Tuesday 1 May 2012

Lots of flowers and new growth happening in our first of May garden



Paeonia Tree Ludlowii - this tree has produced so many babies that I must have given at least 30 away, all of which are now flowering in friends gardens.
Piptanthus nepalensis - evergreen Laburnum from the   Himalayas with black stems. This shrub is difficult to find for sale.

Cercis siliquastrum - Judas tree - I found it very hard to locate one of these trees, and when I did it cost an arm and a leg. The male deer came into the garden and rubbed his antlers up and down the trunk. We thought it was lost, but luckily as you see it came back again.
Apple blossom
Double ornamental cherry tree
Weeping ornamental cherry tree
Pear blossom
Pieris Japonica - Florest Flame
Aubrieta deltoidea - Dr. Mules Variegated
Dracunulus Vulgaris - Dragon Arum
You either love this plant or hate it. If you have never seen it before then I shall delight in showing you it's flowers later in the season. It has large palmate leaves, and the metre tall stem is strikingly mottled. The burgundy coloured flowers are 40cms long and have a deep purple almost black very long spadix. 
lots of lovely new growth on our buxus balls
New variegated leaves on the pond irises, with one of our fishes just swimming out of the picture on the left.

50 comments:

  1. Hello Rosemary:
    What a delight your garden must be to you at present with so much new growth and flower.

    We were never successful with Piptanthus, possibly we did not provide sufficient shelter. Cercis siliquastrum is absolutely lovely - in addition we grew a white form C.s.f.albida which we should wholly recommend.

    You make no mention, wisely(!!), of the smell attached to the spathes of Dracunculus.

    Has it stopped raining?!!

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    1. Hello Jane and Lance - The white form of Cercis must be lovely, and I must admit that I have not seen it. I always admire the very dark pink Cercis that I see in Italy, but just grabbed this one quickly, being the only one I could find.
      Now Jane and Lance, you may have given the game away! I was saving the delights of the smell to accompany photos of the flower.
      Yes, it has stopped raining and the forecast now sounds much more encouraging.

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  2. This is all in your garden? You are so fortunate, Rosemary! I know it means also lots of work but the reward is magic! Congratulations and thanks for showing! Christa

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    1. Dear Christa - we have spent 16 years developing the garden, that is really when the hard work was involved. Planting in our ground is very difficult because we have oolite just a few inches under the soil. Oolite, as I am sure you know was once the seabed, and is what the stone houses around here are made of. It is not so much work now, and we do have help keeping the hedges and bushes trimmed, the lawn treated and cut. Sadly we have just lost a lovely lady who did the weeding, but H and I are coping.
      Thanks for your very kind comments.

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  3. Beautiful Rosemary. I am convinced you are an expert U.K. gardener like so many great women there before you.

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    1. Dear Olive - that is very kind of you, but sadly we are no experts - just lovers of beautiful flowers and a nicely structured garden. We have planted many flowers in our time that have failed, but we now know what will thrive and what will not.
      I am awaiting your next instalment.

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  4. Hello Rosemary [again]:
    Many, many apologies! WE could remove the comment or hope that no-one will read it!!

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    1. Dear Jane and Lance - not at all, absolutely no problem. If nobody knows it they will not realise the heavenly delights that it emits!

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    2. Very good shots, I just published some flower pictures on my blog too.

      Greetings,
      Filip

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    3. Dear Filip - glad you like the shots, I have seen your flower pictures and commented, they are stunning,

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  5. Dear Rosemary, What fantastic wealth you have in your garden! So many beautiful, rare and unsual flowers and trees and shrubs. How generous of you to share your beautiful plants. You are a very hard and diligent worker. Looking forward to seeing more of your garden as the seasons change. ox, Gina

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    1. Dear Gina - our garden has reached that stage when it is very full of plants, and we do not have to keep visiting garden centres to chose more. I do like to find unusual plants, and have wasted a lot of money buying specialist plants that have not liked our garden as much as we would have hoped. It is all a case of trial and error. Now we are pretty confident on what will be happy in our garden.
      Thank you for your very generous comments from one flower lover to another♥

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  6. Rosemary, you have really beautiful flowering garden. Thank you for share all the beautiful blossom and flowers. Thank you for following my blog. I come back soon to watch your blog extensive. Greetings, Dietmut

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    1. Dear Dietmut - I am pleased that you like the flowers. This is a lovely time of year in the garden but sadly all of the blossom trees will soon be past their best.

