Our gardening diaries - from latest toys, flowers to wildlife .. Please upload pics

[Larisa]

Good day to all!
Great weekend, @alp !
I do not see from above, but maybe it's Psephellus dealbatus.
Blue salvia, perhaps, Blue Angel.
I love double lilies so much!
But they do not bloom for more than two years. Then only leaves. I think they love warmth. I even cut flowers so that the bulb grew large. But all the same, the lilies did not blossom again.

 

[Logan]

@Larisa I don't grow lillies any more, because it's the same for me. But i did grow the Asiatic lilies, they did better.

 

[tbendl]

Hi all! It's been a rough week, my hubby had a stroke 11 days ago. Luckily it was mild with no long term effects, he had stint surgery done last week and they found and dissolved a clot at his brain stem. He is home and should make a full recovery but he is off the hot dog plan for awhile. Sitting in front of the pond watching the fish and relaxing is pretty awesome therapy...
Hmm I wonder if I can get a tax break or bill our insurance for "fish/pond therapy"?

Also as a note, when the anesthesiologist is attempting to put an IV into your husband and says "tiny prick with a needle" responding with "You shouldn't talk about yourself like that" is a must. Or at least it was for me.

We did get home to my lotus looking all sassy with a dragonfly to boot. Boy is it good to be home.

@alp are you on vacation or just moving??

 

[alp]

@Larisa Or it could be Centaurea macrocephala. I love your lilies and I think they are the same as mine. Pink double called Isabelle. A darker pink double called Elena for which I have scaled the bulbs and have now tons of lily bulblets. You can buy bulbs and scale them the way I did and you will have a constant supply of lilies. I have them indoors. The Elena has been outdoors and the lily beetles have made the flowers very unsightedly.

 

[alp]

@tbendl Lovely stunning water lily buds I think. Wouldn't be it lovely to have some sibirica blue with wonderful markings as well. But these photos are stunning.

 

[tbendl]

@tbendl Lovely stunning water lily buds I think. Wouldn't be it lovely to have some sibirica blue with wonderful markings as well. But these photos are stunning.

Thank you @alp, this particular shot is a water lotus. I do have water lilies and I also have the sibirica blue in my bog. It flowered early this spring already. I'll be sure to get some pictures next time.
Your garden is looking lovely! I love the orange dahlia and wish I could see the coloring in real life, pictures never seem to do flowers justice do they.

 

[alp]

@Stink Bug I hope you love my echinaceas..

I love this Wightwick Manor, a house passed onto the National Trust. For those in other country .. The National Trust (NT) is a massive institution which looks after some of the nation's historic buildings or places of interests. Sometimes when people can't afford death duties, they will gift their properties to the NT which maintain the places to keep the flavour of its historical era - furniture, fabrics, ceramics and silver and so on..

Wightwick Manor has been decorated with a lot of furnishings from William Morris and a lot of Pre-Raphaelite paintings. Have a look at his famous Pimpernel pattern

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=w..._AUIBigB&biw=853&bih=484#imgrc=XNy_wmhDWlzQAM:

And the pomegranate

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=W...w5tvUAhVJY1AKHeiPCZ0Q_AUIBygC&biw=853&bih=484

And acanthus mollis

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=w...qCj59vUAhWRYVAKHafzDlUQsAQIJw&biw=853&bih=484

But you really have to visit this house to see the beauty of William Morris handiwork

The manor is enormous

And it has quite a few original Pre-Raphaelite paintings by Gabriel Dante Rosseti, Edward Burn Jones and E de Morgan..

Some flowers

Very statuesque Eremurus

I also went to The Mosley Old Hall in which Charles II hid himself to avoid being captured by Cromwell.

Here is the parterre and the NT asked the garden design to put in all the plants what Charles II would have seen in his time ..

This cornus might have been photographed somewhere else - could be Packwood House, followed by acanthus mollis and a lilting lily - very dainty and pretty.

 

[alp]

@tbendl You know, I could never have guessed it was lotus as I always thought lotus was very big, probably because I saw them when I was very small. You see what I mean!

 

[tbendl]

Wow @alp that acanthus mollis is very cool looking, I've never seen one before. And the gardens and house are both so detailed and intricate. I am jealous of your travels!

 

[alp]

@tbendl Make sure you don't put acanthus mollis in your garden soil. Once established, they will be impossible to get rid of. I have this same problem. I got them from my mother in law ages ago and they are still here taking up a lot of spaces. Very difficult to get rid of. Must be in a pot. Why not ask via freewheely as I am sure a lot of people will want to get rid of them. I love travelling in this country as there are so many stories to tell - Anne Boleyn, Charles II, Catholic v Protestant .. No need to go abroad. Shame is that we have been to most places and are running out of places to see.

 

[tbendl]

I agree. You have the best history there for sure.

 

[Logan]

@tbendl glad that your hubby is on the mend. My brother had to have a quadruple bypass, they couldn't put a stint in, it was too bad. He was the only one on the ward, all the others had a stint. I don't know how he got like that, but i know he had type 2 diabetes.sometimes we don't speak to each other for years. But now it's more often.

 

[tbendl]

Yikes Logan. I'm glad he was ok and I'm glad you guys are talking more. Family is important, even when they are stinkers..
The scary thing was no indicators. He hasn't had high BP or cholesterol, no diabetes, or anything. He's active and not overweight. No warning at all. His eating habits stink but we are going to work on that.
How is your knee doing? Have you been able to get out in the yard since?
It was lovely to be home. I pulled some weeds but mostly just enjoyed the backyard and our creatures.

 

[Logan]

@tbendl yes thanks, now that my 2 Brothers have retired i see them more. Thanks for asking.I had the leg brace adjusted to 60 deg, on Friday get it adjusted to 90 Deg. It's getting a bit better, thanks. I've been doing the Gardening, I did some digging this morning, planted some cosmos.

 

[tbendl]

Ohhh 90 deg is great, that's such great news Logan. Looking forward to some cosmo pictures soon I hope.