Sunday 15 December 2013

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day




It's getting harder and harder to find anything which is blooming in the garden, at the moment. The garden doesn't look as bare as it usually does by December, and I attribute this to the many roses I planted  this growing season. Most of them still have lots of glossy leaves, and they really fill out the winter garden. Admittedly, there is little colour, but there is, at least, some structure left.


The fantastic little bedding rose, 'Garden Party', still seems to think that it is summer, and keeps blooming. Ssshhh! Don't let the truth be told !


A couple of stray Campanula flowers are battling against the cold, the rest have long since gone !



A reiliable stalwart throughout the coldest weather is Winter Jasmine. It is just next to the back door, so that it brightens up our day every time we pass it.


Erysimum 'Bowles's Mauve' is a little bright spot of colour amidst the brown.
The brightest stars in the garden are, without doubt, the violas and the pansies, in pots and troughs around the doors.


This is the delicious Viola Primrose Picotee. Below is a viola, sadly anonymous,


The flower looks like a summer flowering perennial, as it lush and large flowered. I am racking my brains to remember what it is called, so all help welcome ! This is the first year I have grown it and it is a real pleasure. The flowers are delicate yet very robust, coping well with rain and wind.


This post is linked to 'May Dreams Gardens' 'Bloggers Bloom Day', which takes place on the 15th day of every month. If you pop across there you will find lots of fantastic garden blogs to explore. The link is below.











15 comments:

  1. Color in a December garden... nice to see while my garden is snow covered.

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    1. Hi Carol- only teeny tiny glimpses of colour I'm afraid, the rest is awash with brown!

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  2. Good to find color in December!
    That last photo looks like the flower spike of a Hosta, but I am probably wrong, as I would be much surprised to see one blooming at this time of year.
    Happy Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!
    Lea

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    1. Hi Lea, thanks for your comments.I see where you're coming from with the hosta but deffo not, they are all vanished without a trace. I recall that it begins with 's' and that is as far as my addled little brain can take me !

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  3. It looks like you found some quite lovely little splashes of colour. Loved the cheery colour of the Winter Jasmine, and that Erysimum is simply gorgeous.

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    1. Hi Bernie - have you had any rain yet or are you still coping with blue skies and fluffy white clouds ? :-)
      The little dots of colour still to be found around my winter garden do brighten up my day!

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  4. Hi Jayne
    Your mystery flower looks like a Schizostylis to me. It has just been renamed as Hesperantha or something like that I think. I have a coral pink one that is still flowering in my garden, your pale one looks lovely.

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  5. Thankyou Emily, that is the name I have been groping for !I knew it was 's' followed by a heap of consonants, and I have been googling all different combinations! You have put me out of my misery!

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  6. That border still looks great, with the varied textures and foliage colours. The Erysimum is a super plant isn't it. it just goes on forever!

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  7. Hi Rusty Duck, Erysimum never sleeps !! It would win a Long Service medal anytime !!

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  8. Wow, you still have a lot of blooms! I put my Pansies in the mudroom, so they're still alive, but just barely. But we've been in the single digits for highs several stretches already this winter. Ugh. Happy belated bloom day!

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  9. Hi Plantpostings , poor old pansies, at least they will survive in the mudroom ! My remaining blooms are few and far between, sadly.

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  10. The pots on our main street were replanted with pansies about six weeks ago. I'm very proud of our public gardeners, such a caring thing to do.

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  11. Hi Susan, bet it looks lovely ! Planting like that has such an uplifting effect on everyone.

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  12. Pansies and violas are hard to beat for colour at this time of year, I have loads self-seeded around the garden, they always make me smile. Maybe next year, if I am out of my "no pots there isn't any room" mode I will have pots and troughs too. As for roses, I have never really grown them, I have to admit, though I have inherited several here so I suppose I will be coming to grips with them. Now that I've found your blog (thanks for visiting!) I shall have to check back and see how yours are doing, since I don't really have a clue how to use them in the garden without it looking like one of those awful municipal rose gardens that is bare for so much of the year!

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