Warm and Beautiful

It has been warm and beautiful in Bonnie Scotland this past week - well maybe not always warm but definitely beautiful.  The streets are full of cherries in full blossom in full sun and everyone has been remarking upon it.

In my back garden there is no cherry blossom, but I do have Forget-me-nots, Columbine and Spurge.

In late summer 2014 I sowed two kinds of Forget-me-not (Myosotis).  One germinated well and produced lots of plants which were okay.  The other, Myosotis 'Spring Symphony Blue', had very limited germination but gave some stunning plants and these are their self-seeded offspring.

Behind them the Columbine is coming into flower and behind that is the Spurge.

Columbine - Aquilegia ‘Biedermeier Mixed’.  These are a pastel hybrid sown from seed in Spring 2013 - I love the foliage as much as I love the flower.

A Spurge or Milkweed, in this instance it is Euphorbia griffithii 'Fireglow' which came to me as a tiny plant from local nursery Quercus Plants just over three years ago.  It brightens a potentially dark corner under the Sycamore and two Sorbus.

Now this may not seem beautiful to you but it is to me, for here are some of my plants for the future.  There are 18 more hybrid columbines sown from seed - this time they are Aquilegia 'Mrs Scott Elliott' which tends to be very bright almost primary colours in contrast to the pastels of 'Biedermeier' - in time they may all start procreating with each other and who knows what we shall see seeding itself around the garden in years to come.

Then there are 44 foxgloves (mostly white I hope) and all kinds of other things.  If anyone can name them all I might let you have one of the foxgloves as a prize ...maybe...if I can spare one.

Another plant for the future is these five Giant Himalayan Lilies: Cardiocrinum giganteum.  These have been growing for three years from bulbils taken from the garden of two close friends.  They have been cosseted in pots till now
and I have now taken the plunge and planted them where once there was a sprawling prostrate Hypericum.  Enriched with leaf mould and rotted manure I have given them copper tape collars to protect them from slugs.  The job is not finished as they also need a mulch.  I love the leaves of these as they unfurl each year and it may be another two years before they flower but having seen the majestic seedheads again recently at Glendoick I know this is a plant worth waiting for and a plant worth looking after.

Meanwhile back in the new cold frame the overwintered tender geraniums (Pelargonium) are getting ready for the summer they think is coming.

Will it be a warm and beautiful one?

They live in hope.

Meanwhile it is the blues that are taking much of my attention now.  The first blooms of Jacob's Ladder (Polemonium) are opening.  I am very pleased that this plant is seeding itself around - again I love both the foliage and the flower.

The blue spikes below it belong to the Bugle: Ajuga reptans 'Braunhertz' which to my eye is beautiful against the bronze foliage and the bees seem to think so too.

Of course, at this time of year the other blues that dominate are Bluebells - Hyacinthoides.  These too like my garden.

The other side of the Bluebells reveals the gravel bed.  In flower from left to right are three Saxifrages (Saxifraga): 'White Pixie'; 'Peter Pan' and 'Fairy'.












But man cannot live by flowers alone apparently.  So here are some beautiful edibles:

Broad beans growing in containers.

Strawberries and herbs: an interesting combination.  Of course, if the strawberries are all in pots (from last year's runners) then the strawberry bed must be looking rather bare.

Well - no.  The Hollyhocks (Alcea rosea 'Good Golly Miss Holly') seem to want to be growing there, and some poppies and some day lillies and some bergamot and even a few more broad beans.  That seems to be what happens if a bit of ground becomes spare around here.







It's a while until summer yet, but in the meantime I hope the plants in my back garden keep warm and beautiful.  The life in this back garden is all that I have and I am trying to make the most of it.  Today I celebrate the beauty.  Another day I may lament the loss of yesterday.  It's up to me and it's all part of life in my back garden.  Call it what you wish - it is always warm and beautiful to me.