Hello Dhaaarlings...
Yesterday i promised to bring you more pics of the new Iris bed...
And I will...
But first... For those of you freezing your pink bits off... in a sub arctic winter.... a heart warming burst of colour...
This is my Climbing Rose "Leonardo DaVinci"... this is it's second blooming for the season... the inital blooms came out in clusters of 8 to 10 flowers in great cascades of colour... of course "The Empress" got to most of them with her seceteurs "They'll look lovely in a vase on the mantlepiece"
Which... in hind sight... was probably a good move as the weather became extremely hot and burnt most of the remaining clusters of the following days
The flower heads are not as abundant but they still provide some lovely colour...
Now! To the Iris bed...
Fortunately the soil remained damp and retained the copious amounts of water I'd spent the previous afternoon literally digging in..
They are now planted in... ahem... sort of rows... as i didn't want them looking too regimented and clashing with the randomness of the other garden beds and areas...
I'll let them settle in and hopefully put down some new roots over the next day or so... before feeding them with a water soluable fertilizer...
They have grown in all sorts of odd directions whilst patiently sitting in a bucket of water in the fernery over the past couple of weeks... while awaiting replanting.... I guess they had been searching for some better light...
The only thing left to do for them now is to purchase some sugarcane much to asist in retaining the moisture in the soil...
You can see in this picture the amount of leaf litter an bark that the gum tree in the background drops... Yes that is the base of its trunk... which is as wide as the delapodated old park bench in front of it...
(I sometimes do my best thinking there)
The leaf litter is roughly piled up around the bench seat at present but will be put to better use as natural mulch around some native grevilleas I've recently planted on the other side of the tree.
I'm in the process of attempting to reduce the amount of "Lawn" in the yard... I say "lawn" as so much of it is weeds that only grow and look green in the winter after rain... and dry out to create a dustbowl in summer...
Some time back I had a vision of creating a "Native Garden Walk"
To reduce the amount of water needed on the garden and cut down on mowing and constant weeding and water costs.
So the vision has started on it's journey to becoming a reality
I'll do a post when it is starting to look presentable...
In the meantime here are some more blooms from about the garden...
Enjoy!
Lambs Ears with it's silvery grey foliage...
A close up of it's little mauve flowers...
Which the bees seem to love...
A close up of it's furry velvety leaves...
One of the brighter Geraniums growing in the garden in all it's crimson glory
along with the Hot Red of the variegated Geranium...
the new White geranium has quite large blooms...
Please ignor the Milk Thistle in the background between the two flower heads... It was unceremoniously ripped out by the roots soon after this shot was taken....
the bees also seem to love the cosmos flowers... in recent years with the weather being so dry... the bees have been rather conspicuous in their absence...
But this year they seem to be returning...
This bee was so busy on the cosmos flower that... in her ignorance...
I was able to get an even closer-up... close-up!
This is a ground covering or creeping daisy we call a "Black Eyed Susan"
I don't know the origin of the name but I remember it growing in my grandmothers garden...
This one is a self sewn rescue as I found it had sprung to life at the base of another old gumtree stump in the yard... It's seed may have blown in on the wind... or it may have been washed in during the last flood event we had.... I really don't know... "It's mystery"
The canna lillies have had enough water this year to enable them to flower profusely... I love how they give some height to the garden...
I have one at the moment that has grown to a hight of over 12 feet...
Well... with their tall thick and rigidly firm stalk... Large lush leafy... almost tropical foliage... topped with brilliant head of red-orange flowers what more could one ask for?
Apart from perhaps a little pink rosebud...
I do hope you are all feeling suitably warmed Darlings...
Bottoms Up!
Thank you! It's hard to imagine heat and dryness right now!
ReplyDeleteSx
The flowers are lovely Princess. You give me inspiration for the coming Spring. There will be lamb's ear planted this year.
ReplyDeleteThat's right rub it in!!!!! Love all the glory and color right now!!! Beautiful Prinny. I love Iris, my favorite flower. This warms my heart, or is that the banana cozy you knitted for us?
ReplyDeleteThey're bloomin' loverly, Prinny.
ReplyDeleteIncluding your "little pink rosebud."
Stunning! Absolutely stunning! Such breathtaking close up fotos of your gorgeous flowers! I'm talking postcard, calendar, magazine quality! Fine art!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing. I particularly enjoyed the vivid colors of all the plants that it almost seemed as if I was there and could almost hear that bee buzzing on that spectacular cosmos. That lamb's ear is amazing and looks like velvet moonlight; the fantastic variety of geraniums and roses all look so rich and lively; the fiery colors of the canna lilies and their very large leaves do make them look tropical, absolutely festive--probably why I mistook them for birds of paradise or maybe heliconias in your previous post. I can't wait to see your new lilies blossom.
I love the story behind the mystery of the black eyed Susan creeping daisy. Perhaps your grandmother is so proud of your gardening that she sent these beautiful flowers to add to the amazing and marvelous wonders you've created in your own garden of Eden! However they got there, your keen eye and sense of beauty were right on in rescuing that plant and giving it some of your magical gardening touch. You do very beautiful work and showcase it in an outstanding manner. Well done, Princess!
Absolutely wonderful - and as Ms Scarlet says, such a joy to feel a little warmth and dryness as we shelter from this winter monsoon... Jx
ReplyDeleteNo snow here (56f/13c), but enjoying the beautiful flower pix all the same!
ReplyDeleteYou've nudged me into planning early for the garden and I do want to get more iris as I have never seen them as spectacular as they are here. I do want to find some of your black-eyed susans (love that color), the ones here are quite different.
ReplyDeleteAgain, thanks for the warmth.
A most uplifting stroll through your lovely garden, Princess.
ReplyDeleteThank you for reminding me what's beneath the ice and snow.