October pinks and purples

While the wind is blowing around the house and stormy weather is our part,

I was going through some pictures of the first part of October and I have to admit that although

lots went wrong in the garden this year, there are always little things to enjoy, which I did.

So here's a little flashback to the first half of this month.

 

Terwijl de wind buiten ongenadig huis houdt en het stormachtig weer is,

bekeek ik eens wat foto's van het begin van deze maand en ik moet toegeven dat,

ondanks alles wat fout ging in de tuin dit jaar, er toch altijd kleine dingen zijn om van

te genieten, wat ik dan ook deed. Even een flashback naar begin deze maand.

 

 

In Spring I sowed some Chinese Asters, same as I did last year, but somehow

the Asters didn't do well and by the end of August I had given up hope that

they would ever grow and eventually bloom. But then came September and

along with it the sun we had been missing all Summer and that revived the Asters.

They didn't grow as large as they normally would and the blooms were of

a smaller size as well but the colour was there. A variety of pinks and purples

nodding gently in the October wind and rain and sunshine.

A joyful welcome to Fall.

 

In de lente zaaide ik net als vorig jaar Chinese Asters maar die gingen

niet zo goed vooruit als verwacht en tegen het einde van augustus had ik eigenlijk

de hoop al een beetje laten varen dat er nog iets van zou worden.

Maar toen kwam september en de zon die we tijdens de zomer moesten missen

en dat deed de planten herleven. Ze werden niet zo groot als normaal en de

bloemen waren ook kleiner maar de kleur was er. Bloemen in

schakeringen van roze en paars, die zowel in wind, regen als zonneschijn

de herfst vrolijk welkom leken te wuiven.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

White petals with just a touch of pink for these Dahlia's.

I was sooooo very happy with these because

the Dahlia's have suffered a lot from hungry bugs

that really fancied the blooms in our garden.

All they left was the heart of the flower after they savoured all of the petals.

The leaves were left unharmed.

 

Witte bloemblaadjes met een toets van roze voor deze Dahlia's.

Héééél blij was ik ermee want de Dahlia's hadden echt

wel te lijden van hapgrage beestjes die de bloemblaadjes

een ware delicatesse vonden en die tot het hart van elke bloem verorberden.

De groene bladen lieten ze met rust.

 

 

Loved these Dahlia blooms so much,

I kept photographing them ;) Rain or shine.

 

Vond deze Dahlia's zo'n meevaller,

ik kon er blijven foto's van nemen, zon of regen ;)

 

 

 

 

Even some roses surprised us by blooming in October.

 

Zelfs enkele rozen verrasten ons met bloemen in oktober.

 

 

Not pink, but red to finish this post with.

Another surprise in the garden, one Zinnia!

Must have been a lost seed that sprouted

and finally led to this lovely surprise in

one of the containers on the terrace.

 

Geen roze maar rood om deze post mee te eindigen.

Nog een verrassing in de tuin, één enkele Zinnia!

Het moet een verloren zaadje geweest zijn

dat kiemde en tot deze leuke verrassing leidde

in één van de potten op terras.

 

 

 

Have a lovely day and don't forget

to enjoy the little things.

 

Fijne dag en vergeet niet  

te genieten van de kleine dingen.

 

 

Marian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gathered style in September

Been having some fun a while ago with some flowers, faded and not, and seedpods

I gathered from the containergarden and arranging them on the table.

It's something new to me because I usually photograph flowers as they are

on the shrub or plant but this time I decided to take it a step further and try to

do a bit of, well, I guess you could call it styling, still in its babyshoes though ;)

 

 

This is what I gathered. All from my containers, except for the lovely Maid-in-the-mist

seedpods which I noticed in the garden, hiding, I never saw them bloom.

 

 

The, although not too big, Dahlia(you can read more about its larger sisters in a previous post ;) )

and the Rose were quickly ommited from the whole thing. They didn't work well to style with.

Too big afterall. I also tore the faded Hydrangea flowers apart and only used some of the petals. 

 

 

This was a first attempt.

 

 

But then the wind wanted to have its say in it and you know what,

I liked it! So this was what I ended up with.

Amazing how little is needed to make a pretty picture, or isn't it?

 

 

But hey, I wanted to use both Rose and Dahlia in the composition as well,

which led to this "wreath decorated" ;)

I know, a bit much maybe

but I didn't mind, still loved it.

 

 

Guess this could be my entry for GGBD September at once.

So what's blooming or has faded into something beautiful in your garden in September?

 

 

Have a lovely week everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marian

 

 

 

 

 

 

GBBD August: End of summer

 

 

 This month has felt more like Autumn instead of Summer and with

all the rain and wind we've been having, flowers have had it even

harder than they already do in our garden. The roses never lasted

very long and  Dahlia's seem to be blooming one flower at the time.

The Japanese Anemones on the other hand have been blooming

for over a month now and with two containers of them on either

side of the bench right in front of the kitchen window, I get the

most out of them and enjoy their lovely sight. The white Echinacea

may not be as resilient to the wind we've had but is also still a pretty sight,

also in the container garden though, nothing blooming in the garden

at the moment. Hydrangeas have had it hard this year and are really not looking

their best. Geranium Endressii has now gone into rest. I cut it back a bit

and new fresh foliage is already starting to appear. Looking good!

So sorry I can't show you more different flowers, I really wish I could,

I really tried but the Cosmos for example has grown so high but without

flowering. I tried to find the reason for it but couldn't find the answer.