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  7. Rosemary I am supprised my comment on your last blog is there. It's taken me 20 minutes to read the wright word verivycation. I think my eyes are not so well anymore, haha. Never mind I love to see the colours in you garden. Never saw a yellow peonia before. To me it's the most wonderful time of the year.
    have a lovely evening
    marijke

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    1. Dear Marijke - the word verifications are awful, sometimes I can read them and sometimes I have to take several attempts at them. I do not know why blogger could not put your comment on the last post, but I hope you were happy that I was able to copy and paste it from the email.
      The yellow Paeonia is actually a small tree rather than a shrub. I have several Paeonia trees and one of them is a beautiful lemon colour. I will show them when they flower, they are in bud at the moment. I agree this time of year is beautiful, everything is so fresh and green.♥

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  8. Great shots, I do love peonies.

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    1. Thank you very much for your visit. I too am very fond of Paeonias. We have four trees and one shrub in the garden in a variety of colours from deep red to palest lemon. Do come again.

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  9. Hi Rosemary,

    You have so much colour in your garden. Love the yellow tree 'Piptanthus nepalensis'. It's new to me. I have my garden for the fourth year now and still see and find new plants and trees :-). The Piptanthus nepalensis is one I will remember for when I have a gap.

    Happy evening!

    Madelief

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    1. Hello Madelief - It is a lovely shrub and the good thing is that the leaves remain green all year. The stalks too being almost black are very attractive. However, it is a plant that is difficult to find. You would probably have luck finding it if you looked on a specialised website. Thanks for your kind comments and visit.

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  10. Wowee, you have many plants, they blend with each other. Gorgeous photos.

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    1. Thanks Bob - the good thing with flowers is that they do seem to harmonise with each other, even if your put colours that normally should not go together.

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  11. Dear Rosemary - Your garden is stunning, judging from these details. And it seems every time you post about your garden, you reveal more and different plants, and something blooming in every season! I'm guessing that you spend much time attending to your garden.

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    1. Dear Mark - we perhaps do not spend as much time as we should, but now it is mature it does look after itself to a certain extent. We do have help with various tasks. Our lawn has been spoiling the garden with so much moss in it, but now we have had a contractor here working on it. He has promised me it will look like Wimbledon tennis courts at the start of the matches, so we shall have to wait and see. He has taken about 30 bin bags full of moss from the lawn, and it is looking much better already.
      We do seem to have ongoing colour during the whole season which I think is the secret.

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  12. Wonderful - these blossoms and flowers!!!

    ♥ Franka

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    1. Dear Franka - thanks for your visit and kind comment.

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  13. Hello Rosemary! Your garden is great and I love all the plants and shrubs! I have to admit: the blossom is just wonderful: so pink, delicate and almost translucent in its simple, but elrgant evening gown! Gorgeous!

    Nature is waking up. I keep walking round my garden, looking for "signs" and they are there: Clematis Montana just waiting to "burst" tiny little strawberries on my plants and buds everywhere! My frogs seem very happy, too!

    I hope to see more of your garden very soon!

    BUONA NOTTE!

