Ann Mackay: Inspired by Nature

Garden-Visit Treats: Daylilies

August 6, 2023August 5, 2023 Ann Mackay19 Comments

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Wandering around other people’s gardens gives me a chance to see flowers that I don’t have in my own garden. It’s one of the pleasures of visiting them, especially the large and well-stocked gardens that can afford to grow a wide range of plants. Sometimes I find plants I’ve never seen, except possibly in photos, and other times I see plants I can’t grow at home.

Daylilies (Hemerocallis), like those shown here, are too toxic to cats for me to risk growing. (Like Lilium species, daylilies are deadly to cats, even in small amounts – so much so that the water from a vase that the flowers have been in is toxic to them.) So seeing them elsewhere is a rare opportunity for me to photograph these beauties.

If it wasn’t for the risk to my cats, I might be tempted by the vibrant colours of daylilies, especially the fabulous purple shade of the flower above. As it is, I will just have to admire them when I see them, and perhaps be lucky enough to be able to photograph them too.

An Oddity!

July 30, 2023July 29, 2023 Ann Mackay15 Comments

Daucus carota showing aberration of flower

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From year to year, many of the flowers in my garden are the same. Most are perennials, but there are also the annual and biennial self-seeders that have become established here. So each season has a familiar look, with perhaps a few recent additions or a few losses.

Something did manage to surprise me this summer – the unusually enlarged flower head of the wild carrot (Daucus carota) pictured above. This is the mixed deep-red to white variety ‘Dara’, which I sowed a few years ago. A biennial, it has been self-seeding here ever since. The shape of this particular flower has gone very much awry, perhaps due to disease or an attack by an insect.

The flower should be a simple umbel (a shape like the frame of an upturned umbrella), like the one shown below. If you look at the structure of it, you’ll see that the ‘umbrella frame’ of stems each end in a similar structure, but in miniature. (These are known as ‘umbellules’ or ‘umbellets’ and make up a ‘compound umbel’.) The normal flower in the picture below is in the process of opening into the flatter shape of the maturing flower head.

The newly-emerging wild carrot flowers — This normal wild carrot flower has just begun to open.

So what has happened to produce the strange flower head here? Somehow it has produced an extra ring of smaller umbels around the central umbel. Each of these has then gained a ring of umbellules on longer stems than usual, giving the appearance of being surrounded by tiny satellites. It is as if the instruction for growing into a normal flower have become corrupted and caused repeats in the flower’s structure. Whatever the cause, I’m intrigued by this flower and I’m wondering how it will develop. What will happen when it tries to fold into the ‘nest’ shape that the seed-heads normally become? If it survives long enough, I’ll let you know what happens… 🙂

You can see more pictures of how wild carrot normally looks and develops here.

A single Daucus carota flower head, showing an aberration in its structure.

Pure Fluff: Cardoon Seed Heads

July 23, 2023July 22, 2023 Ann Mackay11 Comments

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Some seed heads draw more attention than others. The sight of the huge fluffy seed heads of the cardoon (Cynara cardunculus), growing in a garden I visited was irresistible. The seed heads appealed as a subject to photograph, and because I always want to stroke the soft hairs attached to the delightfully ethereal seeds. (I didn’t stroke them though. I couldn’t get close enough!)

I’m not the only one attracted to the cardoon’s seeds. In winter, finches will eat the seeds and, when spring comes, if any the soft down remains, it may be used to line nests. Long before that stage, the huge purple thistle flowers are visited by many bees and other pollinators. The cardoon flowers have lots of pollen and nectar and can appear over a long period (around June to September). This makes the cardoon a valuable plant for bees and it would be a great addition to a garden planted with pollinators in mind.

Cardoons grow to a large size – up to 6 feet tall by about 4 feet wide. That’s a bit big for my own garden. (Space is becoming an issue here.) If there was room for one, I’d certainly consider growing one of these plants because, in addition to the bee-friendly flowers, they also have spectacular deeply-cut silvery leaves. However, it might irritate my neighbours if those floaty little seeds were to land and then produce new plants all over their gardens!

