February and March 

Pam brought in two delightful arrangements of winter flowers to the February AGM. One was Daphne and several different varieties of snowdrops, doubles and singles, some very special. The other was winter aconites and cyclamen.

​Liz also collected a selection of hellebores from her garden in March and has included the photograph below although they did not make it to the meeting!

​November and December

Liz Watson

There is not much in flower in my garden in November and December!

This is a time when viewed up close most gardens look a bit tatty but there are still some lovely things to see. The sun is low in the sky and on the days when it shine it lights up the autumn colours beautifully. The leaves have stayed on the trees a long time this year as there were we did not have many windy days in October and November so we have been able to enjoy the colours much longer. The beech tree in our garden looked wonderful as it caught the sun in the afternoon. The other things looking good are the coloured stems of the cornus in red yellow, the white stems of rubus (cockburnianus) and birch, Betula jaquemontii is one of the best and the paper bark maple Acer griseum. There are some pictures of them in my garden and more of the winter garden at Boadnant in North Wales. There the grasses also looked good and there were early rhododendrons in flower in late November.

Jenny

Dahlia
Verbena Bonariensis
Knautia Macedonica – in flower since early May

Pam

David Howard – orange Dahlia

Bishop of Landaff – Red Dahlia, purple foliage

Begonia non-stop – living up to its name

Rose – Ruby Wedding

Crocosmia

Liz

Eucryphia cordifolia – 30ft tree covered in white flowers

Hydrangea white mop head – Annabelle

Hydrangea Panticulata - white

Echinops ritro globe thistle

Heliantus Lemon Queen

August 


Early in the month the gardens are still looking good. Jenny, Pam and Liz brought some flowers from their gardens to the meeting. Towards the end of the month the Michaelmas daisies will be in flower for one final burst of colour before Autumn really sets in.

June & July 


Summer is in full swing now and gardens are looking fabulous with  many many perennials in flower and the roses delighting us with a profusion of flowers and scent. 


There are some pictures of Liz and Bob Watson’s garden from their NGS open day in June and a few from later in July (2014) on the right. 
The most striking things that are in flower in June that you can see in the pictures were the orange blossom and rambling roses, the tall spikes of yellow verbascum and the smaller creamy flower spikes of Sisyrinchium. There were also lots of Geranium varieties from bright pink tall Patricia and blue Rosanne to the smaller pink Nodosum, Oxonium and Walker’s Gift. In July the colours get more firey as Crocosmia Lucifer comes into flower with yellow Inula daisies and tall Hollyhock and orange Hellenium. The white and pink stocks are coming into flower too and the tall grass Stipa Gigantia and the Scottish Thistle Onopordum are still looking good. The trick now is keeping the garden in shape until the opening at the end of August.

March 

Things are beginning to wake up now and the garden is coming to life. The early flowering shrubs are flowering well and many of these are scented. The evergreen shrubs are still looking good as they have all winter but now some of the perennials like primulas, euphorbia and pulmonaria are beginning to take over the limelight.  Pam and Liz both brought in flowers and shrubs from their gardens to show the members.

From Pam's Garden

Mahonia Japonica

Dogwood

Daphne

Cyclamen

Crocus – large flowered purple and white

Hellebore – purple, pink spotted, double

Heathers – Erica Carnea pink and white 

Galanthus – various including a very special one with a yellow centre 

From Liz’s Garden

Shrubs

Mahonia Aqufolium 

Jasmine Nudiflorum

Pieris Japonica

Euonymous Silver Queen – White/Green

Euonymous Blondie – Yellow/Green

Rosemary Officinalis

Viburnum Tinus

Holly –Ilex Ferox Argentea

Chimonanthus Praecox Wintersweet – Sweetly scented

Viburnum bodnantense – sweetly scented

Lonicera Fragrantissima – winter flowering honeysuckle – scented

Skimmia Japonica Kew Green 


May - Pam’s Arrangements 


​Judas Tree Cercis Siliquastrum pink flowers – grown from seed Dwarf Lilac Syringa Pallibiana mauve flowers Aquilegia Granny’s Bonnets – The larger flowered ones are from the ‘State Series’ Valerian Pink 
Tulip Colour Spectacle – (see below) four blooms per stem! Meconopsis Cambrica Welsh poppy yellow Pimpinella 'Rosea' – Pink Cow Parsley Polygonatum Multiflorum Solomon’s Seal Magnolia Pink Susan Magnolia Bicolour pink/white –from seed Dicentra Spectabile Geranium Phaeum – dark purple flowers Other geraniums – pink and blue flowered Viola Plus two samples from Liz’s garden that were included - Viburnum Opulus Sterile – Snowball Tree Choysia Ternata - Mexican Orange Blossom – white scented flowers

Gardens Page

What is in flower in member's gardens month by month