Weeding the Web

GBBD: Winter honeysuckle - Lonicera fragrantissima - Breath of Spring

I've had this Winter honeysuckle (aka rather enchantingly as Breath of Spring) since the beginning of 2011, when after an impulse purchase I feared I'd made a mistake. Its final position was on an east-facing fence, in full sun, where I hoped it would hide the compost bins and provide early fragrance on sorties to fill them.

It does, sort of. It grows like Topsy and needs severe hacking back (after flowering) and its arching habit breaks up the outline of the compost bin behind but doesn't obsure it.  Fragrance-wise, the flowers are heavenly, but the scent stays close to the blooms and doesn't engulf me in a cloud as I had hoped.

So not an undiluted success (especially as it's not that interesting during other seasons) but it's providing the first flowers of the year and occasionally I get down on my knees and drink deeply of the sweet scent.

To see what's blooming elsewhere on this Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, visit May Dreams Gardens for the monthly round-up.

 

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day: Cotoneaster horizontalis flamed with berries

Cotoneaster horizontalis is one of those plants that is done no service by its easy-going nature. You see it all over the place in municipal planting and I think people think it's boring. This winter, though, has been fantastic for berries and it stands out against the fence like a burning bush.

For a paean of praise and how to grow it, see How to Grow: Cotoneaster Horizontalis.

To see more of what's in bloggers' gardens around the world this December, pop over to May Dreams Gardens.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day: Kalanchoe

With the rain bedraggling everything in the garden, and the begonias finally cut down by frost, the perkiest floral presence is the kalanchoe on the windowsill. This is my type of houseplant - very forgiving, lots of flowers.

 More of this month's Garden Bloggers' Blooms can be found at May Dreams Gardens.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day: sign of autumn

Utterly reliable, totally floriferous, and as much a sign of autumn as the sad song of the geese overhead. 

The only problem with our tall Michaelmas Daisies is that they're so top heavy that they tend to flop forward.

To see what's in the gardens of other garden bloggers, visit May Dreams Gardens.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day: Florid but fabulous

Begonias are divisive: people seem to love them or hate them. I hadn't really considered them at all until I was given some Fragrant Fountain this year by Thompson and Morgan. Can't say I've noticed a huge amount of scent, but they're close to the ground and I'm not (very), so it's not fair to judge. These cascade, so wouldn't be much good in a border, but in a contrasting pot I've really enjoyed the splash they've made in the garden. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm taking part in Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, hosted at May Dreams Gardens. Pop over and see what other bloggers are enjoying in their garden.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day: a balloon burst

OK, so Platycodon grandiflorus doesn't look the most exciting of blooms, but I just love it every time the tiny balloon-like buds burst out into a star, like a mini explosion. Ladies and gentlemen, the Balloon Flower -

Join Carol for more bloggers' blooms this month at May Dreams Gardens.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day: Morning Glory

Is it because Morning Glory's flowers last such a short time that they seem so beautiful?

May Dreams Gardens hosts GBBD. Visit to see what's blooming in other bloggers' gardens around the world.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day: summery and strong

This combination of Johnson's Blue geranium and a venerable double-flowered pink peony (unknown) look stunning in the sunlight. Can't really do them justice.

To see who else is enjoying what, visit May Dreams Gardens for this month's round-up of Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - the best pulmonaria

I've never seen another lungwort (Pulmonaria) that I've thought more beautiful than this one. The two-tone flowers, the not overly spotty leaves, the fact that bumble bees adore them - my heart sings every year when they break out into colour. They bloom for over a month but unfortunately I have no idea which cultivar this is.

This year has provided a particularly fine display, which I put down to one of the (very) few benefits of last year's rain. Our clay soil didn't really dry out and the pulmonarias didn't succumb to their usual annual dose of mildewed leaves.

See what other blooms are being blogged about at May Dreams Gardens.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - just when you think you know better

Last year, I bought a Paperwhite Narcissus bulb (yes, just one). Presumably it was some latent memory of something I've once read that made me decide to grow it in a bulb vase. It failed miserably. Long green leaves sprouted in abundance, and fell over. Flowers were conspicuous by their absence.

I'm afraid the vase got put in the outhouse and left, until earlier this year when I realised the bulb was sprouting again. Ho hum! I certainly wasn't going to give it window-sill space, but I added water (and a drop or two of liquid fertiliser, as it hadn't had any input since its excrable performance) and let it do its worst.

So, stuck in the cold, and pretty much neglected, it's now producing these. Fewer leaves than last year, much fewer, and stubbier, roots (which last year were very long and filled the glass) and the promise of lots of flowers which have an extraordinarily pungent smell (not sweet, barely floral).

I have to admit that I thought growing narcissus in a vase had to be a daft idea. Now I find that Paperwhites are generally grown indoors.  And that old wives' tale about feeding a child gin to stunt its growth? Well, perhaps it's not so far-fetched after all. A touch of alcohol might have stemmed its leaf growth last year.

 

 Nip over to May Dreams Gardens to see what else is going on this Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.