Wordless Wednesday - Nestled Up

Identity Crisis

It was that time of year again this weekend - my horticultural society's annual plant sale which was blessed with the most glorious weather. Despite my yearly heartfelt "never again!" utterances I had my own stall at the sale. I did not manage to assemble as much as in some previous years which was a combination of both events and the weather. With not as many perennials divided as usual this spring, there were fewer perennials to take so a good few annuals as well as veggie plants supplemented my stall. As usual the weather the day before did not exactly provide perfect weather for preparations. It was decidedly cool and most windy so both plants and humans got rather ruffled. My right hand man was excused from duties on the day this year because of work commitments but was amazed when I called upon his expertise for some serious plant identification.

You can see the plant concerned in the above photo as well as in the close ups of flower and foliage below. I think that the photo has accentuated its pinkness - it appears a softer pink to my eyes.

It is one of my favourite umbifillers and is either chaerophyllum hirstum 'Roseum' or pimpinella major 'Rosea'. I've bought both plants in the past but one plant and both labels have since departed. They are fairly similar but the chaerophyllum can be identified by virtue of hairy leaves (hence hirsutum) and by its apple scented foliage. Neither of us could see much in the way of hairiness but himself detected an aroma of apple whilst I could not try as I may. So there was much sniffing and debate but no definite conclusion. Oh what a dilemma when it came to deciding how to label the plant, so in the end the two flowering specimens I had went to the plant sale under an anonymous guise. The larger of the two was the first to be snapped up from the table followed in due course by all the perennials flowering or not. The half hardy nicotiana mutablis all went. I wish that I could remember exactly when I sowed these plants last year, as I had managed to get one into flower which I think sold the others. If the weather had been kinder they would have all been in flower but at least they were all sturdy and sizeable plants which will flower soon.

Tomato plants which I had were in great demand likewise peppers which I did not have nor did any of the other sellers. However you can guarantee that if we bring peppers next year they will not be wanted. The mints which were popular last year did not prove to be so this year so most of them came home with me. They will now need repotting now in time for the next sale in July when our allotment association will be fund raising at a local event. My respect for the professionals increases every time I take part in these events as it helps you to appreciate some of what is involved in getting plants to shows and plants fairs. They have my utmost respect especially in a spring such as this.

Now before you ask of course some new plants just had to come home with me. These were an allotment bound tayberry, a begonia for indoors and a sweet cicely - destination undecided.
P.S. If anybody grows either the chaerophyllum or pimpinella perhaps you can help solve my plant's identity crisis.

Wordless Wednesday - 22/05/2013 - Geranium Phaeum 'Lily Lovell'

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - May 2013

A couple of blooms from my allotment this month. Firstly it's apple blossom time - the three small trees at the allotment 'Katy', 'Sunset' and 'James Grieve' are smothered with flowers. Sadly the weather has been cool, wet and windy since the flowers appeared but I'm hoping that the allotment bees have had the opportunity to pollinate. I did not realise until yesterday just how fragrant apple blossom is. I stood and sniffed for some considerable time.

Next the white currant which is dripping flowers this spring and which will hopefully provide some delicious berries this summer. I now have three currant bushes - red, white and black. The white currant is the most productive and the sweetest  ~ 

Thanks to Carol you can enjoy a treasure trove of May blooms over at May Dreams Gardens. I'm off to visit there later on this unseasonable cold and rainy day with pen and paper in hand.

Wordless Wednesday ~ 1st May 2013 ~ Take Three Days

End Of Month View ~ April 2013

I missed posting a March end of month view, because enthusiasm for both garden and allotment was at a low following the cold winter and other events going on at the time. Now that April is slowly ebbing away I am feeling decidedly more cheerful and energetic and am enjoying being in the garden, greenhouse and at the allotment again.

