Summer already?

 It's a miserable wet day today but summer flowers are starting to open.

This stunning oriental poppy

and a humbler calendula.

Could summer really be here already?

September in the garden - flowers

montbretia

It's starting to feel like Autumn now - the flowers that are left seem to be mainly lilac/purple or orange with michaelmas daisies just starting to flower but everywhere dominated by the orange montbretia which has spread again this year.

michaelmas daisies

calendula

the Is-it-a-buddleia bush

rudbeckia

 The unknown bush or shrub continues to grow and flower. I need to look closely at something that I know to be buddleia for comparison.

heather

nasturtiums

polyanthus

sunflowers

straggly sweetpeas

Late Summer flowers

Into late summer now and the garden is turning orange!


Orange montbretia....
















orange rudbeckias....














more montbretia...























sunflowers...

calendulas..

with blue platycodons















and pink hollyhocks for contrast.

Flowers in November

 I've cheated a little this month as, instead of taking photos on the first as I try to do, I took them on the 2nd - a far nicer, sun-filled day.


There still seem to be plenty of flowers around - mainly nasturtiums which are intent on over-running the garden.

calendula

more nasturtiums

 It's only to be expected but the lawn is disappearing under a blanket of leaves

 michaelmas daisies still flowering, though a little ragged now

welsh poppy

hardy geranium

most things are remnants of summer, flowering late-
light and dark fuchsia bushes

feverfew

 

 

but the winter jasmine is flowering early. I hope there'll be some more for Spring.

We now have a series of cold nights forecast so I wonder how many of these flowers will still be there next weekend.

October flowers

 For now we still have quite a few flowers brightening up the garden

 mainly dominated by huge drifts of Michaelmas daisies

 but also some roses hanging on

 and calendulas

 feverfew

 

 sweet peas

 and nasturtiums running wildly everywhere

February flowers

The weather's turned very cold in the last few days - even some light snowy drizzle for a few minutes yesterday. Down at the allotment the broad beans are looking cold and droopy, and one of the cauliflowers has caught the frost. We've put fleece over the caulis and small cabbages, and both fleece AND plastic cloche over the beans. Hoping everything will survive threatened temperatures of -4.

Meanwhile, at home in the garden, it looks more like Spring.


quite a few snowdrops are showing colour

bergenia is trying to flower

and some wallflowers...

there's even daffodils in bud - hoping they'll be ok with the cold snap

and the calendulas are still flowering - though now in the comparatively warmer atmosphere of the greenhouse.

Frosty Flowers

Last week there were calendulas just beginning to flower - totally the wrong time of year of course and I thought it best, with frost forecast, to move their pot to the greenhouse.

Even in there, they've been caught by the sudden drop in temperature. Hopefully they'll survive another day or so till the weather warms again.

The snowdrops have to stay outside - but will be ok.

New Year Flowers

It's been a very mild winter so far - especially compared to last year - and a surprising number of plants were in flower at New Year - jasmine and rosemary might be expected but there were (rather tattered) roses, feverfew, buds on calendulas still hanging on from last year and forsythia, bergenia and snowdrop buds turning up early - even daffodil shoots up and strawberries!