June 7th, 2013

A stroll in the garden on a lovely summery June day.....

The Blaze Climber, which is thriving so beautifully it threatens to take the shed wall

it grows against and run away down the lane!

 



Columbines from the garden on the hill

 



 

I should really have been more circumspect and taken the time to deadhead these

lovely roses before asking them to pose for a photo

This lemony yellow Iris is loaded with blooms and just seems to keep

adding sunshine to the back garden

 





 

while the delphinium from the old garden have reverted to white

and probably have ambitions to reach the roof top, they are

growing so straight and tall

 

 

The Abraham Darby, fragrant and my favourite

A nice clutch of lettuce for salads

 



and the gorgeous floxglove

 

a Mister Lincoln rose

 

 

and that lovely apricot Iris with the furry tongue

 

a pot of herbs

 



 

and more foxgloves with the pots that line the front sidewalk

the Heliotrope and the pinks make brushing by this pot a delight

a sunny welcome at the front steps



and the Blaze at the end of the side bed



 

 Roses



 

A peony that hides behind the roses (above)

 

 

the new, tiny clematis along the back fence

 

at this stage of the game the delphinium look very fragile and fairylike

 



 

 

and over it all a blue sky and summer clouds...

 

I have much to be thankful for!

ABC Wednesday

And the letter this week is U.

Believe me, sticking to my theme of flowers I had an Unusually hard time finding a Unique representation of the letter U in plantland.  Well, that's not quite true, the plants I found whose names begin with U were really all quite Unique, - not your usual common  garden variety that you would find in these parts......

I chose to make you acquainted with the Unicorn plant, in case you have not already met.

The Unicorn plant is also known as Devil's Claw and Martynia.

 

 

It is an upright annual herb whose preferred habitat is rich woods, slopes and moist meadows.

 

Heart shaped leaves, up to six inches wide, with large, stout stalks.

 

Flower petals are united into one bell-shaped structure, no more than three inches long and with a crooked stalk that droops laterally.  The flowers are in variable colors but usually pale to dark lavender with a yellow streak arising from the throat.

 

The fruit is edible, being similar to okra with a long beak that extends four to six inches beyond the tip, and drying into a black capsule.

 

 

The curved claw of the fruit splits open when dry, forming two hooks that catch in the fur or ears of livestock, thus the name 'Devil's Claw"

 

 

 

The plant is a medicinal herb and is used in treating health disorders like fibrositis, arthritis, rheumatism, neuralgia, gall bladder disorders, pancreas infections, muscular inflammation and other skin infections.

 

It is also used for curing pain during labour and after childbirth, and externally for treating swollen joints, sores, skin ulcers, arthritic joints and a few other skin infections.

 

Perhaps you know the Unicorn Plant in this form.....

 

All this information I obtained from Sir Google!!!

 

For more interesting tidbits about the letter U visit here, at ABC Wednesday,

with thanks to all who keep this great meme operating.

 

Sunday, June 2nd, 2013

There are puddles in the back lane and I know  there must have been rainbows around today as the sun shone through dozens of showers, but I am not in the right place to see them, - location, location......  I am cosied up between two town lots, - lovely and sheltered from wind and weather, but not open enough to see the hills and the sky, except to the north.

However, I did have one indication of how wet the last two weeks have been, and how damp the garden stays.  I picked fresh lettuce from the garden, washed it well and made a salad for supper.

 

As well as I had cleaned it and picked it over my DIL found a baby snail clinging to a green leaf, and I have to tell you it was the first  snail I have ever seen in any of my gardens in this arid semi-desert!  Or in any of my salads - and what a good sport she was about it!  She didn't gasp, or shriek, but was calm and classy as she scooped up another helping of greens.

Well, I suppose if you can't have Escargot from the seaside a baby snail from the garden is the next best thing!!!!

 

A borrowed picture from the internet.......

 

I have been so lucky with my daughters-in-law, - all of them kind and generous;

responsible and loveable young women!

The weather report tonight is not especially encouraging.
 I wonder if I will wake up to the willow in the front garden
leaning it's elbows against the porch and peering through to the
kitchen to see if the coffee is on....

I have to beat it with a broom to remove enough rain drops to allow it to stand up straight again!

It must make an intriguing early morning picture.....