Reading through last April's end of month view post this April seems a long way removed in terms of both weather and flowers. No copious amounts of rain this year but it has definitely been on the cool side. Last April photos of geranium phaeum and tiarella in full flower illustrated my end of month post. When I looked yesterday evening the same geranium shows firmly shut pendulous flower heads whilst the tiarella looks quite bedraggled. Flowering now are the plants that I normally associate with March going into early April - pulmonarias, primroses, hellebores, little daffs, brunneras and other early spring gems. Later flowering hardy perennials such as astrantia and geraniums only seem to have broken through the ground in the last couple of weeks. I am only just in the process of dividing and potting some perennials for our garden club plant sale which is towards the end of May. Usually this is something that I do in March, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a warmer spell that they settle in and bulk up over the next month.

The greenhouse is slowly filling up with seedlings of tomatoes, sweet peppers, beetroot, lettuce and salad mixes, various basils, cucumbers, squashes, courgettes, red onions, leeks, purple flowering artichokes, broad beans and peas. I noticed last year that all my early French bean sowings did not fare well, so I've decided not to sow French beans until May. One exception though was a sowing of a new to me variety 'Speedy' which is recommended for early and late sowing. I will be interested to see how it fares. In the flower department I have sown nicotiana mutablis, nicotiana alata, brachycombe, cosmos 'Purity, various sweet peas, cerinthe, nasturtium 'Blue Pepe', gaura lindheimeri, ammi visnaga, orlaya grandiflora, daucus carrota 'Black Knight', cobaea scandens as well as some geraniums from my own saved seed. Time soon for pricking out and the inevitable greenhouse shuffle - again such activities would have normally started by now.

Progress at the allotment has been slow but I've been putting in some sessions especially over the last couple of weeks. I have planted the shallots that I started off in the greenhouse - 'Red Sun', 'Golden Gourmet' and 'Longor'. Potatoes will be going in during the coming week but just one bed this year. I've also been preparing a bed to plant some new strawberry plants after reluctantly deciding that the existing plants had probably reached the end of their most productive years. Sadly the winter seems to have taken its toll on the greenhouse at the allotment and on the lean to shed, so himself has promised some repair work. Oh and guess what I forgot to remove the nest in my shed which has already been blessed with three blackbird eggs. Makes journeys into the shed more problematic but I should be able to get in and out again more easily as the year progresses. At least now that we have a composting toilet on site I do not have to retire to the shed with my bucket. I'm not sure what the blackbird would have made of that.

As for new plants there have been one or two purchases, mainly at the Cheshire and Friends branch of the Hardy Plant Society plant sale as well as from a visit to my local nursery at Bluebell Cottage Gardens. I have yet more pulmonarias, a couple of brunneras as well abd a clematis recta 'Black Velvet'. For now they are taking time out in the coldframe.

Thanks to Helen of The Patient Gardener's Weblog, who came up with the excellent concept of the End Of Month view. Looking forward to reading what everyone else has been up to.

P.S. A beautiful warm and sunny afternoon to round off April - we enjoyed coffee sitting outside for the first time this year.

Wordy Wednesday - 24th April 2013 - 'This Telescoped Spring'

"There is a strange order in things this year ;  for here is the first swallow with us while half the daffodils are as yet only greenish yellow buds. As the seasons are early or late, so do we get various combinations of blossoming. Last year, with its especially early spring, brought the American flowering currant into bloom with the plum, and scattered the almond blossom upon shaking daffodils. Now, today, daffodils are coming out as the apple blossom still shows pink. The trees follow the calendar more steadily, except that the younger trees always seem to come into leaf much later than the full grown ones.

As the month draws on, there is a sudden rush of warmth and in a day or two the garden is a changed world, as in a fairy story where a spell has suddenly been lifted. Barely budding trees thicken with green, the spinach is rampant and, the rhubarb, that a few days back was pale and stubbly, is like an enormous tropical plant. The cherry blossoms that should have been in bloom for Easter, now burst into festoons of hanging blossoms. Yesterday the buds were still tight and colourless. Pear trees are heavy with flowering clumps. Sticky buds of the chestnut change and stretch out wooly and open with a few hours of heat and sun, showing their blossom as a hard point of pale green. Bees bumble, spiders run in the grass and ladybirds glow everywhere. As I stand, for luck, on the grass I hear the first cuckoo. After being held back for over a month, all the things tumble over themselves and each other in their urgent rush to bloom. Has there ever been such a rush? Frantically one tries to take it all in, but one misses many subtleties in this glut of blossoming. The primroses and daffodils that should have had place of honour a few weeks back now excite us somewhat less, because the lilac buds fatten so visibly, and anemones and violas flower. This telescoped spring wastes much beauty"

