on the window sill and watch me while I’m busy!
The rose garden between the house and the garage is frothing beautifully at the moment. I like all the smaller plants growing between the roses, they help to hide the bare legs of the roses! They are mainly hardy geraniums and polemoniums.
Inula helenium, which grows to about 8 ft, but mine has flopped, just as well otherwise I wouldn’t be able to photograph it!
An Iris sibirica seedling I think, I can’t remember buying it or planting it, it certainly wasn’t there last year so I don’t know where it came from. Not to worry, it is certainly a keeper though.
Another plant that has just popped up, this time round the pond, a Mimulus I can remember planting a red one given to me by a friend, which didn’t last very long, could this be a seedling of it?
The sunny side of the meadow is looking lovely at the moment. The gold coloured Box chinese ginger jar is ready for its annual haircut, it should contrast with all the white flowers and grasses in the meadow, but is looking rather shaggy at the moment. Someone asked me how big the meadow is and I incorrectly said about 20 ft in diameter, I paced it out yesterday and it was more like 18yds across!
These strange looking flowers belong to Phormium Yellow Wave. To me they look like tiny inverted bananas! There are so many flower spikes this year, usually there are only one or two.
There we have my six for this week. I have visitors this weekend so will catch up with you all when I can, hope you all have a good weekend! Thanks to Jim at Garden Ruminations where you can see gardens from around the world.
I can well understand why the blue hydrangea is your favourite Pauline. It’s such a lovely shade of blue. I do like the contrast of the box with the wild meadow, a lovely combination.
Your hydrangeas are beautiful! The pale blue is a lovely shade and it’s easy to see why it’s your favourite. The rose garden is looking great, Pauline. I have geraniums planted among mine too, but hadn’t thought about trying polemoniums among the rose bushes. Good idea. Your meadow looks delightful too and 58ft is a large space – but even if it had been 20ft I’m sure pollinators would be benefiting from it!
The hydrangea is a beautiful powder blue. Very pretty indeed. There’s something very reassuring and soothing about a garden filled with the sound of gently buzzing insects as they enjoy the nectar.
The majority of our hydrangeas are over the blooming phase here in the South. Love the light blue color of yours. Our panicle “Limelight” hydrangeas are just beginning to open.
Lovely selections! I especially like the meadow. I keep trying to convince my husband that we could have a meadow backyard and he would not have to mow as much, but alas, I am left carving the yard up, four foot wide strips at a time.
Hydrangeas in bloom make me feel that the summer is racing on. The lovely blue colour is unattainable here. I love your meadow.
Another fan of the hydrangea here, it’s beautiful. I’m jealous that you have butterflies – we have plenty of bees but no butterflies at all, sadly.