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

Friday 3 August 2012

Flowers July-August

Even with our rain and windy conditions there's plenty of colour in the garden. Here's a little snapshot of plants in bloom in July/August. The first two photos are geraniums - they're such good value for money as they can be divided in the Autumn to make lots of new plants. These plants were given to me by other gardeners so I'm not sure of their specific name. The purple and blues are my favourite.
Astilbe are looking good in bloom. Below is a close up of the flower - looks almost like cotton.
This year I've noticed white flowered astilbe growing in the wild in Northern Ireland.
I decided to scatter some Cornflower and Poppy seeds in a corner of the garden and this is the result. A few plants - even with all the slugs having regular dinner parties!
Above: Poppy (Danish Flag) sown from seed.
Below: 
Cornflower (Blue Ball) sown from seed - spot the ant and insect in the flower.

Don't you just love Nasturtiums. These are called 'Dwarf Alaska Mixed Colours'. Sown from seed in pots and then planted out in May/June.
Above: Crocosmia are adding welcome splashes of colour.
Above and below: Canterbury Bells grown from seed. They seem to be on their way out unfortunately. I'm hoping they'll have another flush of flowers as I see lots of tiny buds on the plants. 

And when I'm not gardening or at work, I'm enjoying the beautiful Northern Ireland countryside. This is a trip to the North Antrim Coast including Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge and the World Heritage Site Giant's Causeway.

Hope you're having a wonderful Summer!

Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.

9 comments:

  1. I'm not sure I'd dare cross the rope bridge! Spotted the ant on the cornflower - not my favourite of insects this year. Lovely flowers

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  2. My garden surely is on the downside. The mums have already bloomed much too early and are fading. It's been that way all summer. Ireland is beautiful, isn't it. Our tour didn't take us to Northern Ireland, so I am enjoying your photos. I think I would have a rather hard time crossing the bridge, however. Have a good week-end.

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  3. Your Geraniums are really spectacular. I used to have an extensive collection of them a few years ago, but lost interest. Your display might persuade me to change my mind again. Super pics of the Giant's Causeway etc!

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  4. Great that you still have so much colour in your garden - mine is starting to go downhill a bit - I never seem to manage to get colour right through the summer - must try harder.

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  5. Your flowers are beautiful! I love all of them and am really fond of nasturtiums....my mother always planted them when I was a child. The pics of Norther Ireland scenery are stunning!

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  6. Hi Kelli, beautiful flowers and I loved the 2 scenery photos as the Giants causeway has been on my to-do list for years!

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  7. Love your Astilbes. They don't grow too well in our normally dry summers here in Yorkshire. But this year has certainly not been normal. I've not got any flowers yet though.

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  8. Beautiful flowers! I love the Danish flag poppy!

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  9. You have such amazing success with the annuals in your garden. So many different blooms! I planted seeds from the same nasturtiums, and they have not thrived, with barely one bloom between four or five plants. Phooey. I only planted them to keep the bugs off the veggies, but I'll go back to marigolds next year. Enjoy your rains, wish we had some too!

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