Blue, Blue, Electric Blue...

Since it's Monday night (i.e. Writers' Group) and I haven't even got around to printing out work for reading, this is going to be brief.

The sun is shining.  It's almost warm.  I think we're still getting frosts, mind - my Busy Lizzies are steadily decreasing in number, but since the house is now filling up rapidly with juvenile poppies ('Angel's Choir' - a lovely pastel mix from Thomson & Morgan) there's no going back for the unfortunate Half-hardy Annuals who have already been unceremoniously plonked outside.

I promised you a picture of a beautiful blue Lathyrus before I went on holiday.  Unfortunately, Lizzie_Belle has since posted a photograph of a beautiful blue Lathyrus and I've now realised (gulp!) that what I thought was a Lathyrus is nothing of the kind.  It's not an everlasting pea - it's something that begins with 'L' that I've clean forgotten the name of but I love its blue form to bits!  I especially like the metallic blue sheen on the stem.  It's past its best now, but I had to post a picture:-

 

T & M have recently been selling a form with variegated leaves - if it's up for grabs next year, I MUST buy one!!!

Another one of my May favourites is the dog-tooth violet 'Freckles', shown below:-

 

Less genteel but still rather pretty is the ground ivy that's running riot in the wildflower bed.  I rescued it from an archaeological excavation and it's now taking over the rough ground under the shrubs and trees:-

One man's weed is another man's wildflower, I say.  Good luck to it. 

The dicentra in the back garden is at its best just now:-

 

The pulmonaria are looking good, too, but they just don't seem to be very photogenic:-

 

And lastly, out of all the mangy tulips that are clinging to life in the front flowerbed, only one is flowering this year.  This is a very pretty Black Parrot - it used to be planted in formation with several Black Parrots and Red-and-White Parrots, all of which are now looking very unhappy.  Tulips just don't like my garden very much:-

 

And yes, they are fed and watered in times of drought, so please don't accuse me of Tulip Cruelty!

That's all, folks.  My dinner's ready and I've got work to do.

Blue, Blue, Electric Blue...

Since it's Monday night (i.e. Writers' Group) and I haven't even got around to printing out work for reading, this is going to be brief.

The sun is shining.  It's almost warm.  I think we're still getting frosts, mind - my Busy Lizzies are steadily decreasing in number, but since the house is now filling up rapidly with juvenile poppies ('Angel's Choir' - a lovely pastel mix from Thomson & Morgan) there's no going back for the unfortunate Half-hardy Annuals who have already been unceremoniously plonked outside.

I promised you a picture of a beautiful blue Lathyrus before I went on holiday.  Unfortunately, Lizzie_Belle has since posted a photograph of a beautiful blue Lathyrus and I've now realised (gulp!) that what I thought was a Lathyrus is nothing of the kind.  It's not an everlasting pea - it's something that begins with 'L' that I've clean forgotten the name of but I love its blue form to bits!  I especially like the metallic blue sheen on the stem.  It's past its best now, but I had to post a picture:-

 

T & M have recently been selling a form with variegated leaves - if it's up for grabs next year, I MUST buy one!!!

Another one of my May favourites is the dog-tooth violet 'Freckles', shown below:-

 

Less genteel but still rather pretty is the ground ivy that's running riot in the wildflower bed.  I rescued it from an archaeological excavation and it's now taking over the rough ground under the shrubs and trees:-

One man's weed is another man's wildflower, I say.  Good luck to it. 

The dicentra in the back garden is at its best just now:-

 

The pulmonaria are looking good, too, but they just don't seem to be very photogenic:-

 

And lastly, out of all the mangy tulips that are clinging to life in the front flowerbed, only one is flowering this year.  This is a very pretty Black Parrot - it used to be planted in formation with several Black Parrots and Red-and-White Parrots, all of which are now looking very unhappy.  Tulips just don't like my garden very much:-

 

And yes, they are fed and watered in times of drought, so please don't accuse me of Tulip Cruelty!

That's all, folks.  My dinner's ready and I've got work to do.