With all the wind and rain, it's now looking even more miserable,

certainly not photoworthy, so you see, I do try but this year has been

so extreme and crazy, it didn't have a great effect on the garden.

 

 

 

 

Marian

 

GBBD June 2014: Crazy June

June has been crazy on all levels sofar, even on the garden level, due to the crazy weather we've had a week ago, weather that brought a lot of damage to crops on the farms around where we live, due to the large hail that fell. The hail also damaged a lot of cars and glass greenhouses, veranda's or domes, and then there's also the waterdamage. The hail struck here as well but the damage is minimal compared to what a lot of people have to cope with.

 

But first let's have a look at what's blooming in the garden. A bit too soon yet for Hydrangeas to bloom, and they did suffer from the hail as well, there's not really that much blooming in the garden at the moment, just Geranium Endressi, a Sweet William flower here and there and some Love-in-a-Mist, also thrown onto the grass but still surviving the hail which is amazing really.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Mock Orange shrub was blooming wonderfully for just a couple of days when the weather turned against it and it lost its petals far too soon, leaving the soil and part of the path covered in white petals looking like snow.

 

 

This was last Sunday

 

The following Monday morning

 

The hail ripped a lot of Hydrangea leaves or left huge holes in them, both in the garden and the container garden. A lot of flowers won't have all the little flowers they normally would hadn't there been this bad weather.

 

Some roses from the container garden I quickly cut at the beginning of the hail storm, before it got too bad. More roses in the container garden in the pictures below.

 

 Frivolous Rosa Waltz Time

 

Frilly Rosa l'Aimant

 

Elegant Rosa Ashram

 

Small but o so pretty white Fairy rose.

 

In this bowl are also Rosa Nostalgy(cream) and Rosa Ascot(red).

I cut these the day after the storm.

 

White Fairy rose again, in a container, as all the roses are.

I've had it for three years, but it's the first year it blooms so beautifully.

 

Beautiful in a little vase.

 

Sun shining on the bowl of roses last week.

 

Also in the container garden, Pincushion flowers, a first, bought tiny plants last year that didn't put on a spectacular bloomshow then but now they've grown out to larger plants in their container and are producing beautiful blooms.

 

 

 

 And that's it for this Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.

Want to see more in gardens around the world? Have a look here then!

 

 

Marian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GBBD May: Already! How time flies!

 

Are we really halfway through May already??? Time for another garden bloggers' bloom day.

 

Wat vliegt de tijd! Zijn we echt alweer halfweg mei??? Dat betekent tijd voor garden bloggers' bloom day.

 

 

In the garden, Columbines:

 

In de tuin, Akeleien:

 

Because of the shady garden we have, a dark background is never a problem really

but I tried something a little different as well this time.

 

Onze schaduwrijke tuin zorgt makkelijk voor een donkere achtergrond wat ik wel mooi vind

maar dit keer probeerde ik ook eens wat anders.

 

 

 

The photo underneath I 'softened'(bloom) it a little bit in photoscape.
Loved the effect on that particular photo.

De foto hieronder vond ik wel mooi een beetje 'verzacht' in photoscape.

 

 In the container garden:

 

In de pottentuin:

 

No roses blooming anymore for the moment but a tulip(well, four to be exact, see previous post) steals the show.

 

Geen rozen meer in bloei voor het ogenblik, maar een tulp(wel, vier om precies te zijn, zie vorige post) steelt de show.

 

 

 

The daisies are still blooming happily as well. I Put them on the garden table this time to photograph with the garden as a backdrop.

 

De madeliefjes blijven vrolijk verder bloeien. Ik zette ze op de tuintafel dit keer om ze te fotograferen met de tuin als achtergrond.

 

More garden bloggers' bloom can be found here.

Meer bloei bij bloggende tuinierders en tuiniersters kan je hier vinden.  

 

Have a beautiful weekend,

 

Heel fijn weekend,

 

 

 

Marian

 

 

 

 

GBBD April 2014: Color combinations in the garden

 

 Kleurencombinaties in de tuin

 

 

 

Heavenly blue and purple

 

Hemelsblauw en paars

 

 

and just a touch of orange

 

en een spatje oranje

 

 

 

 

Here and there there's a white touch as well.

From a Fritillary....

 

Hier en daar is er ook een witte toets.

Van een Kievitsbloem....

 

 

or a Summer Snowflake....

 

of een Zomerklokje....

 

 

Or from these beauties

although these are not really 'in' the garden.

When I went to the garden center to find some pansies,

I noticed these instead.

They're Anemones and there's something about Anemones.

I just love them all, whatever shape or color they come in,

I am just very fond of Anemones.

The exact name for this variety is Anemone Sylvestris.

For now(and maybe forever) in a pot on the terrace.

 

Of van deze schoonheden

ook al staan ze dan niet echt 'in' de tuin.

Op zoek naar viooltjes in het tuincentrum

viel mijn oog op deze prachtige bloemen.

Het zijn Anemonen en ik heb blijkbaar iets met Anemonen.

Ik vind die allemaal mooi, welke vorm of kleur ze ook hebben,

het zijn van mijn favoriete bloemen.

De naam van deze soort is Anemone Sylvestris.

Voorlopig(en misschien wel voorgoed) in een pot op het terras.

 

 

More heavenly blue and purple combined

 

Nog meer hemelsblauw en paars gecombineerd

  

 

As we already saw here.

 

Dat hadden we hier ook al.

 

 

How I love the purple of this Lilac against the heavenly blue sky.

 

Wat vind ik het paars van deze Sering mooi tegen de hemelsblauwe lucht.

 

 

 

 

Marian