Miserable precipitation has taken hold, drowning our
humour and dampening our sprits! Reminiscent of some shamanic chant we find
ourselves muttering repeatedly, “We need it, we need it”, which of course we do
what with all of this drought and hose-pipe ban business. But the situation
would be more enjoyable, or at least more bearable, if the thing was spread
across a 12-month payment plan, rather than lumped into one month-long dose! In
spite of all this the plants are growing at in an incredible rate, seemingly
triffid-like, and I fear this may be the last of the old spring updates…
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| No yellow tulips were ordered for the Old Garden
display, but of course one does not discover the wrong bulbs have been sent
until the spring when they commence flowering! |
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| Tulipa ‘Virichic’, as anticipated, in the Old Garden |
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| In the Plant House border. Tulipa ‘Prinses Irene’, an
old variety from 1845 I first encountered in the Cottage Garden at Sissinghurst. Accompanied here by the cheering spikes of Euphorbia characias
subsp. wulfenii |
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| Inside the Plant House the blooms of the Jasminum
polyanthum emit an incredible scent that fills the air |
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| The honeybees are particularly fond of the
honey-scented Pittosporum tobira, and stick their little faces as far as
possible into the flowers! This plant is half-hardy, so also resides here in
the Plant House |
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| Morning in the Wilderness, with the bark of a Birch
and a stand of an old Narcissus cultivar |
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| Epimedium pinnatum subsp. colchicum |
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| Lemon-yellow harmony in the Pine
Circle with the buds of Paeonia mlokosewitschii and the blooms of
Tulipa ‘Strong Gold’ |
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| The Rose Walk provides one of the first real peaks in
the garden, with its early-summer display, and I personally cannot wait for the
return of the lupins |
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| There are heritage varieties of countless species about
the garden, but I have found the Narcissi amongst the hardest to identify. This
gem up the Rose Walk is currently unknown to us |
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| In the Lily Pond, a Great Pond Snail drinking in the
glory of spring. These chaps have incredible rhino-like heads that unfurl gracefully
from their shells |
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| There have been a huge number of Orange-tip
butterflies about the place this year, joyful days! The undersides have this
complex blotched mottling, with only the males bearing the orange tipped wings |
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| The Brimstones are still around I am glad to say, here
enjoying Symphytum ‘Hidcote Pink’ down by the bee hives |
7 comments:
Yes, I've found these Orange Tips in my garden in Burgundy,France.The Brimstone's have gone since the weather changed. We have been having a lot of rain, over an inch a day.
I visited Hidcote and found it very charming. How wonderful to work there.
Bertie you have a marvellous way with words.
I shall never gaze upon a bee again without thinking about them pushing "their little faces as far as possible into the flowers".
Wonderful!
Paul
I love the yellow tulips with Molly the witch and the greened bark on the birch tree!
Hope you can come out from cover soon and that your water reservoirs are restored. We are in a similar place with missing the spring rains from March and early April, though not as desperate.
Beautiful photos Bertie. Really love the pond snail shot. I've been a fair weather gardener this year and am way behind with my garden because I haven't wanted to be out in the cold wet weather too long!
LOVELY PICS:) I really like your blog and I want to follow, do you have twitter or FB??
If you want to see a beautiful swedish botanic garden, you can check out my blog:)
Have a great week.
LOVE Maria at inredningsvis.se
(Sweden)
Love the yellow tulips but hadn't realised they weren't ordered for the Old Garden! There have been yellow ones in the past.
At least they weren't bright orange like the ones which came up a few years ago :D
I haven't seen an orange tip yet this year. Princess Irene is one of my favourite tulips. We haven't grown it this year so it's good to look at your photos Bertie.
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