Hungarian Bluebeard Poppy

Being obsessed with making breads of various kinds, and starting to grow various flowers in the garden meant that growing poppies for seeds is highly attractive. Spotting seeds for Hungarian bluebeard poppies last summer in a seed catalogue I bought a packet and sowed them, on the ground and in trays. The seed trays produced delicate seedlings, but i never did see the seeds sprout in the ground. Late winter I transplanted the seedlings into the ground, and watched and watched, as slowly they began to grow. Knowing where the seedlings had been planted did not convince me that the plants were actually poppies, but once they became bigger it became more obvious these were poppies, and now they are flowering. I took a picture of these yesterday, soon after watering the area around the plants, where new seeds had been sown; droplets of water are on the petals which are partially closed. The flower had been open for a couple of days, but the camera was reluctant to work the day before, battery exhausted... again! I will upload another photo when the flower opens or others appear in the neighbouring poppy plants.

Gooseberry and Blackcurrant bushes

Last spring we planted in some gooseberry and blackcurrant bushes; they were intermittantly devastated by caterpillars over the summer months, and a couple, if not all of the plant we thought had died. But, here this spring they have produced fresh, green-faced leaves and are growing with a new found zeal. They probably would have been bigger and thicker had they not suffered from being eaten so much last summer, but this summer they will be protected with netting to keep those scalliwag creatures at bay and the plants growing vigorously into the future.

Globe Artichokes

Globe artichokes are forming the flower heads that are eaten with relish. The first time to grow artichokes means that it is much of a mystery to me, as many other new plants and growing contexts are as yet. These were grown from seeds in the autumn of last year, and they grew vigorously over the winter, being subject to a severe aphid, blackfly, attack, from the beginning of spring. I learned the most efficient, and easily the most organic, way to eliminate these pests was to wash them off the plants with strong sprays and jets of water from the garden hose. The nasty aphids have now all but taken leave of the globe artichokes and the older ones are budding with flower heads, as here. They also have side shoots beginning to appear, which I understand can be parted from the parent source to form a new plant. I look forward to eating the first flower heads with home prepared mayonnaise.

Geranium blossoming

Here the geraniums are growing thickly and blossoming. I believe that scented geranium is one of the plants supposedly disliked by mosquitoes, thus we have a few plants growing in different parts of the garden to advertise they are unwanted around here... The plants add to the many fragrances of the garden.

White roses bloom

Here is a white, fragrant rose blooming merrily in the sunshine.

Roses in bloom

The roses at the side of the house are blooming, these are now trained along a wooden frame. They give the garden a delightful aroma.

Garden photos, Saturday Mid-day

Here are some photos I took around the garden using the simple Nikon digital coolpix camera, simple and limited camera, on Saturday 20090509. This is the blackberries in bloom and with fruit forming to the back. The flowers are charmingly pretty to look at, more than I imagined from the multitude that I usually saw grow along the roadside in the country in Scotland.

Trellis scene 2

Here is a photo of the trellis looking through the tunnel path to the greening lawn.

Trellis for vegetables and flowers

This morning I took some photos of the trellis I built to grow butternut and other squash over, courgettes, beans and flowers, with the bed this side of the trellis planted in three sisters fashion with sweet corn, squash, courgette and beans. In the forefront, you can see the netting for runner beans, with sunflowers growing behind it, and a raised bed with tomatoes, red and yellow peppers, marigolds, and sweet basil growing. The bed has also been seeded with pot marigolds and I wait to see their emergence and the impact of raised bed companion planting visually and productively.