Flowers

Jul

2016

More garden and greenery

Entrance to the outside place. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

To continue the report from the current state of the garden and greenery, I’ll show you some other plants and spots.

Astilbe and echinacea on the outside. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

In the flowerbed along my patio there are two white astilbes and one pink. I bought their bulbs on a garden fair years ago. They were supposed to be one white, one pink, one dark red… Well. When they came up there was no red one. Instead there were two white ones. They have grown fine over the years, even though there is nothing in spring and I always wonder if they will come up again or not.

White astilbe. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2016

Pink astile. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2016

After the astilbe, on the way to the backside garden, there are echinacea. White and pink. They are still on their way up and not blooming just yet.

Echinacea. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

They are coming fast now. I think they are a couple of weeks earlier this year than last.

hollyhock, alcearosea, stockros, garden, greenery

Hollyhock, alcea rosea. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

One of the hollyhocks on the corner of this flowerbed has just started to open its flowers. The bumble bees love them Yesterday I saw three bumblebees and one bee in one of the flowers at the same time. I save their seeds every year and spread them in the flowerbed. First year they don’t bloom, next year they do. Then they die.

Hollyhock, alcea rosea. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

I presently have two different hollyhocks. One is pinkish-yellow, the other one a strong cerise.

Hollyhock and nasturtium. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2016

Along the noise-preventing fence, I’ve put lots of seeds from last years nasturtium in to the earth, where it accompanies one large hollyhock. I love the effect against the red fence.

Digitalis for next year. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

Last year I had a very tall digitalis in the flowerbed outside the patio. I spread its seeds along the fence and in the flowerbed. I had forgotten that I did so and was very surprised when the above leaves started to appear here and there. With the help of a garden group on Facebook found out it was digitalis. So next year the flowers will appear. It was white and 1.80 meters high.

Part of the front garden. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

When you continue you come to the front garden. There are flowerbeds and there are bushes and it is a bit wild. I am not a big fan of very strict and orderly designed gardens. I prefer a bit of ad hoc plantations and love it to look natural.

Daylily 2016-07-19 Photo. ©nini.tjader.2016

Buds on daylily. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2016

I’ve got a few daylilies there, but only one flower on one of the plants. The daylily plants are bigger than ever this year, now that no tree is shading them any longer. I would have liked some more flowers though.

Poppies and aquilegia. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

Two other wild flowers that keep on spreading are the small red (and orange) poppies and the aquilegia vulgaris. The latter is whitish-pinkish when it blooms. I thought it had wandered on into the black currant bushes (we have two here) and left that spot and the flowerbed behind it, but it appears I was wrong. The plants just came up there again and probably blooms only next year. The ones among the black currant bushes bloomed quite early in the summer.

Red yarrow Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

In this area I also have a red yarrow. I probably put its eeds there a couple of years ago. I know I tried to grow them then and didn’t really succeed. Or that’s what I thought. They started to appear a couple of years later, just about everywhere, to my surprise. But this is the only red one at the moment.

Giant verbena Photo. ©nini.tjader.2016

Just outside the entrance to the patio I have a large, black container with giant verbena and a small white verbena at its feet. The container has holes in the bottom so water can pass through. I bought the giant verbena on the internet on a sale. The plants where almost white and very crocked when they arrive in the mail. They’ve had problems with mold on the leaves for a while, but I think they’re fine now Now they are dark green as they should and have grown a lot. The flowers just appeared, which the bumblebees and the butterflies love.

Part of the wild garden. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

Above you see part of one of the black currant bushes, poppies, aquilegia and the bird-bath. There are also some wild flowers in front of them all.

Black currants with daisies. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

Instead of the bluebells – which are finished for the season – there are now daisies in the black currant bushes. They are soon finished too. I remove both the bluewbells and the daisies every year when they have finished blooming, but they come back the next year, every year…

Part of the garden Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

The above is part of the garden. To the left are the raspberry-bushes. Agreed, they are not good-looking, but we got a lot of raspberries this year. In the middle the really wild flowerbed with a the new bush behind it plus the food-station for the birds.

The grass is really not green this year. It is more yellow than green. It has been too dry and warm this summer for it to become green. Which also means less moving. The small “lawn” we created in the autumn 2010 by digging up lots of thorny rose-bushes – the kind that spread by their roots, beach roses – from this area and then put grass seeds into the earth. In the spring 2011 the “lawn” started to come up. No point in watering it. It will come back if it starts raining. We give water to the flowerbeds and the bushes though.

Bushes. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

Just outside my kitchen windows, we have three bushes. Two of them, the one to the left and the spirea in the middle, I got for free by moving them to this location. They have settled well and are getting big now. The one to the left have large, white flower plumes. It wilts down to nothing during winter and the spot there is empty then. It start over in the spring and it is always a surprise how large it will get the next year.

The bush in the middle is a regular spirea that came from one of the flowerbeds around the corner of the house, where the housing-community exchanged the spireas for other bushes. The bush to the right is a pink, hanging lilac, which we bought the other year to exchange another bush that was removed when the walls of the house were painted. It hasn’t bloomed yet though… Next year?

Below another glimpse of the garden as it looks just now. It isn’t large, but there is a lot in it… Will show you the rest another time.

The garden Photo:©nini.tjader.2016

Jul

2016

Garden and greenery at its peak

Entrance to flat from the garden. Photo:©nini.tjader.2016

The summer in the garden is green and inviting. It cannot get any greener than it is just now outside. The greenery is at its peak. There are still flowers that will bloom that hasn’t done so yet. But they are coming along just fine.

