GBBD March 2014 - mellow yellow

Spring has arrived with a rush - and a couple of weeks early. The countryside is a mass of Yellow wild flowers and the garden too. 
 

 Little species daffodils are a delight both in colour and fragrance.

Corinilla glauca is flowering profusely - although the less bright Citrine is still just coming out - and the Euphorbias are going great guns.

 In the shade are little Periwinkle and Anenome Blanda in cool blue

 

but the taller Anenome Coronaria are bright and bold in the sunshine

 
 The Lonicera fragrantissima is still flowering and full of scent

Happy springtime to all Garden Bloggers
Y

GBBD February 2014

 Continual rain and wind but warm ... this has brought out the little species Crocus and a great many other flowers besides.

 The Hellebores ares a welcome sight and the Lonicera fragrantissima is as fragrant as its name suggests.

 Coronilla glauca is extremely early but the old stalwart Vibernum tinus we have come to expect its faithful blooming right through winter.

Best wishes to all gardeners participating in Garden Bloggers Bloom Day this month, hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.
Y

GBBD January 2014

Mild wet, foggy weather has kept the garden green and lush. Bright sparks of colour are most welcome on gloomy days: winter flowering Jasmine and Iris Unguicularis are a joy but difficult to photograh in the dull low light. Bright red berries on the wild Dog Rose too. But then the sun breaks through and lights up the olive grove and there is a sense that spring might not be far away.

Best wishes to all Garden Bloggers on this mid winter day.

Y

 

GBBD December 2013

 December has been chilly with thick frost and fog in the mornings. But somehow the China roses have taken this as their signal to bloom as never before. Mutabilis is famous for year-long flowering but Sanguinea and Hermosa have also been exceptionally generous.

 Event he Teucrium Fruticans has gone on blooming right into winter this year, the deep blue of 'Azureum' being especially welcome.

 And the oak trees are gradually turning to golden and dropping their leaves into the pond.

Happy Garden Bloggers Bloom Day to all gardeners especially to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting the meme.
Y

GBBD September 2013

 There is an autumn feel to the air and the Sedums are out in splendour. I have decided that these tough plants deserve more representation and so bought a dozen new varieties at the Murabilia flower show in Lucca last weekend. I have selected ones which are not too tall and have interesting dark colours and/or variagation - so let's see how they get on.
Otherwise the theme here is blue at the moment: Nepeta having a second blooming; Perowskia still with us despite having bloomed all summer; Caryopteris and Ceratostigma.
Happy Bloom Day! and thank you to Carol at May Dreams Garden for hosting.
Y

GBBD July 2013

 The last month has flown by - here unusually wet and cool with many thunderstorms. Whilst some plants have enjoyed the extra water the weeds have gone into overdrive.

 But at least those blooms that would normally have been burned off by now are still in evidence.

 

Agapanthus is particularly good this year. I find it best in pots where the constrained roots are more likely to send out flowers. The gravel garden is also continuing to produce new blooms with bright red Epilobium particularly striking.

The lush growth of Stipa, Perowskia and Buddleja glows in the evening light.
Happy Bloom Day to all,
Y

GBBD June 2013 (late again ....)

The China roses continue to bloom - some now, others earlier, some already on a second flush. Cecil Brunner really comes into its own now.

The dry garden is a blaze of hot colour, partly thanks to wild poppies I have allowed to set seed but largely a mixture of Achillea: Paprika, Terracotta and a yellow one on short stems with nice silver foliage (? Flowers of Suphur?). Also a red form of Gaura. The addition of Nepeta, Verbena venosa and Salvia barrelieri calms the fervid intensity. I am trying Salvia 'Alan Chickering' for the first time and very much admire the spires of spikey flowers but worry that it will been seen off in the winter cold. But I have finally managed to get an Eryngium to grow and flower - must do more next year.

 
 

 Belated greetings for Bloom Day.
Y

GBBD May 2013

 Today has been lashing rain and the blooms of roses and cistus dashed to the ground. But there was a moment of respite so I nipped out and took some photos for a very late GBBD.

Pink flowers are everywhere, not just roses but also this unusual phlomis.

Water lilies steal the show.

Stripes of White cistus alternate with helichrysum and teuchrium

Terraces with cistus and teuchrium.

An rather special rose 'Seven Sisters' named after the seven shades of pink in the petals or, being found mostly in the oil states of Louisiana and Texas, after the Seven Big Oil Companies ?? 

Centranthus ruber in various shades of pink and white has seeded all around the garden but is not less enjoyable for that.

China rose collection as viewed from two parts of the rose garden

Happy (belated) Bloom Day. Y

GBBD April 2013

 Bloom Day this month has seen a terrific rise in temperatures and a drop in the horrible winds. Everything is starting to burst out from winter dormancy and it is hard to keep up with all the tasks that the garden now demands - including the weeds.
The pink Rosemary is a lovely sight and a change from the ubiquitous blue.

 There is of course lots of Yellow, both intentional such a Coronilla Glauca and Medicago, as well as wild such as dandelions that carpet the vineyard.

 

The intense White of the Spirea Bridal Wreath is a result of winter rains.

 

 I wonder whether we will actually get to eat any of the cherries this year?

Small plants too are doing their very best: Vinca Minor is a carpet of blue.

 

New little species tulips appear every day - this is Tulipa 'Little Beauty'.
Happy Bloom Day and thanks to Carol at May Dreams Garden for hosting.
Y