Ebb and flow

The garden is changing, shifting shape and form.  Late Spring has ebbed away and only the bobbing heads of Alliums, all green now, reminds us of the contrasting purples and whites of a few weeks ago.

Summer is flowing through the veins of the garden and as we pass the Solstice, a new road on this garden's journey has begun.  There are hints of hotter colours to come alongside the white, pink and purple of Foxgloves which stand tall and statuesque above the beds and borders like the spires of country churches in a landscape.

Sisyrinchium striatum stabs its way out of the borders while Papaver orientale 'Patty's Plum' lays across them like scrunched up purple gift wrappings.

These are high times to be remembered and stored.  Taking pictures of the garden helps and will see us through next Winter bringing back fond memories of all too fleeting moments.

This Sunday (30 June) is our last public opening of the year in support of the National Garden Scheme.  It will be an opportunity to share the garden at a precise moment in time.  But for us and the garden, the road goes on and around the next corner is the Lavender displays.  These tall and fresh green flower shoots will soon be many shades of blue, purple, white and pink.  Many Lavenders are in pots dotted around the garden so these too will add to the theme.  But as we past this Solstice moment, I cannot help but look back with a small degree of sadness at an array of plants that we will now not see again until next year.

Layer Cake

The garden has rippling colours of raspberry, white, purple and cream running through it like a layer cake and I want to take a bite out of it as it looks so lovely!

Alliums Purple Sensation, the tall white Mount Everest and low Nigrum, Foxgloves in purple and cream, the Oriental Poppy 'Patty's Plum' interplay and mix to create a wonderful, textured painting.

This is the high point of the garden in late Spring and early Summer.  The green so fresh, the colours so soothing, the overall effect quite beautiful.

For many of the plants, this is still only their second season as most were planted in Spring of 2012.  But all have taken well, matured and flourished. 

To wander around the garden at different times of the day sees the colour palette change and shift.  In the evening in particular the colours intensify and become more vivid.  In the morning, the garden is fresh and dew laden.

But already we can feel the footsteps of high Summer approaching.  A month away from the solstice, a gradual shift will now take place and the garden will transition with the purples and white being replaced with hotter and more vivid colours such as orange, lime yellow, deep red and the blue/purple/lilac shades of Lavender.

For now at least we must enjoy the moment and eat our fill of the visual delights.