In a vase on Monday - Exactly as advertised!

I don't usually think I'm very susceptible to advertising. I don't watch much live TV or read many magazines. Recently though, Chiltern Seeds have started sending out mini catalogues  a couple of times a year with the MOST gorgeous photographs in them. I love flowers and I love photographs of flowers so I am helpless. They are so lovely I keep them. All colour co-ordinated too, you've got to love that. MrC, bless his heart, says I should use them as check list and tick the ones I have!

I've long been a fan of their seeds and managed to spend plenty even without the photographs. For anyone who doesn't know they produce a 188 page catalogue with very small print. I have to read it with glasses on now. Each variety has a detailed description but no picture. They do now have pictures on their website. I sincerely recommend the seeds. I've always had excellent results and no-one is paying me to say that though if they want to send me seeds to test, I'm ready. 
When I started gardening I had a large garden and a small budget and filled it with plants grown from seed. Very satisfying.

So these are Gysophila elegans 'Kermesina' looking exactly as advertised. Here with Artemisia Powis Castle.

How sweet and pretty. I've taken off the tops in the hope the plants will branch out. I've used the Mud, Wall, Sticks technique and grown quite a  few plants. Because of our relatively dry spring, the slug damage has been minimal. 

The garden is bursting with blooms and here is a snapshot of a few of them. 

In the vase:
Abelia foliage
Nigella seed pods
Blue Catananche flowers
Teasel buds
Dahlia 'Bishop of Dover'
Perennial Wallflower 'I've got the label somewhere'. Pastel something I think. 

And this is a carrot flower. Not some fancy cultivar but a carrot which went to seed!

For lots of fun and fancy vases from around the world visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for In a vase on Monday. 

Adventures in a Poly Tunnel - June 2017

The roller coaster continues. The weather is completely varied and unpredictable, much more so than usual. The month started chilly but this week we've had very hot days resulting in a high of 50०C in the tunnel! I'm surprised anything survived but things are thriving. I obviously did enough watering. 
I started off the  month with hundreds of seedlings and most are now in the ground and flourishing. Some things which were tiny and I really thought wouldn't come to anything are now 2 or 3 feet high and flowering. 

Here is my strawberry patch. Once I'd got the watering right, ie no watering, they have produced masses of luscious fruit. I have some plants outside but they are not a patch on these. Lilies behind and the calendula still flowering away. 


 The broad beans are at the back here. Also producing very well. We had lots of little beans but I didn't keep up with the picking and they are somewhat larger now. Still good and I'm happy to eat them every day. The rocket is going to seed in front of the beans, spinach, radishes and garlic chives. Some lettuce is hidden in here too. Kohl rabi at the front, not looking as thought they are going to produce bulbs so far. 

 The tomatoes have grown really well. Some have fruit forming and most are flowering. Yes I have too many, but in my defence I am growing some for the Heritage Seed Library. I'll save the seed and send it back to them. Sadly they are covered in Whitefly. 

 The plants at the back here are Soya beans. I'm trying them for the first time. Basil in pots and also Samphire which I grew from bits bought in a supermarket pack.

Still a number of seedlings. Some of these are foxgloves, also grasses and some Thai basil, I think. Much of this could go outside now but I am better at watering the inside. 

I didn't tidy up before the photo shoot so there is plenty of stuff lying about. I did notice the cardboard on the ground. We put this down to suppress weeds initially and I've taken much of it up but the rest should come up now. That would help the look. There is a huge stack of trays and pots under the bench. They were all full a few weeks ago.

Harvesting:
Strawberries                                           
Rocket
Spinach
Spring onions
Kale early in the month
Radishes
Broad beans 
Lettuce
Basil
Samphire


So far this month:
Daytime high:  50.5०C    Nighttime low: 5.5०C         Wow.

Crazy Dahlia In a Vase on Monday.

We've seamlessly from Autumn to high summer. The garden and plants are coping well and the gardener is running around madly with a watering can. 

