Ann Mackay: Inspired by Nature

NB: A note for WordPress Reader users – you need to click on the title of the post again to come out of the reader and go to the post itself. This allows you to see the whole of the top photograph. (Otherwise you may see just a tiny section!)

During a recent break between rain showers, I went into the garden to take as many photos as I could of the raindrop-adorned plants. These evening primroses stood out as looking particularly sunny after a grey day. This one is Oenothera macrocarpa (Missouri evening primrose), which is quite different to the tall evening primroses that also grow here.

The biggest difference between this and the other evening primrose in our garden (which I believe is Oenothera stricta ‘Sulphurea’) is the growth habit. The Missouri evening primrose is an easy neighbour for the other plants in the border, spreading slowly on low, lax stems. It causes no problems for the other plants around it. ‘Sulphurea’, on the other hand, can be a bit of a thug because it can self-seed in such great numbers that it blocks light from the other plants beside it.

I made the mistake of letting many of Sulphurea’s seedlings remain in an area where they have now created a screen that hides the neighbouring shorter plants. Oops! They’ll have to be removed and I’ll spread the seed from them in a semi-wild area where the other plants are tall enough to compete.

Meanwhile, the Missouri evening primrose that you see here is behaving beautifully, so I’m likely to plant more of this one. Then there will be plenty of zingy yellow flowers to brighten the days when the sun is sulking behind clouds.

NB: A note for WordPress Reader users – you need to click on the title of the post again to come out of the reader and go to the post itself. This allows you to see the whole of the top photograph. (Otherwise you may see just a tiny section!)

More rain-splashed blue flowers for this week – though the reverse of the flower of Geranium ‘Rozanne’ is more of a purple-blue. A lot of supposedly blue flowers are, like this, not quite blue. I’ve just read that the reason for it is that plants don’t have any true blue pigments.

So how do plants like forget-me-nots and borage make their flowers look so blue? Apparently the colour comes from the chemical manipulation of the anthocyanin pigments that create reds. From the point of view of the plant, it’s worth the extra effort because the eyesight of bees is especially responsive to blue.

If I’d done a bit more science at school I might have known about this. That slight pinkish tint in many blue flowers has always intrigued me. Now I know why it’s there. (And now you know how I’ve been passing a rainy afternoon on the internet!)

Knowing that it is less easy for flowers to appear blue makes me appreciate the blue flowers in my garden even more. These pretty flowers of Geranium Rozanne have held up well in the recent rains; now that the sun is shining again I’ll make sure to get out and enjoy the sight of them.

NB: A note for WordPress Reader users – you need to click on the title of the post again to come out of the reader and go to the post itself. This allows you to see the whole of the top photograph. (Otherwise you may see just a tiny section!)

This week’s garden photography has meant nipping out between showers. If you’ve been reading my blog for a little while, you’ll know that the climate here in the east of England tends to be very dry – actually the driest in the country. It doesn’t feel like it at the moment though! There has been plenty of rain and there’s a mad rush of growth in the garden as a result.

One plant that would probably prefer a bit more sunshine is this Platycodon grandiflorus, commonly known as ‘balloon flower’. (So named because the developing flower buds swell into odd little five-pointed ‘balloons’…a temptation for any child to pop them!)

Platycodon is a member of the campanula family and looks very similar to the campanulas growing close to it. Its flowers are bigger, at about three inches across, whereas the campanula flowers reach about two inches. It creates a lovely splash of blue which blends easily with the other colours in the border, especially the nearby yellow daisies of Anthemis tinctoria and a white campanula that grows next to it.

Blue is one of my favourite colours, so it was inevitable that I would buy a platycodon as soon as I saw it. It has settled in well since I planted it last year and there are now lots of flower buds on it. These should keep the blue flowers coming through summer. It is wet and grey here at the moment, but rainy day blues like these make me very happy.

NB: A note for WordPress Reader users – you need to click on the title of the post again to come out of the reader and go to the post itself. This allows you to see the whole of the top photograph. (Otherwise you may see just a tiny section!)

The pincushion flowers of astrantia are making an impact in the garden at the moment. The flowers are quite different to anything else around them, so provide interest and variety to the border.

Over the years, I’ve tried growing several different cultivars of Astrantia major, notably the lovely pink ‘Roma’ and the darker red ‘Rubra’. Neither of those lasted very long, probably due to drought. The white cultivars in the garden now are doing better. That’s because I take more care to water them when the weather is very dry. (Not sure what they are. One was supposed to be ‘Shaggy’, with the longer bracts, but doesn’t look any different to the other plants. They probably all are simply the original species of Astrantia major, rather than one of the cultivars.)

