Here's a quick update from the gardens of Hexenhäusli Device. There's not a lot to see at the mo, but there are one or two feature plants still going through the drought.
Eucomis comosa "Sparkling Burgundy" on 7th & 23rd August
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Fuchsia "Next-to-the-Swing" (probably "Paula Jane" according to Jon) has seen fit to buck the trend and produce a flower with five sepals instead of the usual four (photos from 5th & 20th)
Agapanthus "Royal Velvet" on the 7th
Fuchsias "Aunty Jinks" and "Wendy's Beauty" on the 20th
The Gardener's Retreat from the 23rd, complete with bat flower (Tacca chantrieri) on the table
Some of the many, many pheasant berries dangling from the Himalayan honeysuckle (Leycesteria formosa) in the Gardener's Retreat on the 23rd
A highly scented Crinum from the 23rd
How do your gardens grow?
Oooh! I've got NOTHING like this. What a good thing it's "not a competition!" But I am lusting after those pheasant berries; also tempted to try the dark agapanthus again.
ReplyDeleteI believe the pheasant berries/Himalayan Honeysuckle are rampant weeds in NZ, Dinah, so you should be able to pick them up anywhere!
DeleteDark agapanthuses are my favourites. Jon has a good one too in "BlackJack".
I'm familiar with tutu, but have never seen the pheasant berry.
DeleteAgapanthus and I seem to have a love-hate relationship...the common one grows like a weed, but whenever I've spent the housekeeping budget on a dark one ... zilch!
I think I have the Pheasant Berries, too? Anyhow - your lawn is very lush! Mine is in recovery - we've had a fair bit of rain and it still feels novel.
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We had a LOT of rain yesterday evening & last night - there are "river" tracks of sand and mud coming down every raised bit of ground. (I've just got back from walking Bitey on the the beach & back along the cliffs - clay and mud everywhere!)
DeleteSo much beauty and a garden paradise! Himalayan honeysuckle is out of this world.
ReplyDeleteHS is a lovely, graceful shrub, although it can look a bit scruffy in winter - and it does seed rather prolifically, so it has to be kept in check. It might not do so well in Spain though, Mitchell, as it seems to prefer a cooler, moister climate.
DeleteIt's all looking good, Mr DeVice! Our garden, too, is "breathing a sigh of relief" at the cooler temperatures and rain showers we're having at the moment. My "emergency re-potting" of specimens exhausted by the drought also seems to be paying off, as there are signs of new green (as opposed to yellow) growth and new flowers on the salvias and, of course, fuchsias love this sort of weather (and flower more energetically at this time of year). We have new flowers on the small yellow hemerocallis and the Japanese anemone, and there are new buds on some of the phlox as well.
ReplyDeleteNo sign of flowers on our eucomis yet, however, and we're hoping for great things from the foxgloves, hesperis and campanula next year - as we have had not a single flower from any of 'em this year, just leaves...
Yes, this rain is doing wonders for the gardens - so many new shoots! Salvia "Plum Crazy" has bounced back (I thought it had been totally devoured by slugs) and has three large flower head/bracts about to start blooming.
DeleteI'm really looking forward to seeing your sure-to-be-monstrous foxgloves next year!
I'm surprised the slugs and snails have attacked a mature salvia! They may have a go at the new shoots after I prune back in Spring, but with a sprinkling of coffee grounds they tend to back off and don't bother much with the mature growth. Probably because there are taster things to have a go at. Like phlox. Jx
DeleteI can find space in my garden for the Himalayan honeysuckle much nicer than the evergreen honeysuckle Henryi I had at the other house, don't be tempted by them they're horrible.
ReplyDeleteI've been like a highly strung poodle the past couple of days regarding my front garden, the maid had talked me into having fake grass laid, it's only a small area. To quote Dolly Parton "It costs a lot of money to look this cheap" it reminds me of that stuff butchers use for displaying their meat on. For peace of mind I'll be having it taken up an replaced with porcelain tiles.
We inherited a Japanese honeysuckle at the place-before-last, and it was very disappointing. Unlike the "common" varieties, its flowers were a drab pale yellow and if they were "highly-scented" (as they're supposed to be), neither of us could smell it. If we had a big garden I'd choose Lonicera periclymenum.
DeletePlastic grass? Porcelain tiles? I'd grow plants, myself. Jx
Oh, yes, get rid of the "butchers grass", Mitzi. You don't want to wake up one morning and find a pig carcass on it!
DeleteI've got a honeysuckle that's been languishing in a pot for years that needs to go in the ground, but I just don't know where to put it.
We had a hellva week here, sweetpea! It's been crazy hot and everything in the front garden seemed to be on their last legs, so to speak, and then the gardener found that the damn sprinklers had been turned off! Here's hoping we've ended the death spiral in time! xoxo
ReplyDeleteOh, fingers crossed, Savvy! You want a winning entry for the GPE, don't you?
DeleteSo it IS a contest!!! I knew it!! and yes, I do want to WIN, sweetpea! xoxo
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