A Meadow Beauty: Sainfoin

July 16, 2023July 18, 2023 Ann Mackay19 Comments

Flower of sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia)

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The flowers of sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia) were sprinkled throughout the meadow that I wrote about in last week’s post. It’s a plant that I had never seen before. I was enchanted by the spikes of delicate pink flowers with darker pink veining, so I took the opportunity to photograph it.

Reading up about this grassland plant afterwards, I discovered that it is a native of Europe and Asia. Sainfoin is an ancient forage crop grown to feed cattle, sheep and horses. It fell from favour in modern times but is apparently making a comeback. The plant has several benefits, including controlling worms in grazing animals and improving the quality of the soil by fixing nitrogen. (The common names of ‘healthy hay’ and ‘holy hay’ reflect the benefits to livestock.)

But it’s not the usefulness to animals that caught my attention. I’m far more interested in the benefits that sainfoin offers to bees and other pollinators. Apparently sainfoin produces large amounts of both pollen and nectar, making it very attractive to pollinating insects, including bumblebees and butterflies.

This suggests that it would be worth growing in a selection of wildflowers for a semi-wild area that will be a habitat for wildlife. It’s an idea that appeals to me greatly, but I would need to be able to fit my wild patch into a small space. A possibility for next year… 🙂

Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia) with ox-eye daisies

Meadow Wildflowers (1)

July 9, 2023July 8, 2023 Ann Mackay24 Comments

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An awareness of the importance of wildflowers in creating spaces for nature is growing in the UK. Plants for bees and other insects are recognised as being vital to help species survive. Many gardeners are trying to help nature by allowing their gardens to become a little wilder, and some are creating their own ‘meadow’ areas within their gardens.

Recently I visited a large garden at a Suffolk farm and had a walk around the adjacent wildflower meadow. There are already a few wildflowers in my own garden and I’m interested to see what else I can grow to encourage insect life. (But without letting something take over the garden, e.g. white deadnettle. Although its flowers are great for bees in the early part of the year, I’m finding it almost impossible to stop the plant from spreading everywhere.)

I’m on the lookout for wildflowers to grow, but I know that the plant in my top photograph is unlikely to appear in my garden. It’s a bee orchid (Ophrys apifera), an orchid that is native to the UK. This is a cheeky wee plant – the flowers mimic female bees so that the male bee comes along hoping to mate, but pollinates the flowers instead. (A bit disappointing for the bee, I reckon!) An uncommon plant, however, it does appear in meadows here in the east of England.

The plant below is one that I do already have, but mine is growing in a pot. This is bird’s foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), another native grassland plant which grows throughout the UK. The flowers are a great source of nectar for bees and it is a food plant for caterpillars too. It was interesting to see how it grows in the wild, but because the RHS website says it can become invasive, I will probably keep mine in its pot. (I like the idea of having pots of it dotted around the garden in sunny spots. The bees and butterflies would love it.)

Unfamiliar to Me: Dictamnus albus

July 2, 2023June 30, 2023 Ann Mackay31 Comments

Dictamnus albus var. purpureus (Gas Plant)

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This is a plant I’d not seen before – Dictamnus albus (also known as dittany, burning bush, or gas plant). I photographed both the pink and white varieties in a garden I visited recently, then spent a few days trying to figure out what it was. It would have been a good idea to ask the owner of the garden, but she was busy trying to cope with the demand for her excellent coffee and cakes at the time.

Seeing new plants while visiting gardens is fascinating and often gives me ideas for things I’d like to grow. (The ‘want to grow’ list is too long for the garden to accommodate it – a common problem for gardeners!) It’s usually not too difficult to find out the names of plants by using the internet or books. But this one had me stumped for a while.

The flowers seemed like a larger version of gaura flowers, especially in the stamens having such long filaments, but the growth habit was entirely different. The stems of this plant were very upright and individual flowers were held on short stalks, unlike the long, floaty stems of the gaura.

I eventually found a photograph of the plant by doing a Google search for ‘star-shaped seed pod’. There were lots of photos of star anise to wade through before I found one of the Dictamnus. Identified at last!

My search also told me the reason for two of the plant’s common names. ‘Burning bush’ and ‘gas plant’ refer to the fact that the plant emits a volatile oil on sunny days. Apparently this can be set alight without causing any harm to the plant. But it might not be a good idea to try this if the plant is in a garden that you’re visiting!