Weatherchange Photo. ©nini.tjader.2016

The weather has been good this summer. Mainly dry, sunny and warm. But of course there has been days with some rain and thunder too. Not many though. Feels like I’ve never before had to water the garden as much as this year. It is so dry.

The small flower bed. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

The astrantia major (the pink flowers in the picture) are taller and more plenty than ever. The hortensia is green and coming but I doubt it will get any flowers this year. The chives unfortunately looks poorly this year. The oldest one has nearly died. The giant verbena in the black tub will get tall too after some problems with it in the beginning.

astratniamajor, garden, flowers, greenery

The astrantia major. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2016

The astrantia major is much loved by both bumblebees and bees. They create a constant buzz there.

One of the hollyhocks in the garden. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2016

I have two hollyhocks. The one above is in the regular flowerbed around my patio. It is pink and yellow. This year it is also tall and healthy. No holes in the leaves so far. No bugs have eaten on it. Yet.

The one below is dark pink. It grows near to the anti-noise-fence, just as last year. I make sure every year to spread the seeds from them as they only live for two years. I love hollyhocks.

Hollyhock. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

The backgarden. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

Above the view from the backgarden, behind the patio. At the most narrow point I’ve put a rose-bow for the two old honey-suckle plants that I cut down to almost nothing last autumn as they were sick. They’ve grown a lot this year and only just now started to flower. They’ve had lots of lice on them though, black lice. But after some thorough showering with water they now look more or less OK. I think the lice-season is over for this time.

Bluberrry-bushes in the garden. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2016

The american blueberry-bushes that I moved last year to the back-garden are coming along fine and they have now plenty of blue-berries that just started to turn blue. Can soon be picked. Still not too many berries, but at least more than previous years. They never liked the previous location.

First blue blueberries in the garden. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2016

Lousy picture of the blueberries… but you get the idea…

The veggiebox in the garden april 2016. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2016

A funny comparison. The veggiebox in the back-garden above in april this year. And just now in July below.

The veggiebox in the garden in July. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2016

It has grown there… Lots of parsley and french tarragon and lemonbalm (though something has eaten a lot of its leafs). The chives here is fine and so is the sorrel in the frontmost corner. The sorrel and teh lemonbalm survived from last year. I had two oreganoplants between the parsley and the sorrel, but I had to move the oregano to a large pot of its own as it became too crowded in the box and I really want to get as much oregano as possible to last me until next year. I cut and dry it when large enough to be bundled.

Thyme and mint. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

The two kinds of thyme (regular and lemonthyme) and the mint are coming along fine in the back garden as well. The mint I also cut and dry to have in tea until next year. When it is fresh I use it in salads and drinks. The thyme I dry as well and use both dried and fresh in salads and other food.

Another fun comparison is the flowerbed along the outside of the patio. Below from 2011…

flowerbed, hostas, echinacea, garden, greenery

Hostas and echinacea in the garden 2011-07-18. Photo: ©

Notice the two hosta plants and the echinaceas. Notice size and spread.

Hostas and echinacea in the garden July 2016. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2016

The above is the same flowerbed in July 2016. Particularly the green hosta has grown a lot this year (now blooming). And the echinacea behind them have spread quite a lot. They were good last year but I think they will be even better this year.

Hostas in bloom. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

This part of the flowerbed along and behind the patio comes late as it is less sun there. In the spring it is almost empty with only krokucuses. Then the rest come, slowly. Every year it looks like the hostas are cone for ever. Choice of plants has been difficult for it but I now have mix that works well there. Between the two hostas there is actually a japanese anemone. They are almosts hidden by the hostas this year.

Echinacea. Photo:©nini.tjader.2016

I have two kinds of echinacea. One pink, one white. Neither is blooming just yet, but they are on their way. They get very tall and last long into the autumn.

Bumblebee Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

In the backgarden, after my area ends, still grow these roses that spread like a pest via their roots. Plan it to dig them all up and use the area for something else. Our rhubarbs will move to their space. The flowers have a strong fragrance and the bumblebees love them, but… (click on this link to see a short movie with the working bumblebee).

A ladybug in the echinacea. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2016

Even though the echinacea flowers are not ready yet, the bugs are there… like this ladybug.

Bug in the echinacea. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

I’ll stop here. This was only the backgarden and part of the flowerbed along the patio. I’ll show you more of the garden another day.

Way to the backgarden. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

In the foreground, two white astilbes, one pink astilbe and the pink-yellow hollyhock. In the background the back-garden and the rose-bow.

The rosebow with the climbing honeysuckle. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

May

2016

Flowering trees and bushes

Flowers on a small appletree. photo. ©nini.tjader.2016

This time of the year is wonderful when it comes to all the flowering trees and bushes we can experience. It last for a too short while though. The apple trees of various kinds… lovely flowers.

Another blooming appletree. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2016

And then there are the lilacs of all colors that just started to open their flowers in my area. And their scent… wonderful. A promise of a coming summer.

Lilacs, blooms not yet fully open. Photo:©nini.tjader.2016

White lilacs. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

Pink lilacs. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

Our new bush in the garden reached its flowering peak recently.

Our new bush with flowers. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2016

The flowering was nice, but it is over now. Insects of all kinds took advantage of the flowering.

Bush flower with insect. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2016

Earlier on all the fruit-trees in the villa gardens in the area were in flower.

Quite overwhelming. All gone now. The trees really have a very short period to flower, before the leaves come. And, later in the season, eventual fruit.

I love this season. It is too short though.

Jan

2016