This extract from the chapter on April from 'Four Hedges', written and engraved by Clare Leighton could refer to April 2013 but in fact was written in the 1930s. The book chronicles the story of a year in of a much loved garden situated in the Chiltern Hills, tended to by Clare and her partner. Although I do not agree with the last sentence or two I think that the rest of her description of the late arrival of spring sums this one up perfectly. The above illustration is just one of the many exquisite wood engravings that illustrate the book.

That First Plant Sale Of The Year

Just before last weekend's social event of the year there was time for a lightening raid at that very first plant sale of year! This was held by the Cheshire and Friends group of The Hardy Plant Society as part of their 25th anniversary celebrations. I was member of this local group in the dim and distance past and still try to attend their annual plant sales when possible. There is always a good choice of happy and healthy plants on offer grown by both local nurseries and keen gardeners. We left home in brilliant sunshine but by the time we arrived the skies were clouding whilst a rather erratic wind blew up from nowhere. The sale was mainly based outdoors and quite high up on a hill top so the sellers deserved a medal for their tenacity.

Purchases included a trio of pulmonarias - 'Stillingfleet Meg', 'Majesté' and 'Opal' as well as the brunnera 'Langtrees' with its most subtly marked foliage. The other acquisition was cardamine quinquefolia which has hovered on the edge of my consciousness for years. This was the first time that I had ever seen it in the flesh but only a few seconds acquaintance were enough to persuade me that this plant was coming home with me. Sadly its flowers were almost on their last legs so it will be next spring before I can take photos and show them here.

I wish that I could have stayed long enough for a second sweep of the stalls as I'm sure that I missed out on some gems but was still delighted with my purchases. I'm sure that there will be other plant sales this year but there's nothing more exciting than the first of the year. What about you - have you had the chance to get to a plant sale yet this year and if so what did you come home with?

Wordy Wednesday ~ 17th April 2013 ~ Green

"I live in the country surrounded by green fields all year long, but when March slips into April I realise that I have never truly seen green before. It works every time, catching me breathless and dazed by sheer exhilaration. The luminous lime begins as a suggestion, speckling the hedgerows, almost shimmering above them, rather than growing out of the branches, then starts licking up from the bare soil with shocking intensity. Certainly nothing characterises the months of March, April and May as the range of greens shining like stained - glass windows".

 - from 'Gardening at Longmeadow' by Monty Don

Customer Satisfaction

This week's golden trowel is awarded to Avon Bulbs. Back in November some armchair travelling to the Crimean seaside followed a bulb planting session. The bulbs in question were crocus 'Yalta' described in the catalogue as 'a hybrid form resembling a large tommasinianus with silvery blue outer petals and darker purple inner petals. Gorgeous even in bud'. A long wait then ensued which this year seemed never ending but eventually signs of life were detected. Delight however rapidly morphed into disappointment when the flowers opened in March. Waving at me were the brightest yellow crocuses you could ever wish to meet - not quite the desired effect. The crocuses had been planted across two containers which were then pushed temporarily out of sight. However there was an upturn in the proceedings - as the yellow crocuses were croaking, slivers of purple shone out. They are in flower now, look most attractive and are presumably the genuine article. Unfortunately though only 3 out of some 25 bulbs were the variety that had been ordered.

A phone call was made to Avon Bulbs to inform them of this occurrence. As soon as I mentioned the word 'Yalta', the ever friendly and courteous lady who answers the phone at Avon Bulbs, immediately guessed what I was about to say. Apparently other customers have made the same observation with some having all yellow crocuses, others had a mixture whilst presumably some customers ended up with exactly what they ordered. It was suggested that the supplier had probably got confused when packing up the bulbs. An apology was offered and a replacement bag of 'Yalta' will wing their way to me this autumn.

Result : one satisfied customer.

