Pale Cherry Blossom

Every year is different when it comes to the Cherry Blossom. This year the dark leaved cherries seem to be coming out at the same time as their leaves, long before the more floriferous pink ones which open up before their green leaves arrive.

I'm always happy when they stagger their opening times like that so that when one passes there is still the joy of more to come. Ours are still at the early stages of opening but the one above had the advantage of a few extra degrees of heat in the City so it was fully open and begging me to let it pose for the camera yesterday.

Update: This photo now available as a Giclée Print here, printed on archival paper using Epson K3 archival inks.

September, tiny ponies, red Rowan

Autumn came early to many plants in the garden after a brief dip in night time temperatures, meaning the baby Rowan in the garden turned red long before the mature ones. Also the young Spindle and the Virginia Creeper making seasonal leafy splashes of brightness sooner than expected. Lovely. And then a surprise, tiny ponies 10 minutes from home.

A good day

So happy to finally get a bit of sunshine between the clouds and be well enough to get out and enjoy it this morning with a simple blueberry breakfast and some frivolous silvery toenail painting - got to reflect every last drop of sunshine now that we have some. It's my way of pretending I've had a summer holiday. I'm not a pink cardigan sort of person, but i never say no to free cashmere hand-me-downs!

Still got some blueberries ripening on the bushes...



The Clematis/Hops is finally old enough to reach along the fence and then cross over onto the shed, creating a nice floral bower over the secret path between the sheds - which has become even more secret after this years rain made the bamboo grow like crazy...





The Clematis even creeps round in the other direction onto the back side of the shed (yes, in a 3rd shade of bluey green). I hope next year I will have some energy for gardening and can train it properly across the shed wall, I just had it tangled over a small nail this year so it was a bit bedraggled...




I just adore that clematis and grow have it growing on the East fence paired with Goldenrod, Evening Primrose and Eupatorium/Eutrochium...




Finally after 2 years without we got hold of some organic corn. The garden is in shade by late afternoon but I was determined to eat it outside anyway since there was still a lovely warm breeze. Who needs sun when you have a freshly boiled cob on your plate...

What's happy in the back garden today...

Garden snapshot May 2012

Narcissus, Clematis, Angelica

Clematis, Clematis, Solomon's Seal

Acer, Narcissus, Heuchera

Rhododendron, Tulip, Pieris, Tulip

Click images to enlarge.

My head for names has gone so I hope nobody wanted details of each variety. I'm hoping the nice weather will help get me enthused about the garden again and then the names will pop back into my head. Fingers crossed.

Susanna Bauer - Leaves

Susanna Bauer - Leaves

These remind me of the delight I felt the first time I saw an Andy Goldsworthy leaf sculpture at the Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh. I've had a love for this type of work ever since and Susanna has a new take on them that I'm really enjoying.

Winter Garden Colours

Winter sunset behind the tall birch trees

After the last post of silvery frosted leaves I wanted to show that the garden isn't without colour. And Liz, the little colour palettes are for you, so you could see what the family version of my plant book looks like in places.

The Hydrangea above it was a bit of a surprise, I was convinced the heads would have been ripped apart by the gales but the constant winds all year have toughened up all the plants so many things have held up well. Although I'm not really a fan of bright blousey Hydrangeas I do love them once they start to fade though I'd never seen them that way until I inherited this one with the garden.

Heuchera 'Georgia Peach' is a favourite with varying shades of deep pinks, mulberry and marmalade shades depending on season and weather conditions. I've got several new Heucheras with equally wonderful colours but they are tiny plug plants just now. Heucheras take a long time to bulk up in my garden so I'm giving them 3 years until they have enough leaves for good photos.

We've not had as many lovely sunsets as usual so when I spotted this one I had to capture it. If only I could have successfully photographed the 1000's of starlings that were doing their daily sunset flight in front of it. Absolutely mesmerising, but impossible for my camera to capture in such dim light.

On a cold and frosty morning

Beautiful frosting on the Hebe this week.
It's been -4C, no more mildness, but a few breaks in the wind.


All the ground hugging foxglove leaves looked like this.


Alpine Strawberry leaves, a promise of things to come.


Frosty Epimedium


Same Epimedium without frost.
I've really appreciated it's glossy leaves through Winter


Subtle colouring on this small Azalea.
It will have lilac blooms around May


And of course, the seasons little wonders - snowdrops.
I'd seen some pushing through last week but then found that in other parts of the garden they were already in full bud. They will need a bit more time and sun to tempt them to open.

Indoor greenery

The lovely greens of a succulent and an indoor Hyacinth in December. The Hyacinth is in full flower now and smells great, especially in the evenings when there's some heating on and the warm air carries the scent through the room.

Evergreen foliage in winter

Cyclamen Herderifolium
Lonicera henryi - evergreen honeysuckle
Uknown Erica or Calluna (almost luminous yellow in Summer)
Pieris 'Mountain Fire' which changes colour each season
Choisya 'Aztec Pearl'

Every year the Winter interest aspect of the garden fills out a little more to the point where there is now something looking good in every bed, border or large tub. I love the way their colours and shapes become so noticeable when all else is dormant. I was out the other day and noticed one daffodil already forming a blower bud, several cyclamen doing the same, small daisies, and violas in flower and more flowers on the Claire Austin rose than it had during Summer! The snowdrops have started to push up and should be in flower soon. By far the most reliable performer this year has been Lamium Rosaseum which has literally flowered non stop since late Spring last year, it must be a blessing for all manner of insects.

Formal edges

When I worked at the Botanic Gardens I used to enjoy edging the grass, it immediately made things look tidy and tended to, not like my own gardens which have most often had a looser more cottagey feel with plants spilling into one another. I love both looks. At Malleny garden my eye was really drawn to the formal neatness wherever a plant edged a pathway or lawn. Lots of different colours and textures in both foliage and path surface. These will going into one of my wee books...one day, nothing creative going on beyond the lens while I'm tired.

Lime snap

These looked snappier on photoshop, I forget that things get paler in blogger. The flowers up top looked especially zingy with the pink and green really intense beside each other. You are all creative minds, you can visualise it. Not sure what the flowers were, they are not mine.

Out in the cold

Hi Liz, a couple of frosty pics from the other week. Still not up to editing newer photo's or doing my 'white' posts but I'm determined to get something done before the year ends. Wish I could get out to take some right now, the sun is doing stunning things to the trees against a lovely sky, it looks subtle and fiery at the same time, delicious.