Flamboyant and Frilly: Peonies

June 25, 2023June 23, 2023 Ann Mackay22 Comments

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Peonies are amongst the flowers that seem most feminine to me. (Irises and oriental poppies are two of the others.) Peony petals, with their crinkles and ruffles, make me think of layers of silky fabric. Their colours, which range from the pale and delicate to the rich and sensuous, reinforce that impression.

The spectacular curls and swirls of the petals and the sheer flamboyance of the large flower heads make them a pleasure to photograph. The peonies in this post were photographed in gardens I visited, but hopefully I may find a bit of space to grow one or two in the garden here. (I used to grow a couple of red peonies when I lived in Scotland. They were trouble free there, but I suspect that the much drier conditions here won’t be ideal.)

While I’m still trying to figure out how I can somehow squeeze yet more plants into my garden, I’ll make the most of the plants that I have the chance to enjoy in other people’s gardens. Being able to see flowers I don’t grow (and sometimes seeing quite unexpected ones) is a large part of the reason for garden-visiting. These two beauties certainly made me smile!

Seeing the Details

June 18, 2023June 16, 2023 Ann Mackay15 Comments

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This year I’ve been making more of an effort to visit other people’s gardens. Now that Covid is less of a worry (although still around), we’ve been trying to get out and about to enjoy the things we used to do.

Visiting gardens gives the pleasure of looking at plants I don’t have in my own garden. If it’s one of the bigger gardens that regularly opens to the public, I’ll bring my camera. (I don’t take it to the smaller private gardens, that just feels a bit intrusive.) Amongst the plants I love to see are irises. I’d grow more of them in my own garden if I could, but seeing them elsewhere is a good substitute.

Photographing flowers in someone else’s garden can be a bit tricky. You can’t move anything or walk wherever you want to to change a distracting background. Here I’ve decided to get as close as I could to these bearded irises and then crop the images. This gets rid of the remains of flowers that had already gone over. (So much easier to have a quick tidy in your own garden!)

I was happy with the close-up of the white iris because I like the different colours of the flower’s markings. The pale orange iris doesn’t appeal to me quite so much because it’s a colour I’m less keen on. But the markings do help to make the photo a little more interesting. In my own garden I grow Siberian irises, which have beautiful markings. I photographed a couple of them last year for this post.

A Mini-Break!

June 11, 2023June 10, 2023 Ann Mackay19 Comments

The star-shaped flowers of Allium christophii.

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I’m taking a short break this week and reposting an image from 2019. I’ve had very little time for photography because I’ve been too busy enjoying the company of friends who came to stay. (We did have the chance to sit out in the garden and enjoy the flowers though!)

Purple Haze: Wisteria sinensis ‘Amethyst’

June 4, 2023June 3, 2023 Ann Mackay16 Comments

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When I moved to England, one of the plants that made a big impression on me was wisteria. It can grow in Scotland if you have somewhere warm and sunny enough for it to flower, but I think I’d only seen it once or twice, if at all. Here in the east of England it is very popular and of course I wanted to grow it.

I chose Wisteria sinensis ‘Amethyst’ after falling in love with its scent when I came across a mature plant in flower. The colour is pretty too, but it was the scent that got to me most. (My sense of smell isn’t brilliant, so plants need a good scent for me to notice!)

The climber has been in the garden for quite a long time now and is busy growing over an old laurel that has become a fairly big tree. (I don’t like laurel, so I’m very happy that the wisteria makes it a bit more interesting to look at.) This year the wisteria has become a lot better established in the tree and there were lots of flowers, making it a very pleasing sight.

So far I haven’t really got to grips with pruning the wisteria properly, and obviously having it growing up a tree is going to make this difficult. However, I’m starting to see the effects of the pruning that I’ve done over the last few years and I feel a bit more confident about it than I did at the start. (There are some very clear instructions for pruning wisteria here and here – I wish I’d seen them a lot earlier!)

Right now the flowers are starting to fade and the leaves are beginning to take over. I can see that I will have a lot of pruning to do in July!