This is such a popular quiz that I know you are just dying to hear the next question! So here it is.
What is this? I can tell you it is a small tree, in full flower as you can see.
Good luck. Questions allowed if you wish.
The pots of tender Agapanthus which languish at 10°C in my friend Paddy’s heated greenhouse all winter came out a few weeks ago in bud and are now gracing the south facing front of the bungalow. They attract admiring glances and some longer lingering looks from those who either don’t know what they are or who do know and just want to savour them. We split them two years ago from 2 pots to 4 which has done them good. The biggest one has 8 flower spikes this year.
We have been picking Sweet Peas for two weeks and now get armfuls every day. This is ‘Painted Lady, one of the oldest and most fragrant of all. 
But my favourite at the moment is the one I bought on a whim because it’s name is also my wife’s, ‘Cathy’. She is stunning (and the Sweet Pea!) in a shade of creamy white with a wonderful scent and is a strong grower, the tallest of the 20 varieties so far and very floriferous.
The raised bed behind the sweet peas is full of Sweet Williams grown from a packet of seeds last year. Like a lot of biennials they looked half dead from October to March but perked up when the sun finally came out and the weather warmed up. Now they are in full flower and getting picked every day for the house. They have a light sweet scent and last well in the vase. Behind them, the blackberry Rubus fruticosus ‘Bedford Giant’ planted last year is in full flower and covered with bees all day so pollination is assured. 
The flowers themselves are huge, almost like white dog roses, so I am expecting equally huge fruits. The ‘Black Satin’ and ‘Ruben’ are weak by comparison and a big disappointment. The ‘Bedford Giant’ takes some managing due to it’s vigour but looking at the sheer size of the stems and side branches and the number of flowers, it should be worth the effort…and the scratches!
The little north american woodlander, Gillenia trifoliata bought at Gardeners World Live last year and planted in my shady area has delighted me with strong growth and the dainty pure white flowers again after a shaky start. I hadn’t appreciated this was an herbaceous perennial and when it disappeared in the winter I thought it had died. It looks like a sub-shrub with woody stems but is not. Everything dies back to the ground.
Hemerocallis fulva
The inherited orange day lily, Hemerocallis fulva, is exceptionally tall this year, a good 150cm and covered in masses of buds. It must have enjoyed the division from a huge clump into several smaller ones two years ago.
Osteospermum jacundum
On the edge of the drive in full sun and dry poor soil, the Osteospermum jacundum is pushing it’s many heads to the sky and looking glorious. The pinky white flowers shine and can be seen for a hundred metres down the road!
Front border with Salvia greggii ‘Royal Bumble’
This is my first year with shrubby salvias and so far they haven’t disappointed. The current red ones will soon be joined by purple Salvia ‘Christine Yeo’ and even darker purple Salvia greggii x serpyllilifolia.
Sysirinchum with Lysimachia and Geranium
I love it when combinations work well and these three seem to be in perfect harmony. The pale creamy yellow of Sysirinchum striatum with that well known spreader Lysimachia cilliata ‘Firecracker’ and supported by tall pale blue Geranium pratense ‘Mrs Kendall Clark’.
Thalictrum rochebrunianum
And finally, my current favourite plant in the garden, for the second year running, the gorgeous Thalictrum rochebrunianum. Five feet tall with strong glaucous foliage and the most exquisite flowers of lilac petals and bright yellow stamens.
Plenty more to come next week!
This is Allium roseum, or Rosy Garlic, a Mediterranean bulb introduced into Britain around 1750 as a culinary herb which subsequently escaped and naturalised in the hedgerows of southern England. The sparse pale pink flowers and bright red bulbils are an unusual but striking combination.
And this is Clematis integrifolia preparing to flower. In a few weeks it will look like this
The garden visiting season is well under way and I decided to get my ‘looking for new ideas’ head on and take a look at Sandywell Barn House just a couple of miles from home but, remarkably for such a wealthy town, the one and only private garden which opens for the National Gardens Scheme charity in Cheltenham.
This two and a half acre walled garden is the former kitchen garden of Sandywell Park, a grand country house built in 1704 by Henry Brett, an army colonel, Tory politician and ‘man about town’. The Estate was broken up in the 1980’s and the house turned into posh flats. The barn was bought in 1985 by Shirley & Gordon Sills who set about a complete restoration of the garden once their children had grown up and left home. The remarkable transformation from asparagus beds and apple trees to a fully landscaped country garden is a testament to their hard work and dedication over the last fifteen years. 
