The patch above contains Japanese anemones (bottom left), which are delicate, graceful plants which produce fine, pale flowers on long stems towards the end of summer. Also pictured are the burgeoning leaves of foxgloves, hollyhocks, tuberous thistles, and, lower right, the monstrous growth that will be a spectacular verbascum. Just below this patch is the edge of a section of 'decking', put there by previous owners of the house. I wouldn't have put decking in myself, but I like to work around previous endeavours:
The plant is aquilegia, another delicate flower-bearer, and, something I approve of, a good self-seeder. The name refers to the spur that will appear below the flower head once they are fully formed, and has the Latin root that is the same as 'eagle'. Needless to say, this plant was a Roman import into Britannia, in the centuries before the creation of England.
I now await Mercurius' informed comments....
Very nice looking herbaceous area, crammed full of goodness, and I like the use of Sweet Woodruff along the front to fill in gaps. My own garden is a sodden wasteland, the old story of the plumber with the leaky pipes springs to mind. What is the climber twining up the trellis to the left in picture 2? It is rather jolly to find another fellow soldier enthusiast who like plants as well.
ReplyDeleteAha! I knew you would be able to add to the store of knowledge here at the Hobbit hole. I didn't know that the lovely little white-flowered ground cover was called 'Sweet Woodruff'. What a lovely name, for a plant that I really value - I'm not a bare earth fan! The climber is Virginia creeper, which contests the framework over the decking with a vine. Needless to say, I have to weigh in on the side of the Virginia creeper to help it fight its battle with the vine, but, together, they provide great shade from the sun (the what?) in the summer, and a marvellous display in the autumn. Toy soldiers and plants - heartsease.
DeleteA garden to enjoy indeed.I trust you will get the weather and time to enjoy it this weekend. What you need is an Alexanders plant- much underated and looks stunning...
ReplyDeleteNow, I'm not familiar with the name, but I might be with the plant - research is needed! I hear that Scotia has been having good weather recently - I wish you more of it.
DeleteAlexanders (Smyrnium olusatrum) is a member of the Carrot family, and has great umbelliferous heads like cow parsley. It looks really good in an herbaceous border and adds to that hedgerow feel that I rather like. Achillea is another good flat headed plant that smells like summer fields and cowpats...quite evocative. Perhaps we are all hobbits with our love of gardening. Bit misty and cold here today but at least it's not raining yet so we may get a few customers in which we need as it has been moribund all week.
ReplyDeleteNow they sound like my type of plant. I will investigate further. Because I have a small, narrow garden I try to grow upwards, if that makes sense, with climbing roses, jasmine, the vine and the Virginia creeper, a Rowan tree, four apples, a crab apple, a hazel, along with a very old laburnum that was here when we arrived, and a tangled lilac bush that I have trained into a tree - its heavy mid-purple flowers are just coming out. So big carrots will fit - somewhere!
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