Tag: salvia

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Barbie's garden Gardening Home page features Miscellaneous Perenniels

Autumn colours

I was inspired today!! I looked out of my window this morning and the recent fresh rains brought out such beautiful Autumn colours! So I took my camera and explored the wet garden. I found the most interesting perspectives and saw my garden in a different light! Lots of colour that I thought I had lost…

 

[one_half]Lupins in a plant pot[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Minty green and edible too[/one_half_last]

[one_half]My basket makes for a pretty picture[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Ipomoea brings great colour to the garden[/one_half_last]

Sweet yarrow flowers are a favourite of mine.

[one_half]Garden gnomes are all around[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Artemesia also a big favourite[/one_half_last]

[one_half]The new chickens are quite at home[/one_half]

[one_half_last]The guavas – a winter fruit[/one_half_last]

The gorgeous Ice Cream bush – love the changing colours

Euphorbia – delicate and wintery looking

These are a new addition – not sure, but I think it is feverfew!

[one_half]The ground well-mulched[/one_half]

[one_half_last]The Lemon tree is bursting![/one_half_last]

[one_half]A fig leaf in full autumn colours[/one_half]

[one_half_last]I love this foliage-forget the name[/one_half_last]

Fallen leaves are everywhere!

The black pod on the Leopard Tree!

[one_half]Peach tree[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Quince tree[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Blueberry bush[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Pruned and ready for winter-Gaura[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Roses are looking beautiful[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Full bloom and smells just great![/one_half_last]

[one_half]Leopard Tree bloom[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Flowers in the wheelbarrow[/one_half_last]

The Artemesia – Powis Castle is a huge mass – I love it!

[one_half]My Grass Feature still interesting[/one_half]

[one_half_last]My dry river bed has amazing character[/one_half_last]

[one_half]The birdbath[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Bucket of weeds-very interesting[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Grasses still beautiful[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Love the colour of this grass[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Salvia Hot Lips are a talking point[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Easy growing and always flowering[/one_half_last]

I hope you enjoyed the wander around the garden as much as I have!

Not going to do much gardening…… but I am going to enjoy the new perspective!

Happy Gardening xxxxx

 

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Christine's garden Gardening Home page features

In the grass bed

I have pinks and whites and a single blue

The ornamental grasses are still a no-show (all cut back and barely visible now), but look … planted as an after-thought the teeny little Salvia plants I couldn’t resist at a nursery visit are coming along splendidly! Who would’ve thought?

I’m always reading rave reviews about them, nearly every garden blogger mentions them at some stage and show theirs off – but if I’m being honest, I’ve never been overly enamoured. Up until now. They are so much more beautiful in reality than they come across in photographs. I absolutely adore them now. They are lovely, lush and green, cute little flowers and the whole plant smells simply divine.

Here are the hastily planted (between downpours a few months ago) Salvias …

[one_half]Right side of the new bed slowly waking upThe new bed slowly waking up[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Salvia filling in on left side of the bedSalvia filling in on left side of the bed[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Starting to understand their popularityStarting to understand their popularity[/one_half]

[one_half_last]I have pinks and whites and a single blueI have pinks and whites and a single blue[/one_half_last]

I love just everything about the Salvia and am so glad I planted them. What you can’t see now are three Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) which I’ve planted behind these. They are still small and I don’t expect them to come into their own for a few months, but when they do … I think it will look wonderful here. Whispy tall grasses, Russian sage, Salvias, daisies and shorter grasses … going to be lovely.

So what happened to the Ipheon bulbs I planted? If you look carefully in the first photograph above, on the left hand side towards the front, you will see, peeping through in between the Carexes, some grass like foliage and tiny little blue flowers. These are the Ipheon bulbs I planted in June. They have just started flowering and are very cute. They work well there, but you sort-of have to know they are there to really see them. I’m hoping they will spread out a bit. They’re so small and like a little surprise discovery when you spot the dainty blue flowers for the first time. Lovely!

