The colours in late evening photos are intense yet soft. The flowers in my garden are for the most part subdued. Subdued has a beauty too don’t you think. Here’s my garden highlights for Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day, May 2012…
Above, Brunnera Jack Frost enjoying a new shady spot, it has coped with the move well and is flowering freely.
As gardens in England move up a gear with brighter colours in blooms, my Scottish garden is still holding on to Spring for a bit longer.
Above, Helleborus orientalis going to seed, Euphorbia giving that zing that they do so well. Yak Rhododendron in stages of buds, open flowers and last flower standing (the purple/blue one). Last Cuckoo flowers, new Broom flowers and primroses still performing well in shadier corners.
Some plants punctuate my garden, causing me to stop and stare. These plants have been with me a good few years now. However, the anticipation of these opening flowers never wains… Wisteria buds starting to grow, Mecopopsis showing the teensiest hint of blue, Cirsium flowers nestling in foliage near the ground ready to go skywards and last but not least, the Alliums…
Above, the intense orange of my little (tidy ground hugging foliage) Geum is just starting to show. I have lifted and divided this plant many times and it is spreading its orange cheer around now.
In contrast, the purple blooms of the perennial wallflower, Bowles Mauve has never stopped flowering since last year, thanks to our easier winter. I added some Heather earlier this year (sentimental reasons) and I hope the bees have enjoyed it. The photo above the heather is blossom from a weeping silver pear.
Capturing photos of birds in garden borders where a flower is in bloom is always a bonus… these drumstick Primula flowers should really be cut back but I’ve been enjoying seeing the juvenile blackbirds tottering through them.
My tiny pond gives so much pleasure at this time of year when the trickle of ‘waterfall’ is running. Newly fledged birds make straight for it – what fun it is to watch them. The Blackbirds have certainly been keeping us entertained!
The tiny colourful Siskins have become pretty regular drinkers from here too. I think they could be allowed into the blooms for this Month. They’re not too keen on sharing this ‘now favourite’ spot with each other though. However, the tottering Blackbird juveniles make their presence known and the finches take flight.
So that’s it for this GBBD. To see other blogs taking part in sharing what’s in flower on the 15th of the month – head over to Carol at May Dreams Gardens.
My final photo (taken rather shakily from my phone) just had to be included here as a link to my last post. I split coffee over my PC keyboard, and this new replacement one was sitting on the windowsill. Then, on the outside windowsill, along came a…
Yes, you can see… a tottering juvenile Blackbird! It was looking straight at me, as I slowly picked up my phone to get this image. Perfect timing it was too as I was tweeting about the Birdfair ticket draw! Needless to say I tweeted this pic suggesting the Blackbird was looking to email me to enter 😉
Congrats go to David for winning the Birdfair tickets. To my garden blogging friends – Happy Bloom Day 🙂
This post was written by Shirley for shirls gardenwatch in May 2012.
Great post Shirl, as always I am in admiration of your bird photography, they never stay still at all when I'm around. I wonder if birds are more nervous here as they aren't encouraged as in the UK (in season being shot at is more likely). Your spring garden is beautiful. Christina
I don't think our English garden is very different from your Shirl. We have Brunnera jack Frost on flower too – I love the shade of blue.
Hi again Shirl 🙂 A lovely colourful post, so many pretty blooms! Every year I intend to plant Brunnera and every year I forget and I love Geums but they always disappear after a while 🙁
I just left a comment on your previous post.
Hope you have an extra special weekend 😉
April showers bring May flowers, but this year's April deluge seems to have really held them back. Our Yorkshire garden is no further forward than yours. In fact, if it gets much colder, the snowdrops might give a second flush.
Lovely photo of the siskin. I think that young blackbird just wanted to open a Twitter account.
Hi Shirl,
Lovely photos, glad to see you've got plenty going on in the garden and tbh there isn't much difference between up there and down here atm with all the rain and rubbish weather England's endured whilst Scotland has got off quite lightly in comparison!
Very jealous of your baby BB! I don't ever see baby BBs or Robins yet I do get the adults through the year. Always find it really strange…
I'm amazed in the difference between our two gardens even though you're almost just down the road. Our alliums aren't our yet but the mecanopsis have been out for over a week.
You take brilliant bird photos even with your phone…
Hello everyone, hope you are all enjoying the sunshine 🙂
Christina, thank-you! Truth be told, the birds aren’t too far away from my window and I have an average zoom lens that helps in getting bird photos and then I crop the photos to get a closer image. The birds don’t always stay around for me either but I get a good few lucky moments when they do and I use the continuous shooting mode on my camera. I love to look through the images after (deleting many) and it’s great to get surprises when there’s an interesting shot. Thanks, my Spring garden is a work in progress in two areas at the moment so I’m enjoying the blooms as distractions from the chaos elsewhere 🙂
Sue, that is interesting. Guessing it’s the topsy turvey weather we’ve had that has equalled our garden growth 🙂
Jan, hello to you too! Thanks, my colour is dotted around the garden which makes it all that more special. I’d recommend Jack Frost – I’ve successfully divided it too so it’s getting to roam around my garden. I love both the foliage and the flower. There are a few varieties of geum – I don’t know what mine is but I have divided it and spread it around too and so far it’s kept happy. Thanks for your other comment. We did have a special weekend with the Birdfair one day and a Beach walk the next 🙂
Crystal, yes, this has been a funny Spring for us both – we didn’t get our usual cold and snowy winter here. Hope the sunshine has arrived with you now too. Thanks, I loved that siskin image myself – such a pretty little bird. Lol – yes I thought that on the Blackbird juv too 😀
Liz, thanks, I loved your forget-me-not pics! Once again, you’re right the weather has mixed up both our gardens. I’m sure my Meconposis (must check) must be two weeks plus ahead of flowering – a delight to see non-the-less. Aw… shame you are missing out on the baby BB’s – they are such fun to watch. Have been enjoying seeing a juv Robin recently – must find my pics. Yeh, strange the juvs don’t find your garden 🙁
Janet, it is always interesting to hear of our garden differences. That allium was my first out and a week later still is the only one – lots of plump buds around though. My blue meconopsis has been out for almost a week too – guessing your first alliums will have bloomed by now too 😀 Thanks, I was very close to the window with the Blackbird pic 🙂
That siskin photo is a peach, Shirl (not literally).