In a Vase on Monday: Pretty Petals and a Naughty Hare

by

I have some beautiful peonies in flower in the garden so I decided to use a couple in a vase this week. This white one is called Jan van Leeuwen. Almost pure white with golden stamens.

It has no fragrance, but makes up for that by making a bold statement in the Moon Bed.

And this yellow one, Itoh peony ‘Shining Light’ also does not smell but certainly does shine!

Deep blue Veronicas are also in flower, so I cut a few stems of various varieties.

The darkest one is ‘Königsblau’.

I also added a deep blue Nigella…

and a very pale blue almost white one, hiding behind the Moon Daisy here.

The white Moon Daisies (Marguerites in German) make nice highlights. I realized these are all female names – Marguerite, Veronica, Nigella… how lovely! I do like names that are taken from flowers. 😃

With the theme becoming white, blue and pale yellow I chose my favourite filler, Alchemilla mollis, which adds froth and freshness to almost any arrangement.

A final flourish was needed. I glanced around the garden for another touch of blue and saw a Clematis ‘Arabella’ flower (another girls name) winding waywardly off its obelisk. Snip snip!

The grass is Stipa gigantea which is just starting to flower again. It is such a messy grass for six months of the year, but the golden seedheads more than make up for that.

My hare vase seemed appropriate as a hare has been nibbling plants in my new bed: two yellow Cytisus and a pink broom have been devoured, and a pink dianthus has had most of its flowers bitten off! Naughty hares, but I do love them!

 

Click on any image to enlarge and scroll through….

Many thanks to Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for hosting her lovely Monday meme. Have a good week everyone, and happy gardening!

 

 

Wild and Weedy Wednesday: Myosotis discolor

by

In early May we noticed lots of wild forget-me-nots were growing in our meadow.

On closer inspection we have identified them as both Myosotis stricta and Myosotis discolor. They are very similar, only M. discolor, or Changing Forget-me-not, has both blue and creamy yellow flowers. Quite a suprise to me when I first realized!

The tiny flowers (incredibly difficult to photograph in the sunshine!) are even smaller than woodland forget-me-nots or the ones that grow in gardens. I actually picked some to get a closer look…

The stems are upright and long, and continue growing to produce more and more flowers.

They have been going strong for several weeks now in the open meadow, and every time it rains more open. I have read that they like sandy well-drained soil, which is obviously why they have spread here. I think they might be overlooked from a distance, but on our sloping meadow they do form a definite cluster of blue.


There are wild forget-me-nots in the woods too, more like the garden varieties. Have you ever found any sort of wild forget-me-nots?

Do join me on a Wednesday if you would like to share a wild flower or weed that grows in your garden or nearby. And remember to leave a link below. 😃

Have a wonderful week!

In a Vase on Monday: A ‘scentsory’ explosion!

by

The garden smells amazing today, and I wish I could transport the scents to you all!

First of all, our wild Robinia (R. pseudoacacia) – also known as False Acacia or in the U.S. I believe Black Locust – is blooming for the first time.

There are in fact several trees, just within our property line, but outside our fence. They had been chopped back by an over-zealous neighbour until we moved here, and finally they have flowered for us.

The fragrance reminds us of the bubblegum we used to get out of little bublegum machines on the streets as children. (Remember them anyone?!). It keeps wafting across the garden and I have to stop and take a deep breath. I brought a little sprig indoors too. 😄

———

Then the peonies are beginning to open. I cut a single P. ‘Dancing Butterflies’ for my vase yesterday….

and added some Physocarpus…

…Lady’s Mantle…

…and a few deep pinky red Knautia Macedonica.

It somehow looks quite summery!

And on top of that the elderflowers are out and we celebrated as we do every year with some elderflower pancakes (Hollerküchl in Bavarian) which are a tradition here. You just dunk the flower heads into a pancake batter and put them in a pan with a little oil. Carefully snip off the stems and flip them over. Serve with sugar sprinkled on top.

The final scent is the wild strawberries – mmmmm, they tasted yummy on the pancakes! The scent of wild strawberries is also wafting around the garden.

I wonder if you have any fragrance in your gardens today?

I am joining Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for her Monday meme, where we share something from our gardens and pop it in a vase.

Have a great week, and happy gardening!

Wild and Weedy Wednesday: Campanula patula

by

This Wednesday I am once again sharing a wild flower or weed that grows in our garden. Today it is most definitely a wild flower and not what I would class as a weed, although this one has popped up in one of the flower beds.

Campanula patula

We have always had a few Harebells in the garden, and this year they seem to have spread even more. Botanically Campanula patula, these delicate bell-shaped flowers love meadows, or the edges of roads or woodland.

They will grow in almost any soil, but prefer the very slightly acid soil we have here, which is well-drained sandy loam, and they like plenty of sunshine. In fact the flowers will turn towards the sun, like sunflowers.

Harebells, bellflowers – whatever you wish to call them – are usually about 30-40cm tall and sway prettily in the breeze.

Do you see them in your part of the world?

If you wish to join me in sharing a local wild flower or weed on Wednesdays throughout this summer, please do. And leave a link in the comments below. 😃

In a Vase on Monday: Oh so Totally…..!

by

I planted some long-sought-after Geum ‘Totally Tangerine’ two years ago and this year they have really taken off. They are a gorgeous orange colour,  and the name is perfect. It was the natural choice for this week’s arrangement for Cathy’s In a Vase on Monday meme (Rambling in the Garden), and allowed me to use one of my favourite vases too.

I added another Geum, which may be Red Wings, but some of my labels have disappeared again! And some Spiraea ‘Magic Carpet’ which is looking stunning this year after all the rain we have had.

It has been a busy couple of weeks, with work on the new bed progressing. Here is a sneak preview, with my vase standing on the freshly spread woodchip mulch which will soon turn grey in the sun but is dazzling at the moment! (The plants still look so small!)

The complete bed will be revealed at a later date as there is still much to do. 😉

We have had some great gardening weather which has allowed me to catch up with chores… the runner beans are sown, tomatoes almost ready to go into their final containers, annual geraniums potted up. It’s beginning to look like summer here with no sign of any more frost, so fingers crossed. I have also finally got some weeding done today, just in time as some of the weeds were getting the overhand!

 

Now do go and visit Cathy to see what she and others are sharing from their gardens today.  And have a great week.

Happy Gardening!

Wild and Weedy Wednesday: Saxifraga granulata

by

I am resuming my weekly posts about wild flowers and ‘weeds’ – ‘Wild and Weedy Wednesday’ – that I started last year. I thought I would run out of plants last summer, after several months of posts, but found I was making lists of flowers to include this year! Anyway, if anyone wishes to join in with me and look at some of the wild flowers (or are they weeds?!) growing in our gardens, please do!

Last summer we did not mow the vast majority of our meadows at all, and have thus already noticed a difference in the wildflowers we are seeing. Today’s flower is a good example – we don’t recall having seen it here at all in 2023; Saxifraga granulata, or meadow saxifrage.

The creamy white flowers with striking yellow stamens have been bobbing around in the wind for over a week now, standing out on their dark stems at a height of around 40 cm. The flowers are perhaps 2 cm in diameter and have a kind of ‘vintage’ look to them.

They are found on hillsides of sandy dry grassland, where the soil is poor in nutrients and slightly acidic. I am very happy this native plant has made its way to our plot, as it is on the red list of endangered plants in Bavaria.

I wonder if you have ever seen this flower? Do share if it seems familiar, as I have no idea how widespread or rare it actually is.

Have a great Wednesday!