A perfect trio

I’ve been waiting patiently, and now I am ripping the awards. Here’s my beautiful flowerbed with a perfect trio – lavender, armeria and artemisia.

The patch was empty just back in March. I planted all flowers when they were literally babies. In three months they have grown full size.

I started the blog just after the patch was planted in mid-March, but I didn’t make photos then. I found one made on 9 April. Here’s an artemisia with plenty of free space around, and it gives an idea how it all began.

Though looking tall, the artemisia is no more than 10 cm. You can see tiny shoots of lavender in the background. It is almost impossible to spot armeria.

The plants were ordered by internet from the Southern Italy. The vendor messed up the order and sent only half of the armerias. I had to divide them, even if they were tiny.

Miraculously, all plants took well. They are strategically positioned at the start of a long flowerbed that runs along the lawn. Now is the moment of their glory.

#armeria #artemisia #lavender #garden #summer

Very pretty poppies

We were going on a small provincial road near Como when I saw this wonder. There was a row of unbelievably colourful poppies. I had to stop the car to make sure I was not dreaming.

The poppies were scarlet, pink and even white. Amazing.

#poppies

A smile for camomile

I remember once buying a packet of dried camomile flowers which were grown in the mountains. That was the best camomile tea I ever brewed. Now I have a challenge to get camomile as good as that in my garden.

The name of the herb can be written in two ways – camomile or chamomile. It is formally presented as Chamaemelum nobile.

The most popular use of camomile is for tea. Everybody knows of its therapeutic properties such as relieving stress or aiding digestion. A recent scientific research found that drinking camomile tea helps women live longer. That will definitely encourage me to drink it more!

My camomile grows in the herb patch, among thyme and fennel. I am about to harvest the flowers which will be dried and used for tea. Here’s how it looks for now.

#camomile #garden #summer

Spectacular spirea

This humble shrub gives me a lot of joy. I didn’t know what it was until recently. We ‘inherited’ it from the previous owners.

Spirea, or more correctly Spiraea, is a shrub commonly known for cascading white flowers. Probably for that reason it is also called bridal wreaths. Other varieties of Spirea exist, too, like mine where flowers come in ‘umbrellas’.

I don’t exactly know which variety it is. It blossoms in mid-May to mid-June, developing clusters of tiny pink flowers.

Spirea was originally growing in the centre of the terrace. When the garden was re-designed a year ago, I specifically asked to keep it. The designers considered Spirea a lowly bush not worth having, but I insisted. It was relocated in the corner next to the laurel hedge. Last year it suffered, but now it is fully recovered.

I find Spirea attractive through all seasons, especially now thanks to its lovely flowers.

#spirea #garden #summer

 

Intoxicating jasmine

Here comes the time of the year when the intoxicating smell of star jasmine penetrates everywhere – the garden, the house, the street. It signals the arrival of summer, it means hot sunny days and balmy evenings.

Star jasmine, or Trachelospermum jasminoides, was the first plant that I bought when we moved in the house. I did not have much interest in the gardening then. We needed to cover a bare grey wall in the courtyard.

Star jasmine is common around Lake Como. It seemed to be a safe choice. My first gardening experience nearly ended in a disaster. The shrubs shed all the leaves, and we thought they died. Miraculously, they came back to life. Several years on, and I have a splendidly covered wall with an additional benefit of sweet fragrance in summer.

Last year we planted several bushes in the garden, to cover concrete walls and the mesh. All but one took well, and they are already profusely flowering this season.

#jasmine #starjasmine #trachelospermumjasminoides #garden #summer

Echinacea, the hedgehog flower

Echinacea, native to North America, is commonly known as coneflower. The Greek meaning of Echinacea is more amusing. It’s the hedgehog flower, the name inspired by the spiny central disk.

Coneflowers supposedly have super healing powers and protect the immune system, but views on that widely vary. I grow them for bright flowers.

Echinacea was introduced in my garden last year by garden designers. They are planted at the back of the herb patch, adding colour to predominantly green patch.

I have two varieties of coneflowers. One is ‘Cheyenne Spirit’, a hybrid with narrow rounded petals in vivid red colour. They normally start flowering in mid-summer, but mine are already producing a spectacular display.

The other flower is Echinacea purpurea ‘Julia’. The petals are more pointed, and it has a pink hue.

#coneflower #echinacea #cheyennespirit #julia #garden #summer

Garden card June 2016

#garden #summer

Blue star of summer

Agapanthus in Greek means love + flower. This is my beloved summer flower!

Known as the Lily of the Nile or Giant Blue African Lily, Agapanthus is a native of South Africa. The flower made inroads into Europe, but it is not very common. I first saw it in an upmarket residential complex in Montenegro. The flower thrives in hot, sunny Mediterranean climate.

My terrace gets very hot in summer, and I thought the African lily might enjoy it.

I bought a plant with developed, but closed flower stems from a nursery in March. It was planted straight away in a large pot. The variety is called Agapanthus Umbellatus Blue.

The lily has done very well. It opened first flower ‘umbrellas’ (thus umbellatus) in the last week of May. At the moment it is a star flower, literally, on the terrace. Flowers of intense blue colour rise on slender stems above dark green blades of leaves.

Agapanthus grows in a company of Kniphofia Citrina (in the background). Kniphofia will grow a bit more, and then it will be a perfect match for the lily.

#agapanthus #agapanthusumbellatus #summer #terrace