June view 2009

June view 2009
View of rose and herb garden, June 2009

Small Garden Story

Over some 15 + years, I have been photographing the evolution of my small (85 x 15 foot) garden and it seems a waste not to put these records into some sort of context. Beginning here in April 2010 this Blog is intended to both act as a diary and to share past and present successes (and some failures), pleasures and disappointments with fellow garden-lovers. In due course, I intend to fill in some of the background and early days but that will have to wait until the winter months!

Sunday 29 August 2010

Unreliable i.d.

How many of us have not carefully tended a sickly-looking seedling only to find out that what we have been tenderly nurturing some wayward imposter that has been lurking in the compost!   I can accept that.   What is more frustrating is carefully planting, labelling and growing on tubers which are labelled as one thing and come up as most definitely something else.   Take, for example, what I have been confidently calling Cactus dahlia Natal which turns out more likely to be Orfeo and what is this cheeky soft magenta with the red stripes?   Colours are inevitably subjective but shapes?   Can a waterlily shape turn into a cactus, a pompon into a cactus?   Still it's all good fun and I was delighted when this stripey fellow opened up right next to my small clump of old-fashioned sweet pea Matucana.   According to the records it is Requiem but it looks a bit more exciting than that.   Will have to be doubly careful with labelling next year - just in case! 

After a particularly heavy downpour the sun came out on this sunny example of what I am confident is Karma Bon Bini.   Not what anyone I know would expect me to have in my garden but she's so cheerful who could object?

No comments:

Post a Comment