Thursday 12 September 2013

Less Bob The Builder ... more Eeyore

I started the morning like Bob The Builder, with a perky 'can do' attitude, but quickly declined into an Eeyore -like depressive state.

Rudbeckia, Dahlia 'Fascination' and hosta

I'm not at work today, but yet I wanted a challenge. I had contemplated an easy day of drifting to a garden centre to buy a clematis for a friend, but the rain had stopped, so I decided it was a gardening day.

So ... the challenge I set myself ? To find interesting, planned colour combinations still in flower.

Coleus, juniper, sedum and dahlia


Heuchera and Eucomis Bi-colour



After about five minutes, I had to widen that brief to 'interesting, planned flower and foliage combinations'. After another five it became 'planned and unplanned', then I just found whatever I could !

Helenium and Heuchera

It isn't that the flowers are finished - still lots of them out there ! The trouble is , most of them are propping up something in the last terminal stages of die-back. The main colour combination was - any colour + brown!

Calendula and Heuchera

Perovskia 'Blue Spire' and Rudbeckia


It got easier once I included foliage, but it was only when I reviewed the photos later that I realised how heavily the purple Heucheras feature. Nothing wrong in that... just an unimaginative dependency !
Euphorbia 'Thuggia' ( my terminology!) and yet another Heuchera

Is bedding cheating ? If so, I will be drummed out of the 'Gardener's world subscriber's club' because I have included it. I had to, to make up the numbers !

Petunias and ... erm ... a little lilac one !

The photos I have included are misleading in some cases because they look a little better than they actually are. Everything looks better, more intentional and planned, if you get in close to take the shot. It's why I love Macro.

Lobelia Cardinalis and a phormium in the background

Like most gardeners, I am already shrugging off this season and looking forward to the next. Maybe I should spend the winter planning suitable companions for my late summer/ autumn flowers ...

Euphorbia, sweet pea 'Midnight' and Acer Palmatum Purpurea

14 comments:

  1. Is this a ruse to justify an afternoon of retail therapy? If not, you are being far too harsh on yourself - your garden still has plenty of colour! Bedding isn't cheating - it involves plants and colour, therefore it is plant colour.

    There are some beautiful foliage combinations going on here.

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  2. Thanks Gardening shoe ! All the photos are much better than the real life combinations ! I had to search to find single flowers which I could then drape artistically across their neighbour to make it look like a planned colour combination! Not a bad plan re the ruse though ! I could milk it ...

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  3. Oh what a beautiful garden you have. Lots of radiant colour! You should give yourself a medal though I suppose we all have a little bit of Eeyore inside of us that takes over now and again. Congrats on this site too - scrummy!
    Grace

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  4. Grace, you are too kind! What you don't see are the bits I walked past and didn't photograph!
    Thanks for comments on site, much appreciated !

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  5. Still lots of colour. I always find that in my minds eye things look great, once the picture is uploaded I realise I was only kidding myself :) A purple Heuchera always makes things look better!
    Your last picture is ever so pretty.

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    1. Hi Angie, thanks for your comments. I think the green of the hosepipe really adds to the colour combinations in that last photo !

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  6. You have some beautiful combinations, whether they were planned or unplanned, full of blooms or just foliage. To me, they all count. I laughed at the any color + brown - that's what's being featured in my garden! :) Your last photo is fabulous.

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  7. Too kind, HolleyGarden ! Mostly unplanned I'm sad to say !

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  8. That's why most professional garden photographers like macro. And why we shouldn't trust their presentation of gardens! Xxx

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  9. Ah, found out ... I used to be a professional photographer long ago, in another life !!

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  10. Pretty blooms and lovely colours! Great feast for the eyes for this weekend. Yup that macro of Lobelia Cardinalis is really nice.

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  11. Hi Stephanie, thanks for your comments !

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  12. I too love macro shots. You see less weeds that way :)) At least that's the case in my garden.

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I really welcome comments and have learned much from them, over the years of leaning over the virtual garden gate ...