zondag 29 mei 2016

A hello from the May Spring garden

While finishing this post, I see the rain gently falling down outside and I don't mind, not after the beautiful sunshiny day we got yesterday. Sun, a gentle wind, ideal for drying the laundry outside and for taking some pictures in the garden which I both did and this time, instead of letting the pictures sit on the memorycard for too long and forgetting all about them until it was too late to use them in a blogpost, I decided to share them immediately. So here we go.

Some of you who follow me on instagram may already know we had to take the large willow trees in our garden down last winter as they had become too large for our little garden and also dangerous with several larger branches breaking during some of last summer's storms. Those large trees were such a determining feature of our garden, it took some getting used to them gone. Even taking photographs needed some adaptation to the new situation. My nice green and sometimes dark background has disappeared, instead there's the neighbours high hedge now on one side and the old wall and lots of roofs on the other side. But I try to adapt and whatever the situation is I love to take photographs and make the most of it with what there is. Different angles, different settings, love to play with it. My photos may be a bit lighter and brighter due to the new situation, yes, lots more light in the garden now which is great actually, but I hope you love this stroll in our garden nevertheless. It also seems as if the garden itself had to get used to the new situation. While some plants have completely disappeared, others appear just like that out of nowhere it seems. And then of course there is the container garden with also some new additions and changes. There are some perennials I'm trying out in containers like the Campanula beneath that just started flowering.


The white Delphinium is a survivor in container from last year.
It didn't really blooms that much then but obviously
doesn't mind being grown in a container as long as it's taken care of of course.


This is the first stem of the white Delphinium blooming.
Happy with these white flowers, especially since the white blooming Echinacea
I grew in container for some years and of which the flowers have been on the
header of this blog for a very long time now, hasn't come back this year.  


From the bulbs I planted in October the Alliums are the very last to bloom.
The pansies I planted on top of the bulbs have faded by now and I removed the dried up plants yesterday. The foliage from Alliums starts to wilt even before the plants start to bloom so I didn't want that on the photo either. And so here I am, trying to get a nice picture of these huge Allium Schubertii that stand in the middle of the container garden. It isn't all that self-evident but I tried to get them on photo and show them off from their prettiest side because that is what they are really, a true show stopper! I planted three bulbs of which two survived which is just great, three would probably have been even harder to get on photo in a good way. 


Here are the same Allium again but seen through the Delphinium stems
that stand next to them, creating the illusion of a bit of a lush garden I thought,
while in fact it's just some pots standing next to eachother. 
In the background you see the different shades of pink from
the roses in containers that started blooming as well.





Another Allium I love and you can even enjoy long after it's done blooming once it's dried 
is Allium Christophii. I already mentioned it last year in this post.

 

The many star shaped flowers haven't all opened up yet but by the time they do,
they will form a sphere of purple stars around the stem. 
That of course is the case with every Allium, large or small
and amazingly enough one of those smaller Alliums appeared in the garden this year.
Must be from one of the bulbs I planted years ago, never leading to much more
than some foliage then but this year, in the middle of a Hydrangea bush, there it is,
one perfect purple Allium, can you believe it!


Talking about surprises in the garden, these lovely white diasies 
all of a sudden decided to join us as well.


They may not be in the spot I'd like them to be but since the garden is a bit of
a wilderness right now, I'm glad they're there and I'm already wondering whether 
I will be able to collect seeds from them later on and then sow them and plant them
in other places in the garden. It's such a simple flower but I love it!


Even the smaller ones that keep popping up in the grass.
They're such happy little flowers!


More little happy flowers in the border with these Geranium Endressii
that are just starting to bloom, now covering the border in little pink dots.


But these must be the champions of little flowers, adored by everyone,
little blue forget-me-nots. Always love it when these turn up somewhere,
never in the same place, they love to travel around and I don't mind.


And that brings us back to the container garden where
Geum Mrs Bradshaw is really putting on a show this year!
Little red flowers dancing on long stems.


One huge flower made up of again little flowers on long stems. Back to the Alliums.


With this cloud of purple flowers I want to end this stroll through our garden and wish you all 
a wonderful new week to come.

If you're on IG, let me know or pay a visit to my account, happy to meet you there as well.
All pictures I post up there are taken with my smartphone. I love it when you leave a comment, 
here on my blog or on instagram because, honestly, who doesn't love that?! ;)



Marian





21 opmerkingen:

  1. It is lovely to see you back Marian - please do stay, I know that you now do IG which is taking many people away from blogger, but you are missed. Your large pink Alliums are really spectacular.

