Tag: photography

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These penstemons aren’t growing in my own garden, but they do remind me of plants that I grew here until last winter. Sadly, the colder-than-usual winter killed off several penstemons that I’d had for a few years.

Penstemon ‘Raven’ is very similar to the plant above, with flowers of a fabulously deep purple that has a magenta tinge. I miss it! There will certainly be more of it in the garden again, but in future I’ll more careful to take cuttings that can be kept somewhere away from the frost.

Another of the penstemons that I lost was ‘Hidcote Pink’ – a very pretty salmon-pink that was a bit different to the other shades of pink here. (My other pinks have a bit more blue in them.) It would be welcome in the garden again. But perhaps the most missed of the lost penstemons is deep red ‘Garnet’, which I’d had for years. This one might perhaps have made it through the winter if it hadn’t already been struggling a little. (The ground level where it was growing had been disturbed a bit when building the pond. This meant that the ground around it drained much more and became a bit too dry for the plant…oops!)

I love the rich colours and the attractive markings inside the throat of penstemon flowers, so I’ll be keen to grow more of them in future. (Bees love them too, and it’s amusing to see their little furry bottoms sticking out of the bell-shaped flowers – a bonus!) At this stage of the summer, I may leave it to next spring to buy more plants though. And I will have to be more careful about protecting them from harsh winter weather. The effort will be worth it to see these beauties in my garden again.

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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!

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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!

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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.

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Visiting gardens and looking at the plants other people grow has always been something I enjoy. It’s tremendously useful too, allowing me to look out for plants I might like to try growing in my own garden.

Candelabra primulas are amongst the plants that have caught my attention. They wouldn’t normally be happy in my garden conditions, but at the moment I’m building a small bog garden here. This will give damper conditions than I can provide elsewhere in the garden and should suit these and a range of plants that will look good near the pond.

These primulas have a very distinctive structure. The flowers are held in whorls around the stem. They make me think of an old-fashioned tiered cake-stand rather than a candelabra though! (The photos below give a good idea of the plant’s shape. As a new whorl comes into flower at the top, the lowest layer of flowers will be going over.)

There’s a lovely range of colours to choose from, with reds and pinks, oranges and yellows, and purples and mauves. I think the white ones (or perhaps yellow) would probably suit my planting best, but the glorious crimson flower really appealed to me.

As well as colours, there are a large number of species and hybrids. Some are bright and bold, while others are more delicate in appearance. The choice is wide, but space in my garden isn’t. So I will have to be restrained if I go shopping…