Thursday, November 14, 2013

Blue flowers in November

My newest garden (see Rejuvenated Garden from a few weeks ago), has gone from predominantly yellow, to pops of blue amongst the green, with lots of foliage plumping up.
View across the deck and sandpit to the newest garden. I have loved having the mature citrus trees in the background, after years of them being hidden behind the massive hedge I removed. 


The Siberian Irises are in full swing. They sway in the wind. 


Geranium Johnson's Blue with a Salvia just starting to flower behind it. 

Geranium mingling with the Geums
The Phlomis add a real height and structure to the planting. Seen here with seeding parsley!
The Phlomis can become quite bossy in a garden like this, so I will be pulling bits off
it if it threatens to overwhelm the more delicate neighbours. Is great in a new garden
 as it bulks up so fast, with great bold leaves. 

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Beautiful Dutch Iris - Surprise Flower of the Month!




Picking up the purples of the foliage in the garden - Euphorbia, Heuchera & flax

They definately look best with solid green behind them, rather than the purpley foliage
of Heuchera.

Favourite surprise flower in my garden this month has to be these Dutch Irises. Just loving them. My mother-in-law gave them to me as bulbs that said 'dark red' on the label. Being the untrusting type that I am when it comes to EXACT colour matches - I played it safe and planted them in pots. So glad I did! They are not what I would call dark red, but a purpley-red (only fussy gardeners will understand what I am talking about here!!!), with a proper purple on the top wings. They look awful with my scarlet reds (daylilies, geum etc), but stunning with the dark foliage of Euphorbia Chameleon, and Heuchera Palace Purple. But they need some green between them, to let the colours show up. I am smitten, and happily surprised! Have them at my office now, where these photos were taken, and they look amazing with their yellow eye picking up the lime green of the Euphorbia next to them. Can't wait to experiment with them. If I can find the name I will add it at a later date. but these have to be my surprise flower of the month. Isn't that the joy of bulbs??!!! Rx