State of the garden in May : the Volunteers

[bunn]

 I wouldn't have picked this colour of Azalea (it was planted by a previous owner of the garden) but mixed with blue periwinkle, ferns and whatever that small long-stemmed flower is it works quite well.  That's Dave the gargoyle hiding in the fern at the front. 

This is creeping toadflax, which is technically a wildflower but I think is at least as pretty as most hanging basket plants, and very easy to grow. It volunteers itself into all sorts of cracks.

This red campion is another volunteer, but the irises in the background are deliberate!  They are growing in the pond, which used to be a rectangular support for an oil tank. 

Hmm. These volunteers are less welcome, growing all among my onions! I must take the anti-cat twigs off and hoe this bed. Strawberries have climbed into the onion bed as well, but I feel I can't really complain about them.

This area underneath the cherry tree used to be a rather dull area of bark. Then the speedwell and strawberries moved in. Honestly, how is this not an improvement?

And now a bed that was actually designed to look like this: aquilegias and geraniums grown from seed, and growing up the Wicker Maid trellis, the precious Actinidia Arguta 'Issai'

The grape vine is doing really well this year after a savage pruning, and is all over vineflowers.

A better shot of the pond with three colours of iris. The blue ones are my favorite.

Most of the roses aren't flowering yet, but good old Big Purple is just coming into bloom.

Comments

[inzilbeth-liz.livejournal.com]

Everything looks to be thriving well. Like the last shot especially.

[puddleshark.livejournal.com]

Spectacular carpet of Speedwell!

I do love the concept of 'volunteers'... At least your volunteers are attractive. I wander around admiring the Prickly Sowthistle and the Ribwort Plantain, no longer able to distinguish between good garden plants and evil weeds.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Pif! I called the speedwell periwinkles in my description. I always get the names mixed, I think it is because they is blue :-(

I'm generally prepared to admire anything that doesn't have thorns or stings (and to be fair, the stinging nettle can be a handsome plant in the right setting) but I make a special exception for Herb Bennet because it's SO invasive in my soil, and the roots cling like nobody's business.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

Lovely combination of wild flowers and domesticated varieties! The speedwell looks particularly good. And so do the irises.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Two of the irises are domesticated, but the yellow ones are wild type - I think they make a good mix, though I have to keep an eye on the yellow ones as they are a lot more invasive than the others.

[jane-somebody.livejournal.com]

I like the azalea, as you might predict, but *love* the periwinkles/irises/speedwell - despite my general penchant for pink, blue and bluey-purple flowers are my favourites.