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    1. I plan on being present in blogland more often again and make more posts again as well. It's very different from IG and on IG I only post photo's I took with my phone, not the same as with my camera but I've been suffering from my back and my hips and it's something I'll have to learn to live with and take into account. Even taking photographs or sitting behind a computer had become too difficult for a long time. I started a post to tell you all about it many times but then always ended up removing it again afterall. Also our daughter has been taking my camera to school a lot for assignments so very often I just can't take photo's even if I'd want to ;) but I will try to pick up blogging again, that's certainly my intention.

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  2. Oh Marian, war heb je een mooie tuin met all die alliums. Schitterend!
    Dank je wel voor je lieve reakties op Instagram!
    Groetjes
    Anita

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    1. Veel alliums zijn het eigenlijk niet maar er zijn verschillende soorten en dat maakt het ook wel leuk. De grote aantallen prachtig paarse alliums in jouw tuin zijn echter magisch. Dat wil ik toch ook eens uitproberen.

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  3. Wat heb je al veel kleur in de tuin, Marian! Hier nog veel groen, de kleuren moeten nog komen. Maar ik heb geduld en al dat groen vind ik ook mooi.

    Ik wens je een hele fijne week en uiteraard volg ik je al op IG! Liefs, Ingrid

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    1. Van ver is het groen hier ook dominant maar dat is idd zo mooi na een lange winter zonder kleur.

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  4. Oh Marian, I thoroughly enjoyed the chatty tour of your beautiful garden. It seems you have certainly made the most of the changing landscape. Several years ago we had to have several large trees removed from our backyard - less privacy, more sunshine - very different. I can sense your delight in each of your plants and flowers and I'm so pleased you shared these photos, also creating a better record for yourself, rather than letting them linger hidden on a memory card or computer.

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    1. It will be good to be spending some more time in blogland again. I'm already looking forward to making more posts again. Glad you enjoyed the tour of our garden. From afar it may not look like much but if you look close enough there is so much beauty to be found.

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  5. Hi, Marian ! I am happy to see your garden again, and of course, your beautiful, luminous photos.

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  6. Prachtig !!!...heel mooi hoor!....liefs fijne week Ria x

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    1. Je reactie maakt me heel blij Ria! Moet dringend weer eens wat meer tijd in blogland spenderen en op je blog gaan zien.

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  7. Your captures are fabulous and I really envy the fact that you have so much green, so much color in the garden now. Here things are usually going too fast and the garden felt exhausted at the end of april...already.

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    1. Hope you get some rain and the garden gets a chance to revive again Olympia! Wish I could send you some rain, we're getting far too much at the moment.

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  8. Op Instagram heb ik je inmiddels ook al gevonden! En nu hier op je blog, ik heb je gelinkt op mijn blog.
    Wat een prachtige bloementuin heb je! Heerlijke verrassingen in de borders!
    Een fijne avond groetjes Mickey

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    1. Net een kijkje op je blog genomen. Heerlijk! Fijn je nu ook in blogland te vinden.

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  9. How lovely to see your garden again, Marian! You have so much blooming – I think it's quite early for the roses, isn't it? Such a shame about your trees. We had to take out several in the last year, too. One very big silk tree fell over right in front of us during a windstorm. Fortunately, it missed the house but took out some roses and my sweet pink dogwood. The upside is that we have more sun on the upper lawn now. :) Hope you have a pleasant and hopefully drier week ahead!

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    1. It's amazing but except for Burgundy Ice, all the roses are blooming, well, after the far too many rain, not looking so great actually, but they really are blooming. Found some roses and a lot of rose leaves on the ground outside this morning. A tree gone is always such a pity and such a shame isn't it, it changes the landscape so much, but sometimes it's necessary and the only possible solution. Hope you're doing great and enjoy your time home, probably surrounded by lots of peonies?

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  10. Prachtige fotos. Kwam bij jouw blog via Mickey . Kom eens vaker om het hoekje kijken in jou blogland. Groetjes Tine
    zie wel dat ik niet met mijn blog url kan reageren maar je vind mijn blog wel via Google zelf. Het heet "de schoonheden van het leven en de andere "De mens en de Natuur", waar ik ook menige woorden plaatst. Laatste deel ik met een vriendin. Wens je mooie dagen.

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  11. Prachtige foto's uit je tuin Marian! Wat staat de planten er mooi bij. De Geum ken ik niet. Wat een prachtige bloem!

    Madelief x

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  12. When we moved here the garden was claustrophobic with the trees almost pressing against the walls of the house in some places. I love trees but the decision to remove some of them was the only way to go for safety's sake. The difference to the light has been quite incredible. I do love your alliums and wish I could grow them. Sadly the mice like them too! I should have another go, maybe in containers.

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