I'm very excited this month (July 2008). The above photo of my Agapanthus 'Blue Peter' may not look very much. In fact, it's not how it looks today (15th July) - you'll need to have a look at the Slideshow below. for that. No, I'm excited because this is the first year I'll have more than one Agapanthus flower. I bought them 5 years ago - we'd just come back from a long trip to Australia where they'd been blooming profusely in everyone's gardens. It's one of my strongest memories of that time, so I decided I'd buy some to plant in a couple of pots I have at the side of the house as a souvenir. Each year since I've had lots of lush foliage, followed by a single gorgeous bloom for the past 2 years. When I took the photos for my submission to Emma's Big Green Leaf Day, I noticed that the foliage was even more lush this year. I didn't dare to hope, but at the beginning of this month I found not one, but 10 Agapanthus flower stems and today, the first full bloom. It's been worth the wait.
Elsewhere in my garden, two of my favourite flowers have come into bloom this month - Dahlias and Fuchsia. I loved Dahlias even when they were out of fashion. My dad was chairman of the Chrysanthemum and Dahlia Society where he worked and some of my happiest childhood times were spent at their annual flower show. Firstly, there were the show tents bursting with colourful firework dinner plate blooms; then there was the display from the works' own fire brigade (in which my dad also featured) and I was their mascot; then there was the waste ground by the railway to explore - great for capturing grasshoppers and crickets with my handkerchief and taking them home in a matchbox my grandad gave me. Dahlias bring back those happy times, so I'm especially pleased to have them in my garden, especially the dark leaved forms like 'Moonfire'. In contrast, I love Fuchsias for the way their flowers remind me of some of the earrings I wear! A couple of Crocosmia have also started to explode out of the border - the usual 'Lucifer', plus an orangey 'Amberglow'. Thus my borders are well into their transition into their late summer clothing - still a thing of beauty, but tinged with a little regret for the shorter days to come.
If there's a large orange arrow in the box when you come to view this slideshow, just click on the x at the top right hand corner to start it again. You can view an image for longer if you want by hovering your mouse over the main picture. Taking it away from the main picture will restart the slideshow again.
Elsewhere in my garden, two of my favourite flowers have come into bloom this month - Dahlias and Fuchsia. I loved Dahlias even when they were out of fashion. My dad was chairman of the Chrysanthemum and Dahlia Society where he worked and some of my happiest childhood times were spent at their annual flower show. Firstly, there were the show tents bursting with colourful firework dinner plate blooms; then there was the display from the works' own fire brigade (in which my dad also featured) and I was their mascot; then there was the waste ground by the railway to explore - great for capturing grasshoppers and crickets with my handkerchief and taking them home in a matchbox my grandad gave me. Dahlias bring back those happy times, so I'm especially pleased to have them in my garden, especially the dark leaved forms like 'Moonfire'. In contrast, I love Fuchsias for the way their flowers remind me of some of the earrings I wear! A couple of Crocosmia have also started to explode out of the border - the usual 'Lucifer', plus an orangey 'Amberglow'. Thus my borders are well into their transition into their late summer clothing - still a thing of beauty, but tinged with a little regret for the shorter days to come.
If there's a large orange arrow in the box when you come to view this slideshow, just click on the x at the top right hand corner to start it again. You can view an image for longer if you want by hovering your mouse over the main picture. Taking it away from the main picture will restart the slideshow again.
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