This week's rusty trowel goes to Wilkos. Now Wilkos is great for us non drivers. It stocks a wide range of bulbs, seeds, pots, plants and gardening sundries. Here in the greenhouse vermiculite is used regularly both for seed sowing and cuttings so being able to buy it from a local store is great. A 10 litre bag of vermiculite travels quite happily on the bus so the services of himself are not required. However the design of the bag changed a couple of seasons ago. The new design has larger ventilation holes which result in a trail of fine vermiculite particles escaping all over the contents of shopping basket, conveyor belt and the assistants who have to pick up the bags to scan them. Once packed they still leak further so it seems you are paying for something that has diminished in volume, before you have even started to use it. After seeing two assistants sprayed with dust in the last month, which can't be good for their health, I decided that a phone call was in order. My comments were met with the response that so many thousands bags of the product had been sold and that I was the first ever customer to complain! My concerns were noted but it looks like either I have been incredibly unlucky and picked up bags with faulty ventilation holes, or that the holes in the bags are all the same but everyone else is not unhappy with the product. Perhaps I'm just getting too pernickity? I will continue to buy vermiculite at Wilkos in the immediate future but will now investigate online sources.

Result : one why did I bother customer?

Have you had any positive/negative experiences as a customer recently when purchasing horticultural items?

Wordless Wednesday ~ 03/04/13 ~ Crocus 'Yalta'

Just Because ....

Just because it's officially spring (despite the heavy snow falling outside) and I'm back home after spending most of the last month away, I am celebrating with a give away - a paperback copy of Val Bourne's book 'The Natural Gardener'. Val writes regularly for various gardening magazines and is a regular contributor to a national newspaper gardening supplement. She is also the author of several books all of which I have greatly enjoyed.

Part of the introduction on this book's dust jacket reads as follows: "The key to natural gardening is to build creatively on the natural environment. The natural gardener does nothing to harm the animals or plants in the world around us. but instead, gardens to attract an abundance of wildlife. Val Bourne's flower filled Cotswold garden is a natural garden. It is full of healthy plants that provide interest throughout the year, from the snowdrops and hellebores that start the flowering year in February, to the autumn border that lights up the garden in October. Following a year in her garden Val Bourne explains the strategies that she uses to attract the bumblebees, beetles and other creatures that interact with plants in a complex web of life to become her 'living jigsaw' of helpers. She shows how it is possible, to wherever you garden,to work within natural principles and overcome difficulties creatively to make a garden that is not only wildlife friendly but also beautiful."

The book is illustrated throughout with photos taken by Val and by the award winning photographer Clive Nichols. Taking the reader through the seasons it the book focuses on plant choices and their impact on the creatures that may live in or pass through your garden. You can read a thoughtful review of the book over at Veg Plotting. If you would like to have a chance of winning this book all you have to do is comment on this post by the end of next Friday (29th March). Unfortunately I will have to restrict entries to UK gardeners only because of the cost of postage.

In the meantime I have to confess to taking a perverse pleasure in the colder than normal temperatures, as it means that I have not missed the boat with any sowing activities. The sweet peppers that I sowed sometime in the middle of February seem to have gone into suspended animation but are sturdy seedlings. Some of the tomato seedlings that himself has been caring for are on the leggy side. No worries though I have time to sow more. He has more than adequately coped with the arrival in the post of one or two special snowdrops and some strawberry plants, which have been potted up and neatly labelled. I was most impressed. This weekend I will be sowing sweet peas and peas trusting that the weather must warm up soon.

Thanks to all of you who have sent your good wishes for my mother's recovery -  your thoughts were much appreciated. I am glad to report that she is is much improved although still not a hundred per cent.  Hopefully some warmer weather will see her further down the road to good health.

I will announce the winner of the book in a post over the Easter weekend. Have a good weekend.

End Of Month View ~ May 2012

May was a month of mercurial weather, much squidging of lily beetles and my favourite gardening show. It was also the month when I came to the conclusion that somebody else can grow my tomato plants next year. Please remind me come January.

