:: nigella iii ::

some plants just have the best names - like this one - "love-in-a-mist", or...more plainly 'Nigella' (don't tell Nigella I said that!)

:: brassica oleracea ::

...it is always wondrous to be about in a garden first thing of a day (whatever time that is for you!) and this morning I was enchanted by the tiny waterdrop in the centre of this broccoli flowerhead...

...'flowering crest of the cabbage', is the meaning of the Italian word broccoli, and it is indeed a bunch of tiny flowers on a stubby stalk...

...this was the original choice of a photo of it - alongside some French breakfast radishes and atop a small laundry basket of broadbeans I'd just harvested - but...I think I like my little broccoli with a little rainbow now...what do you think?

(rainbow courtesy of sunshine through the crystal hanging in our kitchen window!)

:: xerochysum brachteatum v ::

I can't decide whether these remind me of a party decoration or one of those woven sunhats...strawflower or everlasting daisy

:: pansy xii ::

Gosh, many more cobwebs being blown away today...and a neighbour's elderflowers are taunting me from across the road, swaying and bending in this wind...come and take as many as you want, they said...

...hmmm...that does mean making up the syrup afterwards...am I feeling that lazy this Sunday? 

YES!

:: rosa xxxiii ::

roses are bursting open at a ferocious rate now...and this year I've actually remembered to water them, and they seem to be rewarding my efforts :)

:: watsonia ::

Eclipsed in popularity by the gladioli and other bulbs, the watsonia is now not anywhere near as common a sight as it was in my childhood in the seventies as it has been largely neglected by the nurseries.

So, when I see a clump somewhere, I get a jolt of nostalgia, right back to my roots and the beautiful bed of dahlias and watsonias along a fenceline...sigh!

:: rosa xxxii ::

intense colour for an intense day!

:: paeonia ::

one of the joys of late Spring and early Summer is the paeony rose - a lush exuberance of intense colour and ruffles and all bursting out of one seemingly extremely-tightly bound bud...waiting, waiting waiting...

:: succulent ::

From Miss P's ever-expanding succulent and cactus collection...a gift marking her birthday last year.

:: rosa xxxi ::

Look what just opened in the rose 'patch'??? From a slender twig of a stem, something new has arisen...I didn't even know this was in the 'patch'!!

:: rosa xxx ::

:: papaver ::

...getting up close and personal with the innards of a glorious, bright red poppy - like a whole other world inside there...

:: dianthus ::

A pot of bright and pretty pink by the door

:: rosa xxix ::

rose

 

This photo was clearly not taken today, although the sun has blasted through a couple of times, between lovely, heavy drenchings...yay - I don't have to water the garden today - one thing off my list!

:: rosa xxviii ::

the wonder of nature...these roses were all drippy with raindrops...but only on the outside - the 'vital' centres were dry...heads bent forwards with the weight of the rain...a survival mechanism?

:: althea officinalis iii ::

pink and red together equals delicious colour combination to me...and the vibrance and beauty of this marshmallow flower is the difference since last Autumn of a plant that has had an extra six months of growing a stronger root system and structure through the Winter months...

:: rubus ursinus x rubus idaeus ::

From the abandoned early twentieth century experiments of the berry grower, Rudolph Boysen, Walter Knott (of the famous 'Knott's Berry Farm') rescued a few sick vines and nursed them back to fruiting health again...

...my childhood was filled with the taste of boysenberries - jam, fresh, icecream and in crumbles and pies...

...best memories were picking them and trying not to eat too many while doing so!

Apparently, these days, New Zealand is the world's largest producer of these delicious, huge and juicy, tasty Summer berries!

Fingers crossed for a luscious harvest here this Summer :-)

:: pansy xi ::

as busy as the pansies proliferating in the backyard today...not proliferating...just doing, doing,doing!

:: pansy x ::

soggy, still and chilly here today...time to declutter the work room...the 'W' room!!

:: geum? ::

tiny, tiny red flowers held aloft on leggy stems above furry soft-looking, geranium-type leaves...so sweet...geum, maybe?

:: rosa xxvii ::

one day I'll figure out how to capture the actual colour through my camera/computer so it is accurate on the screen - the red in real life on this rose is much darker and more crimson red than tomato-sharp...and the yellow more deeply golden...sigh!

:: erysimum allioni ::

this Siberian Wallflower has been quietly growing for the past year, almost and looking like nothing, just leaves and kind of almost weedlike...

...nearly ripped them out a few times...

...and then - this - stunning bright orange flowers erupted from their tops - amazing!

...and they couldn't be wallflowers, could they? Well, even though they look a bit different, yes they are!

So nice to get brilliant orange gardening surprises!

:: rhododendron vi ::

One of the (many!) things I find so lovely about Miss P's school are the grounds and how many lovely plants there are...

...as well as plenty of big trees (ones you can even climb!), many beautiful natives and stunning ornamentals, there is also a generous area devoted to growing food...

...our annual Spring Fair is on in a couple of weeks and the timing is perfect - all these pretty blooms are out - like this one - an eye-catching sunset-coloured rhododendron.

:: rosa xxvi ::

 the morning walk is not so very long, but there are so many lovely gardens to admire...

...this delicate apricot climbing rose, which I suspect may be the 'crepuscule' rose, has been left to ramble unrestrained on one of the still to be resolved, empty, post-quake properties - the house and outbuildings long demolished and just an incredible riot of nature taking over...

the bud - remarkably cerise

:: fragaria vesca ::

alpine strawberry

:: laburnum ::

golden chain tree

:: cosprosma ::

A surprisingly popular choice for many native plantings, given the meaning of the name coprosma is 'smelling like dung'! 

(apparently, only some of the species and you need to crush the leaves to get a whiff of the methanethiol!)

:: weigela ii ::

 and on my morning walk with Miss O...we found another weigela shrub in full swing...

 being fully appreciated by several charmingly fat (abundant!) bumble bees...

:: weigela ::

Generally, a plant needs to have a couple of good reasons to stay in this garden...being edible and a perennial pretty much guarantees its position, edible and pretty is a yes, but pretty and perennial starts to be a bit shaky!

This is an example of the latter and I only let it survive because it lives under the apricot tree in a spot I haven't really given very much thought to yet...

...I do admire it in the Spring, though :)

:: posie from Mrs Bottomley's ::

how lucky was I to receive this darling posie of rose, lilac, stock, freesia, curry plant, sage and geranium? 

Stunning...and such a bright note this afternoon for me...with gratitude :)