It’s official. Spring is here! (Well, in the Northern Hemisphere it is). I hope it will warm up here now that the days are longer. A good sign is that the Coltsfoot finally opened this week. According to my phenological calendar that signifies the end of winter and the ground temperature must be above 5°C.
Coltsfoot, or Tussilago farfara
Happy Spring everyone!
Captured on a beautiful walk in the woods earlier this week. 😁
(Turn the sound up!)
Hippeastrum ‘Luna’ started flowering at the weekend with two stems at once and another in bud. I usually hesitate in cutting Hippeastrums, but the stems were curling and it seemed they needed more space. So one stem was cut for my appropriately shaped ‘Moon’ vase.
Hmm… a little colour would look nice with it. Well, there is very little in the way of garden flowers right now except a new Hellebore, or Christmas Rose. So I added one of the flowers that has been open for some time. Now I needed a little greenery!
Despite the cold wind I walked up to the woods adjacent to our garden. It was sheltered under the pines and spruce and I followed one of the deer paths across the soft pale green carpet of moss. It is so pretty in there, even on a grey and rainy day. I cut a small piece of spruce and then found a freshly fallen twig of pine – that was lucky as the branches are far too high up to cut and I didn’t want to disfigure any of the saplings. And then I found some ferns that were still quite green. Perfect!
I am joining Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for ‘In a Vase on Monday’, which encourages us to venture into our gardens (or the countryside) to find something for a vase – even on a cold and windy day in the middle of December when we barely expect to find anything. And then we do. 😁
Thanks Cathy!
Have a great week!
(Click on any image for a slideshow)
All along one side of the garden some Virginia Creeper has attached itself to our fence… it is only a flimsy wire fence intended to keep deer out of the garden, so we are not sure how long it will hold up! But for now the creeper remains simply because it is so pretty.
Virginia Creeper, 29th September 2024
Parthenocissus quinquefolia is an invasive and non-native vine that pops up in gardens and hedgerows seemingly from nowhere. The name means ‘virgin ivy with five leaves’. The berries are rapidly eaten by the birds in the autumn, so they obviously disperse the seed. But the creeper will also ‘jump’ from one spot to the next and can be seen climbing telegraph poles and streetlamps even in towns and villages.
Virginia Creeper a month ago
Here you can see the dark berries…
The vine fixes itself via tendrils that have pads on them which stick to the surface of walls, trees etc. These are hard to remove from fences, but should we need to lighten the load we will just have to cut the roots in places and the plant will then die back.
At this time of year the foliage is quite beautiful, turning red, purple, pink and orange. Here is a photo from last year, taken mid-October…
In spring the tiny flowers attract thousands of bees and other pollinating insects. It is also good cover for small birds, so – along with the berries – there is something for the wildlife for much of the year.
I would never plant this in a garden, simply because it can get out of control rather quickly and the leaves are also troublesome when they drop in the autumn. (But they do look fabulous climbing up buildings!)
Do you See Virginia Creeper in your part of the world, either in the wild or in gardens?
This is the last weed I will share this year, after covering another twenty wild flowers and weeds growing in and around my garden. I think my favourite this year was the saxifrage I covered here. Or was it perhaps the mallow…. or even the chicory?! I look forward to sharing more wild and weedy plants from my garden next spring. In the meantime, happy gardening and happy weeding! 😉
I love autumn. 🍁 It is not only leaf colour, but also the softer light, the grasses, and the flowers that bloom at this time of year.
Today I have chosen some favourites for my Monday vases, as I join Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for her Monday meme. I am making the most of the last flowers after our first (thankfully light) frost on Saturday night. Only a few Anemones seemed to have been affected and were hanging their heads first thing.
So, first of all, the red berries and pinky orange foliage of Viburnum opulus, combined with the pure sunshine of the yellow Helianthus tuberosus (Topinambur).
Both of these plants light up my morning amble around the garden with Anouk, and even on a dull day they brighten the view across the garden.
(Click on any photo to enlarge)
Then the asters and salvias.
My special salvias that may or may not make it through the winter are showcased in this tiny autumnal vase. Let me see if I can remember their names: pale pink ‘Joy’, yellow ‘Golden Girl’, red ‘Royal Bumble’, blue ‘Aromax Blue’, and the peachy coloured one is ‘Sierra San Antonio’. Fingers crossed at least one will survive, but I am predicting a harsh winter as we haven’t had a really cold one for several years now…. 😜
This next vase contains some leftover asters from last week’s vase, along with some pink Salvia viridis, a pink and a yellow Echinacea, a deep blue Nigella, and a red snapdragon.
And finally, my Etsy vase full of gorgeous asters – most names are forgotten, but the deep pink at the back is Alma Poetschke, and the dark purple one is September Ruby. The blue one at the front is ‘Blauer Gletscher’.
And there is a sprig of silver Artemisia in there for good measure. (I just had to use this photo simply because of my funny bird looking up at me! LOL!)
What a joy it is to have so many flowers at the end of September. I am not sure what happened to most of this month, as it flew by on a whirlwind of travel and apple-picking! Do you feel the same? And are you looking forward to the golden month of October as much as I am?
Wishing you sunshine and flowers this week.
Happy Gardening!
This beautiful blue flower lines the roadsides and lanes all summer here, and one single plant has established itself right in the middle of our meadow…
Chicory – Cichorium intybus
It is a bit too far in for me to photograph it properly, so the rest of my photos are from just beyond the garden fence on the lane up to the main road. The common name for Chicory in German is ‘Wegwarte’, which means guardian of the path. So apt!
They have been flowering for several weeks already now, and will continue flowering intermittently until the first frosts.
Chicory grows up to about a metre tall, but the stems tend to bend over making it seem shorter and untidy. In addition, the flowers usually open in the mornings, and close as the day warms up or if the sun is too strong. So the plant only looks pretty in the mornings or in half shade, although on cloudy days the flowers will often stay open longer.
Chicory has been used for various things in the past, including a coffee substitute. The roots are dried and ground for making coffee or tea, which is said to be good for the digestive system, and used externally it is supposed to make the skin look younger. 😉
I love seeing these blue flowers waving in the breeze at the side of the roads and I hope a few more will spread to my garden one day.
Does Chicory grow near you?
I am taking a couple of weeks off from these Wild and Weedy Wednesday posts, but I do have one or two more weeds to share in September, so until then…. Happy Weeding!
Words and Herbs 