My Little Garden in Week 7 of Lockdown
In a week that’s seen spring turn into early summer, we’ve been doing lots of great gardening…..
Some of the bulbs in pots have been cleared and all the tulips will be dug up next week to make room for the summer flowering perennials to flourish. And before anyone shouts at me, the bulbs won’t be wasted as I will be giving them away to a friend to store and replant in autumn. I like to try different combinations every year, and yes this is an indulgence, but then I don’t spend lots of money on summer bedding and hanging baskets.
So what else has been happening in my little garden - here are my six on Saturday for this week.
1. This geranium is always one of the first to flower and the bees love it. From a mound of green leaves these gorgeous purple flowers magically appear. It’s a perfect for a shady corner, although arguably the white variety might have been a better choice. I have quite a good sized clump now and really need to lift and divide it next spring.
2. Now, I have a confession to make with these salvia. I’m due to plant them in a client’s garden next week but I’ve looking after them until their tulips die down, and could’t resist a photo in the meantime. I love the deep blue spires of this perennial and I know they’re going to make a fantastic display in their new home.
3. This is a Weigela that I dug up and moved last autumn. I wasn’t sure it would survive the experience but it’s flowering away even if the stems look a bit woody. I will be cutting back and reshaping after it’s finished flowering.
4. My roses all have lots of buds and it’s usually ‘Gertrude Jekyll’ that flowers first. This year it’ll be a close call between this one and Rosa ‘Handel’.
5. This is the Polemonium ‘Northern Lights’ that I mentioned last week. Isn’t it the most gorgeous colour? And it’s beautifully scented too.
6. And yes I know I promised no more tulip photos but this really is the last one. I wanted to focus on a tulip that was still in a reasonable condition, but to have the colours of the other tulips, which had started to drop their petals, in the background. To achieve this shallow depth of field was required and I used a wide aperture of f/3.2 which gave me the colourful but blurred background. This combination of purple and orange tulips in the form of Negrita, Orange Cassini and Lambada has been my favourite this year and I may be tempted to plant again!
And that is my Six On Saturday for this week. I hope you’ve enjoyed a quick look at my garden highlights and for more ‘sixes’ take a look at the site of the creator of this weekly collection. His Six on Saturday is always an excellent read and there are many more photos and blogs on twitter under the hashtag #SixonSaturday