I would like to try again with some of the coloured cultivars of astrantia, but will look for plants that are in flower. When grown from seed there can be variability in the plants, and those grown from the seed of cultivars or hybrids are unlikely to come true to the parent plant. That might mean the possibility of an interesting seedling or two. On the other hand, I wonder if they tend to revert to the commoner white.

At present, the astrantias here are looking good. That is likely to be because of all the rain we’ve had recently. It’s pouring down as I’m writing this and has been raining for a few days. I was able to get out and photograph the flowers above in a brief pause between showers – can you spot the raindrops? (The flowers below were photographed on a dry day that now feels like a long time ago!)

NB: A note for WordPress Reader users – you need to click on the title of the post again to come out of the reader and go to the post itself. This allows you to see the whole of the top photograph. (Otherwise you may see just a tiny section!)

The bog garden that I created last year has allowed me to grow a few plants that would find it hard to survive here otherwise. It’s a tiny space – about 5 to 6ft across – and now pretty much full. In it I have Siberian irises, astilbes, ragged robin ( Lychnis flos-cuculi) and the plant you see here, Trollius chinensis ‘Golden Queen’.

I’ve tried growing this plant in the ordinary garden soil here and failed; the conditions were too dry. It needs moist soil that doesn’t dry out, so was one of the plants I wanted to try in the bog garden. The bog garden does have to be kept watered, especially in the hot weather we’re having at the moment. It can accidentally dry out…oops! But it’s much easier to look after moisture-loving plants when they’re all in the same space. The water I give them lasts much longer too.

Although their name declares them to be ‘golden’, to me these flowers are more orange. Whatever their description, they are certainly bright and gleam out from their dark background of iris leaves and bronze elder. Their shape is unusual and eye-catching, with a central tuft that the RHS explains to be ‘nectar-bearing petals’, surrounded by a ring of ‘petal-like sepals’. (I’m continually impressed by the variety of flower forms that nature comes up with!)

At the moment, this and the other plants in the new bog garden seem to be doing well. However, that may mean that this small area gets overcrowded…maybe I’ll soon have to find somewhere to make another bog garden!🌿

NB: A note for WordPress Reader users – you need to click on the title of the post again to come out of the reader and go to the post itself. This allows you to see the whole of the top photograph. (Otherwise you may see just a tiny section!)

Peonies are gloriously at their best this month. An ‘open gardens’ event in a nearby village has reminded me how wonderful they are in full flower. Several of the gardens had these huge, flamboyantly colourful blooms and I couldn’t help wishing for a bit more space for growing my own.

I have to admit to having a red peony that is sulking because the shrub behind it has swamped it over the last couple of years. No flowers from it this year, so I reckon it’s going to have to be moved…where to I have no idea! (But I will find another space for it eventually.)

The flowers here were actually photographed last summer, in one of the large gardens that we visited then. I slightly prefer the gentle grace of these white flowers to the more gaudy colours, although all are beautiful. These fabulous white flowers would be lovely in a calm, relaxing space alongside other white-flowered plants. The idea of a restrained and soothing colour scheme is very appealing for a little retreat from the busy world! 🌼

NB: A note for WordPress Reader users – you need to click on the title of the post again to come out of the reader and go to the post itself. This allows you to see the whole of the top photograph. (Otherwise you may see just a tiny section!)

After last week’s post about blue/purple aquilegias, I decided that the pink ones deserved a little attention too. Like the blues and purples, pinks also vary in colouring and add to the interest and diversity of the garden at this time of year. The darkest flowers (above) are my favourites, but the other aquilegias range from those that are just the palest of pinks, like the one below, to medium pinks and others that are closer to red.

Amongst the aquilegia flowers, I was intrigued to see that some of the pale pink flowers had random patches of a darker pink on their petals. Strange! It’s something I’ve seen elsewhere too, but I can’t remember seeing it on other flowers. I wonder if it’s just aquilegias that do this? (Hmm, there must be other flowers that do…) Perhaps it shows how mixed their colour genes are.

Not only do the colours vary in their flowers, the shape can too. You can see how aquilegias got one of their common names from the shape of the double flower below. It does indeed look like an old-fashioned ‘Granny’s Bonnet’. I hope that there will be plenty of seedlings from this year’s aquilegias – I’d love to have a great mix of colours and flower forms again.