Progress at the allotment leaves a lot to be desired - I think that I might have said that last month. The cold and wet first half of the month meant that I did not spend enough time there and then before we knew it it was too hot to work. So the weeds have had an absolute field day. Garlic and shallots have survived the rabbit's initial attempts to thwart them and are making good progress especially the garlic. Note to self - do not plant any home harvested shallots next year - they have not done well. All the soft fruit have been enjoying the wet stuff and I think they will do well this year. The apples sadly though were early into flower and have been hit by the cool nights - two of the three trees are showing less fruit than they did last year which is most disappointing. They fruited for the first time last year so I was expecting a better yield this year but it's not to be. Beetroot, onions, lettuces and chard are slowly bulking up. Looking most tatty though are my broad beans and peas, which have been not only knocked back by the weather but also nibbled by the weevil.

RED LETTER DAY for the allotment association! Our bid for lottery funding to purchase and install a composting toilet was successful. We found out at the end of April but had to keep quiet until after the local elections. Once up and running this facility should make a big difference, especially when we want to open our gates to members of the local community. We have a year to complete the project although hopefully it will be done before the end of the summer.

Most of my activity in the garden seemed to be centred round the greenhouse, where the challenge of keeping less hardy seedlings ticking over was a challenge. I will either buy tomato plants next year or sow them much latter. I was staggering in at night with crates of tomatoes, sweet peppers and cucumbers and then staggering out again come morning to return them to the outer world. I was also reluctant to pot them on as the number of crates was increasing. If they had been smaller I could have fleeced them effectively and left them out at night. Then came the heat and the challenge became a different beast. From not knowing one end of a watering can from another it seemed that I was permanently welded to one. Much apprehension towards the end of the month, when I briefly left himself in charge the greenhouse and cold frame, whilst I visited my mother but I am pleased to report that he did a good job. Other noteworthy features of the month were the sheer volume of lily beetles that have landed on my three pots of lilies. I have never come across as many in previous years and wonder whether the early spell of warmth back in March followed by all the rain is responsible. Has anybody else observed a rise in numbers of these little red beasties?

A new word entered my vocabulary in May - the word is gabion and all will be revealed next month. Himself is revelling in getting down and dirty with a major garden project. The above photo may give you a clue.

Finally there was some serious plant buying at the show as well as a couple of others that just slipped in before month's end at my gardening club meeting. I have just remembered that I have not posted about my show purchases yet so will have to do so whilst they are still fresh in my memory. Watch this space.

With thanks as always to Helen over at The Patient Gardener's Weblog who came up with the excellent idea of sharing our end of month views.

Wordless Wednesday ~ 30th May 2012

All Boxed Off

The last week has passed in glorious sunshine, so much to do in the garden and allotment as well as the additional flurry of activity of getting sorted for our annual garden club plant sale, which took place on Saturday. Long time readers may remember this post. Well after temporarily retiring from the plant sale for a couple of years and just helping out on the day, I returned to having my own stall this time with the intention of raising funds for a particular allotment project. There has been much sorting out of plants and boxes over the last few days.

My good intentions of dividing lots of perennials earlier in the spring somehow got lost in the chill wet that was April so I had little to take that was in flower on the day. What was in flower though walked from the table in the first few minutes as it normally does on these occasions. With the allotment theme though I mainly had herbs and vegetables for sale. Lemon verbena or aloysia triphylla, which Cathy at Words And Herbs,  has recently posted about went as soon as it was stroked. Chocolate peppermint with its aroma of 'After Eights' was popular too. I wonder why. I was rather pleased with my selection of basils - cinnamon, lettuce leaf and lemon - something for everybody so I thought until the customer who only wanted Thai basil and no other. Oh well there's no pleasing some folk. So another plant sale done and dusted but I will be reporting for duty again at a local community event in July and am already wondering what I can possibly assemble for that occasion.

Wordless Wednesday ~ 23rd May 2012

Have spent the last twenty minutes or so trying to think of the name of this unfolding flower which changed its name some time ago - then it suddenly tripped off my tongue - of course it's nectaroscordum siculum bulgaricum!!!

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day ~ May 2012

It seemed more like the middle of March than the middle of May when I stepped out to try to take some photos this morning. Chilly, gusty wind and winter coat on. Moreover it it had rained quite heavily in the night. Plans to leave the greenhouse shut for a while were thwarted when I saw a little bird flapping about on the staging. I was horrified to think that I had shut it in there for the night but tried to console myself by thinking that at least it had some warm shelter with some luxury bedding in the shape of fleece. The day has not improved with umbrella put into action earlier to fend off hail.

