garden withoutdoors

a bee loving one of the teasel flowers

bee just taking off from the flower

artichokes with a bee on the flower top left, another flying between the stems

I have more artichoke flowers than ever this year

a bee on one of the field scabious flowers

Scabiosa "Oxford Blue" which I grew from seed earlier this year, finally blooming, loving those pinchushion buds, the colours are exquisite

two different types of crocosima

green chinese lanterns before they turn orange

field scabious, beautiful flowers and a beautiful pinchushion bud

These artichokes have self-seeded next door and this year they are blooming for the first time. My artichokes are in the background, just behind the rose bush, also in bloom. You can also see here the hollyhocks and a teasel in bloom.

pansy tea party, competing with space with the agapanthus babies (they've never bloomed)

all the pansies

pansy tea party - lovely colour variations

I love the way there are flowers on this scabiosa Barocca in about 4 different stages all at the same time, here are two.

lots of pink flowers next door: hollyhocks (pink and red), mallow, spear thistle, hydrangea beyond

These are the hollyhocks that had such striking red stems before they had flowers, now I know why.

a pot of seedlings where all different things have self-seeded: 2 kinds of poppy, nigella (of course), pansy, snapdragon, foxglove, green alkanet and and an unknown on the left with the long leaves. Looking forward to seeing what it turns into.

I went to Lordington Lavender on one of their open days. It certainly is a spectacular sight the first time you see it- a whole field of lavender.

close-up of a butterfly on the lavender

I saw some field bindweed on the lavender and have added it to the Weed Guide.

I bought two lavender plants there.

I planted thousands of seeds and this is what I got, one lonely little poppy. I hope there'll be more in time. And it looks more orange than red.

I commented recently on how nice our front gardens can be with the busy road outside but today it was even more of a contrast.

On a happier note, Socks, as usual trying to catch flies, next to some beautiful pansies still going strong and my scabiosa barocca, both in that pot.

here's a close-up of that flower above

more pansy tea party

another thistle flower has opened

acanthus in bloom, not as good as it was when I bought it but considering the trauma new plants go through I think I'm lucky it bloomed at all

field scabious with red hollyhocks and creeping thistle in the background

artichoke flowers, must re-photograph with a ladder! they're very tall

I tried again with a stool but I think I might need a ladder

salvia just coming into flower

the tasty pansy are prolific

pansy tea party, I'm afraid they are sharing space with the agapanthus but still blooming prolifically as well

Centaurea Montana

Spear Thistle

Yesterday's pansy tea party, there's just a narrow rim of white around this yellow flower

two of this colour bloomed yesterday

Nigella, I've had masses self-seeding, I love the purple centre of this flower

Pansy Tea Party, more colours keep blooming

Allium sphaerocephalon

comfrey with a bee, there are always bees buzzing around the comfrey plants

milk thistle

scabiosa barocca

I love pincushion flowers (see the field scabious below), I thought this hadn't survived the winter but found it growing recently and it got some buds, beautiful ones

latest pansy tea party, the first appearance of this colour

scabiosa

scabiosa bud

the iris foetidissima have been amazing this year, the seed pods are numerous and heavy, in a few weeks they will split open to reveal bright orange seeds

I thought these rose thorns looked very interesting and as I had the camera in my hand I took a photo.

field scabious, how fantastic to have this self-seeding in the garden, it's as good as one bought from the garden centre or grown from seed, I love these pincushion flowers

crocosima, hardy geranium and lots and lots of chinese lanterns in the foreground with small white flowers

that beautiful purple Pansy Tea Party with all the petals unfurled

Tasty Pansy, that middle flower is the first appearance of that colour

These are the results of cuttings taken on holiday on the south coast. The erigeron in bloom is easy to identify. The other 2 I'm not sure. The one on the bottom right is just different enough (tightly furled rosettes of leaves), I'm not sure if it is an erigeron.

Tasty Pansy

I think this is the first appearance of this colour.

Pansy Tea Party

I love this colour. When that bottom petal unfurls this will be an exquisite flower.

The flower that has appeared from the red-stemmed hollyhock (pictured below) - beautiful. For me the darker the better for a hollyhock.

crocosima just bloomed today (June 25th), probably helped by the hot sunny weather we've been having

crocosima buds

self-seeded scabious (will research what kind) almost ready to burst into flower

creeping thistle

spear thistle

struggling to get some of the agapanthus to bloom, buds in the top pot, none in the bottom one

Below, I've had these for years, planted from bulbs/corms/whatever they are called, in a pot (they say constricting them in pots is good for flower production), eventually I put them in the ground as I didn't want to waste a pot on them and the roots were outgrowing the pot but still no flowers after about 15 years.

every day I'm seeing new Tasty Pansy flowers, in a variety of colours, this is the first of this colour combination

today there was a new Pansy Tea Party flower

next day, another new flower which is another new colour

I can't stop taking pics of my beautiful cats

Socks

Polly Pocket

I know I'm crazy (my gardening neighbour friend thinks so!) but I love thistles and thistle-like plants. This is a milk thistle. I've always thought it odd that slugs love plants like thistles. They adore this and it's only been through a liberal application of slug pellets I have anything left of the two I bought.

a self-seeded thistle in the front garden

another type of thistle that has self-seeded in the front garden - will research more about the types

thistle leaves to compare

There are more flowers every day of the Tasty Pansy. Fabulous.

Zantedeschia (Calla Lily)

loving this hot weather

2 differently leaved hollyhocks

hollyhock leaves to compare - will research types

I don't often order plants as I prefer to grow from seed but when I saw the "tasty" collection (of edible flowers) from a well-known company, I immediately placed an order. This is the Tasty Pansy. I am very impressed with such fast flowers.

Pansy Tea Party

not as vigorous as the Tasty Pansy and I think the slugs got to some

Sadly the Nasturtium Fruit Salad isn't doing very well. They arrived while I was away and didn't get planted straight-away  I hope they revive eventually.

ignore the smooth sow thistle weed to the left!