Shirley kindly showed us her photograph album charting their progress and it is hard to understand where they found the time, energy and money for such an endeavour in what is, in gardening terms, a relatively short period of time. Shirley is largely self taught although she did attend local gardening courses which helped her understanding of design principles. She is now Assistant County Organiser for the NGS in Gloucestershire and obviously knows a thing or two about how to prepare a garden for opening.
This is not a review of their garden, more a collection of my thoughts on how and why people like them open their garden for charity, what it takes to do so and a record of the things which made me stop and look and photograph. Despite it being 23 June, gardens are generally a month behind schedule in Cheltenham this year and this one was a further 3 weeks behind that, being 750 feet above the town and very exposed to the elements.
Shirley must have a thing for the ‘Barlow’ series of aquilegias because they were the predominant variety and in all their colours. They certainly seem to stand well in the weather with strong upright stems and durable flowers. I was particularly drawn to the dark red which I believe is called ‘Bordeaux’ and the white form as below.
Astrantias also play a big part in the spring planting here and the dark red ‘Ruby Wedding’ is one I definitely must get as it is our 40th next year!
I am not known for my diplomacy skills (!) and am openly critical of gardens I feel are not worthy of opening but this one had me from the moment I went through the gates. Everything was right. The sign boards were timely and well placed, the parking adequate and clearly signed, we were warmly welcomed by the owners and £4 seemed good value compared to some we have been to recently. It was an hour well spent, inspirational and educational, and an example of what can be achieved by an excellent, passionate plantswoman. I have put together a gallery of other photographs which amply demonstrate her skill.
Of course, it’s not perfect….nowhere is… and it is always reassuring to find a patch of ground elder, the odd bit of bindweed and particularly at this time of year aphids!
A lovely garden, well planned, well executed and well maintained. Good ideas for plant combinations and new plants to try. I couldn’t ask for more.
Well, as only one person attempted my quiz question the other day, I thought I would try a slightly easier one. I have just seen this rather interesting flower head emerging from a ‘pod’ in an Open Garden this afternoon. The ‘pod’ appears to be formed by a pair of terminal leaves.
I have to confess that I had never seen it before and was intrigued. I had to ask the owner what it was. I was amazed at the answer.
I am looking forward to your suggestions!
Osteospermum ‘Cannington Roy’, remarkably hardy and has overwintered for two years successfully in the gravel margin between the path and house wall. Incredibly floriferous and will keep on going until November if it is deadheaded continuously.
Geum ‘Totally Tangerine’ against Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple’, a fetching combination and lucky accident! A good ‘doer’ compared to a lot of others; strong, tall and has clumped up well in poor dry soil in full sun.
Astrantia major with pink and blue hardy geraniums, a perfect combination. This Astrantia pops up in various places where it is happy so I leave it and let it flourish. It seems to like the company of other ground cover plants which probably keep the soil cool and moist.
A scented leaf pelargonium with an exquisite scarlet colour, almost fluorescent. 
I have no idea what this Iris sibirica is called but it is simply beautiful. The seamless blend of white, cream and yellow is perfect in every detail.
Yes I know it’s only a daisy but this Erigeron karvinskianus has my respect and admiration for it’s sheer tenacity and determination to succeed in the face of adversity. It manages to get it’s seed into every crack and crevice and is slowly but surely colonising the four corners of my garden.
This remarkable bi-coloured Foxglove, Digitalis grandiflora, opens creamy yellow and gradually turns light pink creating this lovely two colour effect. I will collect seed from it but I doubt if it will come true again.
This is a bulb. It is approx 40 cm high and is growing well in my alkaline clay (pH 7.2).
I don’t remember planting it although I suppose I must have. It was probably in a mixed Spring and Summer collection from Spalding Bulbs which contained tulips, narcissus, iris and alliums.
I have no idea what it is and cannot find it on the wondernet.
So, come on friends, visitors and my fellow bloggers, what do you reckon eh?
I don’t know why, but the first Sweet Peas of the year just make me smile!
