This is the journal of my endeavours to grow a range of fruit, veg and flowers from seed, grow organically, and my attempts to create a personal paradise with 1/2 acre of maintained gardens and 1/2 acre wild meadows. Northern Ireland's average daily high temperatures are 18 °C (64 °F) in July and 6 °C (43 °F) in January. Soil type: Clay

Thursday 3 May 2012

Pinks and Purples

Some lovely pinks and purples in the garden at the minute.

Left: A lovely little alpine / seaside plant - Armeria maritime / sea thrift. It flowers for quite a long period, throughout summer. I see this plant along our cliff walks in Ireland.

I have the Armeria in a dry, sunny area of the garden (not that I have many dry areas!) and it multiples like crazy. A great little plant!
Above: Azalea in flower - on a good hair day.
Below: The same plant on a bad hair day, caused by the 2010 Dec "big freeze" and not sure the plant will ever recover as I've had to cut out dead wood.
Honesty has really put on a good flower show in April/May!
Above: Muscari bulbs just keep coming up. They seem to flower for long periods.
Below: Bluebells in flower pictured with Honesty.

Some sort of miniature ornamental Cherry tree (planted by previous house owners); I have no idea how to care for it but I enjoy its flowers!

10 comments:

  1. Lovely! I don't know much about cherry trees but I think I would prune that one next winter as it looks like it flowers only on the ends of the branches so if you prune it and make it branch out maybe you will have more blooms.

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  2. I have honesty flowering amongst the bluebells in my garden too. I do love honesty, it gives lots of interest with the seed heads too.

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  3. I've recently bought a couple of armeria for a piece of graden that I'm redoing next to the pond (yes another replanting!) One has variegated leaves so I'm pleased to hear that they have a long flowering period.

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  4. I love the pink/purple/blue combinations in your garden - I don't seem to have anything flowering at the moment except the ornamental cherry - I am sure a bit of sunshine would help things along.

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  5. Hi Kelli, pretty pretty blooms! I think your flowering tree is a type of Kwanzan Japanese Cherry. Look them up to see if there are any good recommendations on pruning. They are one of my favorite flowering trees :)Cheers, Jenni

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  6. You sound like a famous artist, Kelli - moving on from the Yellow Period to the Blue Period ! I agree with Becky on the pruning of the Cherry. It looks as if your tree has gone straggly and needs a severe haircut. Round here I see lots of ancient cherry trees that are very compact, presumably because they are pruned hard each year.

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  7. Hi Kelli, your purples and pinks are so pretty, and the grass behind the cherry blossoms is so lush and green.Things really look pretty. Looks like your temperatures are a little warmer, too.

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  8. Agreed...honesty has done great....worth planting and getting over the "weed" mentality....I had my bowles mauve in the next bed...blended perfectly!! send me an email and tell me your story/your journey...

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  9. Spring is always a season for pinks and purples, my garden is just the same. I wonder why that is!

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  10. Hi Kelly. Thank you for your kind remarks. Your colors are beautiful. My favorites. I am growing sea pinks, too. They are just starting to bloom. I have them with the roses to add some interest. Your cherry seems to be thriving. My arborist daughter would say to prune branches that grow straight up. Don't know if that helps. Yours looks pretty gnarly--I like gnarly. Happy Gardening.

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