Thursday 15 January 2015

January flowers

Hooray, it's summer in the garden. I've just finished my Christmas holiday and I'm back to work, which is a little depressing, but I have great memories of long relaxing days at home and in the garden. The grass is brown but the flower beds are full, and there's plenty of choice for the vase. I head out with basket and secateurs and wander around, picking flowers.

Clockwise from top left: lavatera (I'm not sure if this is a weed, though I did grow some annual lavatera a couple of years ago so it's probably self sown from that. Either way it's good filler), white tuberous begonia, soft pink geranium petals, hydrangea, godetia, calibrachoa (doing really well in the hot spot on my deck), lacecap hydrangea, another calibrachoa, the show stopping cactus dahlia, Christmas lilies, penstemon, Peace rose.

Special mention goes to this lacecap hydrangea. It's changed colour every season... when I got it about 4 years ago it was pink, then mauve, and now it's getting more violet. Maybe next year it will be blue. I've loved it in all its incarnations.

I'm linking up to Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day at May Dreams Gardens. Hope you are having fun in your garden this month!

6 comments:

  1. Dear Ruth...
    So lovely and stunning. Hydrangea's color depends on soil pH, and you are so lucky to have it changes year to year.

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    1. Thanks Hari, I must do a soil reading to find out exactly what pH it is!

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  2. Beautiful!
    Happy Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!
    Lea

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  3. I read somewhere that it takes about three years for the color of a Hydrangea to stabilize. They absorb whatever aluminum sulfate the soil has to offer during those three years. You can add more if you want to change the color. Pretty amazing, I thought! Happy belated Bloom Day - your garden looks lovely!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Anna, that's really interesting information! I knew the pH affected the colour but I didn't realise it took three years, that could explain why it's different every year. I probably won't add anything to the soil (yet) because I enjoy the surprise aspect... what will it do this year? :)

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