Garden Glimpses : Late May 2007

I'm almost too tired, but here goes with another set of pics from my garden...

This Campanula Glomerata is thriving in my garden, forming a good size patch. I am so pleased with it that I picked up a small white ("Alba") one today. I hope it will be as successful as this purple one. The flowers in the background are my purple Osteospermum, closed since it was an overcast evening.

This delightful white iris is from my friend Irene. It looks almost angelic.

I think chives make a great ornamental, so I have a patch in my flower garden as well as my herb garden. I love to see the big bumblebees on the flowers. [Speaking of which, I was stung by a bee tonight, on the back of my neck, as I was bending to weed under the espalier trees. I heard the high-pitched buzzing (like a bee stuck in a small place), and then the sting. So I danced around, banging at my neck, and flapping my shirt, so it would fall out of my collar or armholes (sleeveless shirt). I never did see the bee, and it only hurt for maybe 20 minutes, leaving a small red spot on my neck.] So the poor bee certainly got the worst of the encounter!

I also like parsley as an ornamental. I've included both chives and parsley in the two planters I created this year.

I like the range of textures and colours in this foliage in the border along the back (southeast) corner of our property. From the front: red currant, underplanted with runaway euphorbia "Fens Ruby", Stachys byzantina (lamb's ear), purple sage, more lamb's ear, with blueberry bushes pushing up through, lilac standard, clump of crocosmia, and then fading out but almost visible: snowberry standard, butterfly bush, Monarda Didyma, missouri currant, and to the very right, the edge of my Lapin Cherry tree.

The red currant bushes (I am happy to have two of them, one having recovered from many years of being badly chewed, the second, thanks to my Plant Swap friends). Both are showing lots of promise for berries this year. On the other hand, the missouri currant, which was blooming so extensively a month ago, has pretty much failed to form berries, with many of the previously-flowering branches withering (perhaps too much heat lately, I should have watered them sooner?).

The Lapin Cherry is also showing promise of some more cherries this year, if the birds leave us any. Also, the Rainier Cherry has a few berries for the first time this year. I love the anticipation of the fruit trees, each year looking forward to, and dreaming of a larger crop than last year (or in my case, my first tastes).