My Favourite Garden Photo's from 2014 ... Part 2!

Good Morning!

I'm back today with the second part of my favourite photographs taken in my garden during 2014.

I hope you like the rest that I have chosen ... oh and Happy New Year!

JULY

The front border during the summer months, a little tricky to photograph but it was full of colour provided by the Antirrrhinums and Dahlias, not forgetting the lovely rose at the end.

AUGUST

It's always nice to see the local wildlife enjoying the plants as much as I do.

SEPTEMBER

Rather unexpectedly this little Auricula decided to bloom at this time of year! The one thing I want in 2015 is an Auricula Theatre to prevent the rain getting on the leaves. 

OCTOBER

One of the things I enjoy doing is putting together pot displays. This is one of my favourites that I did for the Autumn using a Heuchera, Hebe and some white Viola's.

NOVEMBER

This year Cyclamen have become one of my favourite plants. Here is my little collection kept in the conservatory providing some much needed colour at this time of year!

DECEMBER

To end the year I planted some Narcissus - Paperwhites into pots which are kept in the kitchen and living room. The ones in the kitchen are blooming their socks off and are 29inches tall!

Thanks for popping by,

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX

Late Bloomers ...

Good Morning!

Today's post is a few snaps of what's still looking good in the garden! 

The Rose 'Joie De Vivre' had another flush of rose buds a few days ago and we were treated to this lovely bloom.

My small potted Dahlia is still going strong, unfortunately I don't know it's name as it was just labelled with 'Bedding Mix'.

One of my last remaining Cosmos plants is still going and this particular bloom caught my eye!

My pot of Begonia's is providing a lovely splash of colour by the conservatory door.

Along with the Dianthus 'Crimson Rim' ...

One of my Astrantia's under the shade of next doors tree has been flowering it's heart out too in recent weeks.

The Cherry Rudbekia still has one or two flowers going strong and I love the deep red.

Finally my Osteopermum has had another flush and is providing some eye - catching colour!

Thanks for stopping by,

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX

Around The Garden ...

Good Morning!

Before I get started I better warn you now that there is a LOT of photo's in this post, so you might want to get comfy! Here are a few snaps of how the garden is looking at the moment, albeit it's not at it's best and it's made me think about what will work next year, and what won't. But surely that's all part of the fun of gardening isn't it?

First up is the side border near the conservatory is one of the areas which I'm forever re-jigging lol Tucked in the corner is some staging with my Bonsai's, a wall basket of a Fuschia and in-front of that is a Rhododendron and an Apple Tree. Infront of that is one of my few remaining pots of Summer Bedding, a tub of Dianthus which you can only just see in the centre and then a big pot holding my David Austin Rose. I planted my 'Carex - Buchananni' in the border earlier in the week and grasses really do provide a lot of interest in the garden at this time of year.

TIP - Grasses are great for gardens which catch the wind.

Also planted in the border but is rather hard to see in the photograph is a spare Rudbekia plant that I had. The red's match the brown of the Carex perfectly.

Dianthus 'Crimson Rim' in the centre pot and also the high planters near the door.

This is the pot display near the back door, as you can see it consists of a few Evergreens which provide year round interest along with some remaining Summer Bedding. In the centre is one of my Agapanthus plants but as you can see it's decided not to flower this year. This will be moved into the GH over Winter and fingers crossed will bloom next year!

Tucked on the other side of that display is a small potted Gerbera which as you can see has lovely coloured petals. The only thing I'm not too keen on with them is the foliage.

My potted Alstromeria has been moved from the front of the house to the back and provides height and colour in one of the corners.

My Dahlia border in front of the shed has done well, there is also some deep red Rudbekia's tucked in and I shall be using more of them next year.

Next year I will also be spacing the Dahlia's out more as to be honest I knew I'd planted them a bit tightly. One variety bloomed at the start of the season but as you can see there's only one going for it now lol

If you spin around you will see my other border which is much more established, consisting of another grass and some Phygelius & Penstemons. These provide great colour and height right from the start of Summer to the early frosts.

The majority of my Penstemons are purple but there is one white which has sneaked in and I love it. It was originally labelled as Pink but I'm much more happy with the white!

Towards the back of the garden my winter climbing Clematis 'Winter Beauty' on the shed which has put on some good growth this season so fingers crossed we'l have some nice flowers at the start of next year.

My mini pond area consisting of some more grasses and an Acer in the background.

Then finally there is the Salix - Flamingo which I planted a month or so ago!

Thanks for stopping by,

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX

Summer Stars ...

Good Morning!

Today's post is all about the stars of the garden right now! Of course every plant is a star in it's own right really but these few are the one's that have only just started flowering in the past week or two and catch my eye every time I'm outside.

First up probably isn't that impressive to you at the moment but it's one of my Winter Flowering Clematis's 'Winter Beauty'. At the start of the year it was barely above ground level as it had been ravaged by pesky slugs and snails, however it has now put on lot's of lush fresh growth and will hopefully continue this way!

 Just beneath the Clematis you can also see my next 'star'. This is Zinnia 'Green Envy' and although it might not be to everyone's taste I love it. The petals appear more yellow on the photograph but they infact a pale green. 

This is Rudbekia 'Cherry Brandy' and although I'm not usually drawn to red flowers this is certainly one of my favourites. I only have 2 plants of these in the garden but next year there will most certainly be more!

I know I only just shared this a couple of days ago, but I love it that much I had to do it again. Another of my new favourites that will definitely be frequenting more of the garden next year, Chocolate Cosmos.

Of course I had to share with you how my larger Dahlia's are doing, earlier in the year I shared how I potted the tubers up so it's only right that I share their blooms! 'Cafe Au Lait' and 'Eveline' both make a statement!

Finally I wanted to share with you something from my Parent's Garden, the Alpine trough! I planted this up a few weeks ago and as you can see it is filling out nicely.

Thanks for stopping by,

HAPPY GROWING!

XXX