Here is a quick vase:

This is 'Honka Pink'. The first Dahlia to flower this year. I've kept the tuber from last year when it flowered for months. It looks good here in isolation but also does well in a vase with other things. I look forward to bouquets of dahlias. 

So only one vase this week ?, I hear you thinking. Of course not. However short of time I am, I need things in vases. 

 This Philadelphus is flowering it's socks off. Two for one here as I had to pull of the lower stems and I couldn't throw them away, could I ? I know the petals will drop quickly but then I'll go and get some more. 
I've just remembered where this vase came from. Very early on in our marriage we had has some kind of argument. Mr C bought flowers when I was at work, took them home but couldn't find a vase big enough so had to go and buy one and this was it. Ahh, young love. 

I promise I did prune it last year but obviously not very hard. 

An overexposed photo of the Philadelphus.

Finally, I'd forgotten how the Cirsium do this:

I found a cloud of seeds in my cut down vase from two weeks ago. Unfortunately I poked them before thinking of taking a picture but here is the plant in the garden. Sadly, I think the seeds are sterile. 

For plenty of inspiring and inventive vases from around the world visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden. In a vase on Monday. 

Floral abundance in a vase on Monday.

Let's gloss over our Autumnal weather and have quick look at how the Cirsium from last week lasted. 

This is them on Saturday. Showing no sign of drooping or decay. A good choice as were all the others. I've cut them down for a smaller vase but they have all lasted a week and onwards. 

No apologies for the excess of pink this week! If you don't like pink look away now.
I'm thrilled to have a pink peony flowering, doubly so as it was a piece from my Mum's garden last year and I expected it to sulk for a while. I was less pleased to find the blooms on the ground, battered down by rain and wind. 
A good excuse to cut them and bring them in. Shown here with Artemisia 'Powis Castle'. 

Sumptuous, I hope you agree. I have yet to get to the bottom of the colour difference. She says it can't be two plants but one flower is all pink and the other has cream petals in the centre. 

I've also made a small well behaved arrangement for the table. 
I'm not sure where this rose bowl came from. To my shame I've forgotten and it was probably a relative who passed away. I don't use is much as things tend to fall out easily even though it has a mesh cover. Also the water runs out quickly and it's not easy to re-fill. But enough complaints. 
I don't think this will last very long but it's so pretty while it does.

White = Macmillan Nurse - Light pink = NoID

I had to have Philadelphus this week. A huge inherited shrub is just coming into flower. One sniff and I'm transported back to my childhood home. This one was in flower when we moved here two years ago.

Dark pink = Harlow Carr

I stuffed in lots of small stems then filled in with roses. 

Purple - Rhapsody in Blue

The poor roses are battered down too but there are plenty of buds to come. The do need some support so I aim to build a sort of dome cage frame for Harlow Carr who is very floppy. I did this once before quite successfully. Just need to go and do it!

For plenty of interesting and creative vases from around the world visit Cathy - Rambling in the Garden  -In a vase on Monday. 

I had a lovely time on Sunday at The Bishop's Palace in Wells. The gardens are beautifully cared for and over flowing with roses just now. There was a gardening festival on and lots of lovely plants for sale. I met Noelle there. She knows the gardens very well so it was perfect to go round with her, get to know each other and chat about plants. 

Sunshine in a vase on Monday

A new week and time to create new vases and share with appreciative blogging friends. For interesting and creative vases visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden - In a vase on Monday. 
These violas were volunteers growing under some plants I was moving. They are quite an unusual lemon yellow colour and I don't remember ever having one like this but I suppose I must have done. I hope I've saved the plant to put somewhere else but cut some flowers to enjoy for now. 

So I have these to enjoy in the kitchen for a few days. 

A quick dash out between showers for this second vase. 

In the vase:
Pyracantha which attacks whenever we try to get to our shed but is in full bloom just now. 
A few Nigella not quite open yet. Impatient, me?
Sweet pink Sweet William
Parsley again - it's really coming out this week. 
Cirsium - I don't know how it will last in a vase but I'll find out now. 

It's a dismal wet and windy day which is good for all the new planting out but not so good for the spirit. I think we've had all of April's rain today.