    ANNA
    xx

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    1. Dear Anna - sadly the blossom on the trees will soon be nearing its final stages, but then we have the fruit to look forward to. H likes to make lots of jam, chutney and bottled fruit which keeps us going all year.
      Yes, the Clematis will be next, mine has lots of buds too.
      Hope some really hot sunny weather comes your way for you soon.
      Take care.
      Ciao♥

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  14. Hello Rosemary,
    Very beautiful flowers! Amazing pictures!
    A hug

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    1. Hello Antonio - So pleased that you like the flower pictures. Everything is looking good in the garden at the moment, just need a bit more sunshine.
      Thanks for your visit.

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  15. Dear Roscmary,
    The garden is full of color and beauty. I think I smell all the flowers of your trees.!
    It's like paradise. Beautiful photos as always.
    Have a good month
    Olympia

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    1. Dear Olympia - what a very lovely comment, thank you very much. You have made my day. It is lovely to be in May, one of my favourite months. Take care♥

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  16. Wow, yellow Peaonia ! And pale lemon Paeonia ? Wonderful, rare colours for such a beautiful plant. Your garden it's a delight ...
    Thank you, for sharing !

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    1. Dear Dani - thank you very much - the lemon Paeonia is a show stopper, it has the most beautiful centre which is a burgundy red colour. Hope to show you a photo soon.

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  17. Beautiful garden, you quite put mine to shame! Thank you for your comments on my blog :-)

    The flying ducks are reproduction, I got them on Ebay. I couldn't afford real ones.

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    1. I do understand that the original ones are now very collectible and expensive. Pleased that you like the garden, and do visit again.

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  18. So much beautiful color and texture! You have made me happy for the entire day! Thank you.

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    1. Dear Lisa - I am so pleased that you enjoyed the colour and texture, and that it has made you happy, your comment has made my day too - thank you.

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  19. Dear Rosemary,
    Your garden is just stunning. Full of beauty.
    You already know, that i am hopless naming flowers or trees.. I always take something away from your posts.
    You say that the fish is appearing on the left of the pond. May i ask, what is the scaley leg on the right. Is it a mermaid in the pond.
    You must work very very hard. congratulations on such an elegant garden.
    Happy Wed
    val

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    1. Dear Val - So pleased that you enjoyed seeing the garden.
      Yes, this made me have a chuckle, the scaly leg on the right is a mermaid. She is bronze and used to have water flowing through her and out of a shell she holds on her shoulder. Unfortunately the pipework failed so now she just sits there and looks fetching.
      We do not work as hard as we should Val, and now we have just lost our lady gardener who did all of the weeding. Hopefully I may be able to find someone else.
      Take care♥

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  20. Hello Rosemary, your photographs are, as always, stunning. As well as being in awe of your garden, I am so impressed by your ability to name everything. I seem to forget names of flowers almost seconds after having been told them, except the most common sort of names. I hope to learn a great deal from your posts, and even if I dont, they are glorious. Thanks. J.

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    1. Hello Janice - I am so familiar with the plants that I just seem to remember their names, rather like little friends.
      Thank you for your very generous comments and so pleased that you liked the photographs. Hope that your rain has passed by now, the weather seems to be on the mend here♥

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  21. Dear Rosemary,
    Gorgeous shots from your beautiful garden.
    I've never seen or heard of Dracunulus Vulgaris - Dragon Arum before. Love to see the flowers.
    Mette

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    1. Dear Mette - that is a treat in store for you. The flowers are absolutely amazing, and as I said you will love it or hate it. It should flower around the middle of June.

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  22. All beautiful, Rosemary, and packed with Spring exuberance: aubretia is my personal favourite...

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    1. Thanks Kate - it is a lovely time of year, just need the weather to improve and everything would be perfect. That particular aubretia is rather nice because of its variegated leaf.

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  23. I look forward very much to seeing Dracunulus Vulgaris. I have not seen our Dragon Arum this year so all hopes are on your Dragon putting on a good show.
    Paul

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    1. Dear Paul - I wonder what has happened to it. Sometimes they do disappear but come back the following year. I have two clumps of them as they keep multiplying, so there should be something to show in mid-June.

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