power plant

 Coreopsis ‘Full Moon’ , in the Moon Bed ——

The greenhouse, put up in autumn last year, was the focus of my attention this spring, along with the newly set out vegetable garden. There was – and still is – much to learn! Lesson number one was to consider the extremes of temperature between day and night. We had a very dry and sunny spring, which meant the temperatures in the greenhouse were consistently over 20° C during the daytime, but I was having to keep the frost watch on the heater until the end of May. I think that I will sow annual and perennial flowers, cucumbers, zucchini etc a little later next year. And try growing lettuce much earlier. This photo was  May 3rd, with my tomato plants near the door on the left. And by May 15th a peep into the greenhouse would have shown that the tomatoes and aubergines were in their final pots in there, and annuals sown… Everything I sowed in there in 9 or 11 cm pots thrived! The amount of light played an enormous role – much more so than warmth I think. My tomat...

Early on Sunday morning, while the sun was still low and the world was quiet, I gathered some flowers for a midsummer vase. The Hypericum – St John’s Wort – has, as always, opened right on time for the summer solstice. I find it fascinating that it is so accurate, whatever the weather has been doing, taking its cue from the amount of daylight hours alone. I hated to disturb the bees on it, but there is plenty more in the meadow. The centre piece had to be my last Itoh Peony ‘Shining Light’ – the other flowers on it are long gone, but this bud was also waiting for midsummer it seems. With a yellow colour scheme evolving I cut an Echinacea paradoxa from the Herb Bed. Another bee magnet. To fill the large vase I then added some meadow grasses (and a couple of tame ones too), along with Chamomile, Silene vulgaris, Scabiosa, wild Achillea, the first of the Centaurea jacea (knapweed) and a sprig of Crepis capillaris (hawksbeard). Many thanks to Ca...

This year’s Summer Solstice is at 10:24 am, 21st June. Today, here in Bavaria, we have 8 hours and 1 minute more daylight than on the day of the winter solstice in December. Happy Solstice!

Every month I am choosing five favourite plants to share from my garden. June is such a floriferous time of year that I had to be very selective! But I managed to narrow it down. One flower that didn’t make it this time is my gorgeous rose ‘Maria Lisa’ which is only just starting to open and deserves a post of her own – perhaps later this month. So, Number One: Centranthus ruber I have grown this in all my gardens and love it almost as much as the pollinators. It was initially given to me by friends and neighbours, and I have since passed some on to others. I love it for its colour – is it pink or red? In addition, the fact that it will go on flowering intermittently all summer if cut back regularly leads me to hope that some hummingbird hawk moths will find it at some stage. —— Number Two: Stipa – both Stipa gigantea and Stipa tenuissima Stipa gigantea (Golden Oats) needs a lot of space, but if you have a spot where screening in summer is us...

I am joining Cathy at Rambling in the Garden once again for her weekly meme, where we are invited to share whatever we find blooming in or around our gardens in a vase. Such a lovely way to see what other people are growing around the world, so do go and visit her! My first vase to share this week is a sweet smelling pastel mix of small summer bloomers. After a week of showers and gusty winds (and even some hail, thankfully not too big) any larger flowers are looking a bit unkept, but these shorter stems withstand almost everything. I chose some Scabiosa – Pink Mist and Butterfly Blue, the creamy white Scabiosa ochroleuca, and the pink Knautia macedonica which looks like a scabiosa too. I cut a pale pink/white Sweet William which seems to be the only colour that has reseeded. Then a blue Campanula, a blue Geranium (name long forgotten) and some Briza media. I also added a plume of meadow grass and a couple of the lovely frilly Dianthus superbus with the very unimaginative n...

The cuckoo we have been hearing all spring has changed his tune… maybe you know the rhyme: The cuckoo comes in April And sings her song in May In the middle of June She changes her tune And in July she flies away In my Moon Bed, planted in soft silvery greens, white, cream and blue,  I allowed myself a quirky addition when planting and added this beautiful deep wine red peony ‘Cuckoo’s Nest’. The crinkled golden stamens are especially lovely. In case you are unfamiliar with this bird, the cuckoo does not build its own nest, but lays its eggs in the nests of other birds. This single red flower stands out in the Moon Bed like a cuckoo would in a blackbird’s nest(!), and the name of this peony was the inspiration to plant it there! I have cut one, with a little foliage, for my vase today, adding a plume of Stipa gigantea and some pretty Geranium flowers. This is a Geranium pratense, called ‘Summer Skies’, and is unlike any geranium I have come...

My larch forest, consisting of seven trees planted in a circle, is a constant source of pleasure, which I am sharing today. First, let’s go back to when it begins, in mid to late March. These tiny little flowers appear: male on the lower side of the branch and the much larger female above. The female flowers will develop into small cones. This year I noticed for the first time that I had not only pink female flowers, but a couple of trees bore only white flowers. Here, two weeks later, you can see clearly how the female flowers are completely open with needles beneath and the male flowers are producing just needles. Now we are in the middle of April and you can see the cones from previous years among the fresh growth. By now the flowers are losing their vibrancy but the tree is definitely green. And by the end of April even the baby one (we had to replace one) is fully clothed. The female flowers are distinct cones by early May, and although still soft to touch...