Sunday, 27 March 2011

My garden today... (1) Ornamentals

The plants in my garden are loving the warm, sunny weather we have had this week. So are the insects...


This Euphorbia "Clarice Howard" looks even better in close-up.



Crab-claws, or spanners? What do you think?
In amongst the Euphorbia, I found a lone Primrose. It looks like a wild one, but I know it's not. Two years ago I planted a tray of mixed Primroses in several different colours, but I don't remember there being one of these creamy yellow ones. I thought they were all bright yellow, blue and red. Can Primroses "revert" to their original wild form???



The Daffodils are right at their peak.


Some of them are bold, brash, and "in-your-face".




Others are more muted.


Some of them are delicate and "feminine". This one looks almost like a ballerina in a tutu!


The Convallaria Majalis (Lily of the Valley) is thrusting up through the soil near my shed. Just like the Euphorbia this spreads rapidly and may need to be discouraged!


I even have one hardy Geranium (aka Cranesbill) plant. I've forgotten what variety it is! It's a tall one which has purplish-pink blooms. Some years ago I was as mad keen on Hardy Geraniums as I am now on Dogwoods, but I lost interest in them and removed them. This one got left behind by accident.


This is what the flowers look like (photo from Summer 2010).

Can anyone identify the variety for me?

The Golden Hop is energetic and impatient to get to the top of the fence...


Hey, this post is long enough already, so I'll post about the edible plants tomorrow...
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9 comments:

  1. Egretta Wells blog27 March 2011 at 20:22

    Nice photos, Mark. I'm enchanted with the fence and the Golden Hop growing on it..the colors, burnt sienna and sap green...nice how the fence mirrors the colors of the plant.

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  2. Shaheen27 March 2011 at 21:25

    Beautiful springtime colours.

    Envious of the ladybird in your garden.

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  3. David P. Offutt - The Gastronomic Gardener28 March 2011 at 02:01

    Great macro shots. What lens are you using?

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  4. Mark Willis28 March 2011 at 07:02

    David - the lens I used for these shots was the standard 14 - 42mm that came with my camera (Olympus E450). A dedicated macro lens is on my wishlist...

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  5. veggiegobbler28 March 2011 at 09:48

    As usual, great photos Mark.

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  6. Ali28 March 2011 at 12:08

    Oh the daffodils are just lovely Mark, you are really very lucky to have such success with them. Tell me, what do the golden hops do? Do they flower?

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  7. Sue Garrett28 March 2011 at 12:48

    Primroses will self seed and will produce sort of hybrids. Yours seems to have wider petals than a native primrose.

    That close-up euphorbia looks to have claws to grab any unsuspecting insect.

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  8. Mark Willis28 March 2011 at 12:51

    Ali, the Golden Hops have very insignificant flowers, and are grown primarily for the foliage - and the stem colour. The Golden variety doesn't produce the big flowers that the green ones have (the ones used for flavouring beer that is...)

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  9. Kimo2 April 2011 at 19:26

    Bonsoiur Mark Willis, vos Narcisses sont ravissants. Le printemps est véritablement revenu de ses lointains voyages.

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