:: rosa xxxv ::

Two more rose photos and that would make ten percent of my flower photos this year roses - maybe there are lots around or maybe this is one of my favourite blooms?

...this one has been coming back to good health since we have been here, actually watering, feeding and pruning it...

...I like to believe that it enjoys the climbing frame in its West-facing position and basks the afternoon away, exuding subtle rose fragrance...and tones, of course, splendidly with the PINK Summerhill Stone cladding ;-)

:: hydrangea iv ::

...the beginning of the hydrangeas...

...still a bit nippy out there to call it Summer yet, although plenty of luscious sunshine to savour...

:: dahlia vii ::

...and the bumblebees were going wild! At one point there were three in this dahlia bloom!

:: paeonia ii ::

and at last the waiting is over!

the two paeony roses are finally in bloom

:: watsonia ii ::

A salmon-coloured watsonia to brighten this very softly-foggy, misty morning here down South.

:: 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?