In May I have plenty of the above - geranium phaeum - in different shades - in fact too much but it is one of my favourite plants. It seeds itself about but not too nuisance values and is such an undemanding but obliging plant. It does not seem to suffer from any ailments and the molluscs treat it with disdain. Oh the leaves do get mildew in prolonged dried spells but no danger of that this spring.

The aquilegias have arrived -  I am not sure though yet whether 'Nora Barlow' is going to show up this year and will be disappointed if she doesn't. The plant above is a self seeded guest whilst below is an old favourite obtained from a seed exchange, possibly 'Hensol Harebell' if my memory serves me well ~

Another plant that I'm fond of polemonium caeruleum or Jacob's Ladder is showing colour. Firstly the stalwart ordinary version which seeds about ~

and one of cousins polemonium 'Lambrook Mauve' which is sterile but is easily divided in spring ~

The Pacific Coast Iris opened its one flower bud today - it must have known that it's a special day. I posted about this iris recently in what I have now christened my 'Not Waving But Drowning' border. Thanks for all your encouraging comments on that post which were much appreciated. Let's put it this way - there is definitely much more leaf than flower so the iris will be moving home later this year.

Two more May would not be withouts ~ polygonatum odoratum or 'Solomon's Seal' ~

and anthriscus sylvestris or cow parsley ~

Finally what would May be without a touch of blackthorn or May - I don't know about you but I'm definitely not casting a clout just yet ~

Much more May magnificence can be mulled over at May Dreams Gardens, with thanks to Carol as ever for hosting.

Malvern Spring Gardening Show 2012

After much ado about mud and the weather we made it to the Malvern Spring Gardening Show. The carpet was pulled from underneath our feet, when with a couple of days to go, our campsite booking was cancelled. This was done with great regret as it is possibly the site's busiest time of the year but the ground was simply too saturated. If I had not already been in possession of the tickets, I think that we might well have stayed at home as the forecast for our journey down was looking pretty absymal. However with some gentle persuasion from himself and many phone calls later, we managed to find alternative overnight accommodation some distance away just outside Ludlow.

So we got there safely and enjoyed a rain free day on Friday. As usual there was much to gawp and wonder at. Congratulations must go to the exhibitors on putting on such a good show given the weather in the lead up - they are absolute stars. I am always fascinated by these insect catching plants though not tempted to grow them ~

I was bewitched and beguiled by blue:

Himself's favourite exhibit  ~ the machinery that brings the big stuff to the show ~

The only RHS gold medal awarded to a show garden went to to the team from Graduate Gardeners Ltd for their 'Place To Reflect Garden, featuring a living wall of ferns ~

A full list of all awards can be seen here.

I always enjoy the school gardens competition, which features gardens designed and put together by local primary school children, with a lot of input from their teachers and parents I imagine. As usual some of the children had time off school to be there and their enthusiasm and excitement was catching. The future is safe in the hands of tomorrow's gardeners ~

Finally what I most wanted to bring home with me (apart from in the plants category) ~

On reflection though I did not enjoy the show as much as in previous years and having been asking myself why. It could be because instead of being conveniently situated a five minute drive away, we were further away so did not get to the show until well after it opened. Not only was there less time to see everything in but I was galumphing about rather slowly and eventually sorely in my not recently worn walking boots. Was it more crowded than usual or was it my imagination? Perhaps it could be possibly be a case of show fatigue. We have visited the show regularly over the last two decades so we may take a break next spring. Himself was quick to note a regular Ludlow based event taking place this weekend, which appealed to him more than Malvern. Beer, bangers (classic cars) and bread were involved! Say no more.

You may well ask what came home with me in the plant department ~ that will be revealed later this week.

'Not Waving But Drowning'

Himself has suggested to me that the title of this blog should be 'The Theoretical Gardener' before quickly ducking for cover. There may well be something in this. I will read avidly about gardens and gardening, visit gardens and nurseries until my feet give up and take great satisfaction in growing fruit and vegetables and propagating new plants. However when it comes to putting it all together, the design side and maintenance I think that I will never progress beyond wearing 'L- plates'.