Here are some close up shots of the little Ipheon flowers.

Opening up - Ipheon

Fully opened Ipheon flower

Ipheon flowers and their foliage

So that’s the state of my “Grass Garden”. Not much grass but lots of prettiness!

What’s happening in your garden?
xxx

 

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30 Day Challenge Christine's garden Gardening

The 30 Day Challenge – Day 29

Salvia

Today I am grateful for the sense of achievement and the thrill of success I derive from gardening. Planting a seed, seedling or young plant and watching it grow until it reaches its potential is indeed very gratifying and watching a garden grow is extremely rewarding for me. From a patch of weeds overshadowed by overgrown trees I am slowly converting the space around my house into a beautiful garden. Gardening this past year has been wonderfully satisfying and I’m looking forward to lots more of it in the future.

Salvia

Photo: Salvia – This plant is new to me as I only bought it recently. I’ve planted it in front of the Virburnum for colour in an otherwise very “green” area in my garden.

Salvia – Salvia species include annual, biennial, or perennial herbs, along with woody subshrubs. The stems are typically angled like other members in Lamiaceae. The leaves are typically entire, but sometimes toothed or pinnately divided. The flowering stems bear small bracts, dissimilar to the basal leaves, though in some species they are ornamental and showy. The flowers are produced in racemes, or panicles, and generally produce a showy display with flower colors ranging from blue to red, with white and yellow less common.

About the 30 Day Challenge

Cat of The Whimsical Gardener, has invited Garden Bloggers the world over to join her in the 30 day challenge of posting a photograph and sentiment that you are thankful for – every day for 30 days. Find something you are thankful for every day, for 30 days, can’t be too difficult, can it? See all Barbie’s and my posts filed under “30 Day Challenge“.

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Barbie's garden Gardening Home page features Perenniels

Hot Lips and Calibrachoa

I’d thought I’d get my new purchases in the grown this weekend and I managed to do this! Usually, I have them standing around in their seed bags or seedling trays for a week or two (some are STILL in their bag)  – not good! I humm and haaaaa to see where I should plant them. But this time  – when Christine and I went shopping to the “just one bag of compost” nursery – I already had a place in my garden that needed filling. So they went straight in!! And I have now learnt a valuable lesson. Shop when you have a place in mind. This prevents the stress on the plant and it can immediately relate to its new home and plant friends! Let’s see how they do in their new home!

Salvia microphylla ‘Hot Lips’ Hot Lips Sage

Salvia microphylla ‘Hot Lips’ was found near the Chiapas area of Mexico and was introduced by Richard Turner of the Strybing Arboretum in San Francisco, California. This is a unique bi-color salvia that has red tips and white lips. In the hotter months of summer it may have all red and all white flowers on the same plant due to warmer night temperatures, but when the night temperature drops in the fall the flowers will return to their bi-color state. This Salvia has a similar look to Salvia greggii except it has a finer texture and smaller leaf. Hot Lips Sage seems not to have some of the leaf spot and defoliation problems that you can get with the greggii’s during high humidity situations, great for use in borders and beds. Salvia microphylla ‘Hot Lips’ can reach 30″ tall and spread up to 6′ at maturity.

This is a Hardy plant – Full sun with low watering requirements.

Calibrachoa

Calibrachoa is a genus of plants in the Solanaceae (nightshade) family. They are weak evergreen short-lived perennials and subshrubs with a sprawling habit, and they have small petunia-type flowers. They are found across much the same region of South America as petunias, from southern Brazil across to Peru and Chile.

Calibrachoa are closely related to the petunia. However on further examination it has been found that there are major differences in chromosomes, corresponding to external differences and fertilization factors that distinguished Calibrachoa from the petunias. Calibrachoa is named after Antonio de la Cal y Bracho, a 19th century Mexican botanist and pharmacologist.

 

Look how lovely they fit in my garden.

Happy Gardening xxxx