The stems are always longest and strongest on the early ones and these are no exception. Sown on 31 October last year, overwintered in a cold frame and planted out at the end of April, these will be followed by a further 20 plants sown on New Years Day which are now only 2 weeks behind! The March sown seeds were given away and swapped. I hope they get the same pleasure from them that we do.
Unashamedly pinching an idea from other garden bloggers, I have decided to put up a selection of photos each week of the things I am most pleased with. These would not warrant a post of their own but deserve to be recorded and published for my records and others’ pleasure. So, in no particular order, a quick tour.
The Kolwitzia amabilis ‘Pink Cloud’ commonly called the Beauty Bush is in full flower and laden with pink and white blossom. It only has a faint scent but the bees don’t seem to mind. It is absolutely buzzing.
I love alliums and this Cristophii really captures the attention. It is not tall, perhaps 60 cm or so but the flower head is a good 25 cm in diameter, a perfect circle of tiny star shaped flowers. How does it do that???
The height and intense colour of Purple Sensation makes it stand out in the borders and I think it looks good paired with Nectaroscordum siculum, the Sicilian Honey Garlic, which is a major bee attractor and totally hardy. 
The first red dahlia of the year is Arabian Night and what a stunner! Very early but one of the benefits of starting them off under glass.
The gorgeous fuchsia pink of Gladiolus communis ssp. byzantinus, apparently a good old English cottage garden plant despite it’s obvious Mediterranean origins. I bought a 9 cm pot at Malvern last year with one bulb in flower and popped it into the front border. This year it came up strongly and with 7 separate flower spikes so it seems to naturalise and multiply well.
It’s really difficult to get a good photo of this plant and despite several attempts this is the best I can do with my basic Nikon. It is Silene dioica ‘Firefly’, a cultivated double form of the roadside wild flower, Pink Campion. Very floriferous over a long period and fully 120 cm tall but needing support to stop it flopping. I put in some hazel twigs early which are now doing their job beautifully and inconspicuously. 
The annual Skizanthus and Sweet Rocket are providing some colour in the front border while the late summer perennials are preparing to put on their show next month. I have kept some wallflowers going as well for the same reason. I hate ripping them out in full flower, it seems such a waste. Anyway, it’s only tradition that they are removed to make way for summer bedding so they can stay a while longer.
Aquilegias have been fantastic this year. They have popped up all over the garden and in every shade of pink, purple and blue. I let them grow wherever they want because their slender stems always seem to fit in and never get in the way of other things. This incredible self-sown hybrid has an amazing number of flowers and is 120 cm tall. If only they had scent they would be the world’s favourite cottage garden plant.
In the back garden, the poor dry soil in front of the beech hedge doesn’t support much life but it has been colonised by Geranium macrorrizhum ‘Bevan’s Variety’, Geranium magnificum and hybrid Aquilegias. I don’t care if the path gets covered for a couple of months, we walk on the grass and in August they get cut to the ground when I trim the hedge and then they grow back in a few weeks and sometimes give me another show of flowers in October. One of the hardest working plants in the garden and the least fussy.
And just one more Aquilegia, this one is ‘Nora Barlow’ one of the Barlow series of cultivars which is truly perennial and comes back true every year. It lacks the ‘spurs’ of the hybrids and species but has wonderful double flowers instead.
There is lots more about to happen. The Inula hookeri is in bud for the first time, the lilies are about to open and, best of all, we have started picking Sweet Peas!
Garvinea ‘Rachel’
There is something about red. I just love it. I seem to be drawn to it. It is warm and ripe and hot. I have a lot of reds in the garden. Here are just a few.
Salvia microphylla ‘Royal Bumble’
This pretty Salvia is in flower at the moment right outside the garden room window alongside the popular ‘Hot Lips’.
Red Pelargonium
Pelargoniums are such a reliable performer in a hot summer and I always buy a few to put in pots around the patio.
I love big blousy red poppies
And red dahlias…this is ‘Redskin’
And Geum ‘Mrs Bradshaw’ a chance seedling introduced by Perry’s nursery in Enfield
You might have read about my love of chillies and this particular Cayenne variety which grows so well in my greenhouse
Yum Yum!
And finally, our scrumptious and reliable autumn raspberry ‘Brice’ .
Just can’t resist red!
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