The above glimpse is a case in point where I have crammed in too much for the space to cope with. Just how do you strike the balance between unsightly patches of bare earth and being cramped in too close together for comfort and optimum growth? I am unable to gauge how much plants will grow, how long this will take and to adjust accordingly. This back to front spring can take some of the blame this year  - growth got off the starting block at phenomenal pace in March, with the perennials sprinting away faster than Usain Bolt. I was away for a short time during that warm spell, when it would have been a great time to get in there to move and divide. Since then it seems to have done little else but rain, so time to spend outdoors has been at a premium - in fact taking up permanent residence in the greenhouse seems a more attractive option. Somewhere in the space between the dicentra specatablis (yes I know it has a new name) and the lamium orvala is a most attractive 'Pacific Coast' iris - you can see the strappy grey leaves as well as plant with a real tongue twister of a name - Mathiasella bupleuroides 'Green Dream'.

I bought the iris many years ago on a visit to a NGS garden on the outskirts of Liverpool. It was in flower at the time which is the very reason why I bought it. It flowers in May sadly but briefly and is a most bewitching colour. I will try and post a photo when and if it flowers this year, providing that flowers are visible underneath the canopy. The mathiasiella is a more recent purchase - 2010 vintage I think. It did nothing last year - in fact it looked very poorly after the cold winter and I was resigned to its loss. However it slowly and miraculously perked up so I was looking forward to seeing its subtle flowers this spring. Now I'm not sure how well it will do - it certainly could have done with moving away from the dicentra and allowed some breathing space. I'm sure that plants like us quiver if somebody invades their personal space.

Hopefully somebody will sooner will invent an app which will solve my dilemma. In the meantime perhaps I should be ruthless and divide/move even if it is not the ideal time. Is it just me or do other people find this aspect of gardening the most challenging? Answers on a postcard please!

The title of the post is borrowed from the poem 'Not Waving But Drowning' - by Stevie Smith - not the most cheerful of poems but I thought it an appropriate description for how my plants must feel.

'Beauty And The Beast'

subtitled 'A Tale Of Two Lamiums.'

The beauty of this tale the subtle but oh most pleasing lamium orvala which is a source of much pleasure at the moment. This is a plant that I have never seen in a nursery or garden centre. I bought it a couple of years ago at our local Country Market which over the years has been an excellent source of plants at most reasonable prices. I bought it with some trepidation after my experiences with its relative aka 'The Beast'. However I was reassured by its seller that it does not spread but self seeds in a most considerate manner. Now two years on this plant has filled out and is giving me much pleasure this spring. It seems easy to grow and its hooded dusky pink flowers have fascinating markings ~

In her book 'Plant Personalities' Carol Klein describes it so ~ "Lamium orvala is devastatingly gorgeous, a must have plant. Those seeing this dead nettle for the first time are invariably enraptured. Again, it does not thrust itself forward, but relies on its inherent grace and its dark good looks to attract admirers. Each flower consists of a deep bowl into which pollinating insects are invited via a broad landing pad, spotted and marked like the lights on a runway to guide them in". Apparently it grows easily from seed but I still have to find any self - sown seedlings which I would welcome with open arms. It is also possible to take stem cuttings so I will test this out later this year. Lamium orvala's native habitat is woodland margins so it prefers some partial shade. I grow it in an east facing border.

Its not so desirable relative is one of those plants that should come complete with a government health warning. Bewitched by the writing of Margery Fish I was delighted when I originally came across lamium galeobodon variegatum. Its most innocent sounding common name of yellow archangel could not be more misleading. I wrote about it here and now some two years on I am still trying to eradicate it from the garden. This plant creeps and spreads itself about with guile. I have come to the conclusion that digging it out by hand may never work. It's an absolute thug and one that despite its enchanting appearance that you should stay well clear of!

I have noticed this spring to my horror, that this plant is making an attempt at world domination, as it is now creeping up the lane from our house to the main road - time for drastic action methinks.