A Sense of Place

Yesterday, being a warm muggy day with overcast skies, I was interested to see how well pale pink stood out in the garden. I first noticed it in Geranium 'Apple Blossom', which can often look undistinguished in bright sunlight, but in the gentle light from the gloomy skies it looked its best  framed by its silvery foliage. Nearby Erodium 'Natasha' had a similar effect with silver foliage and pale pink flowers with two dark eyes on the two uppermost petals. Both these plants were growing near each other in two neighbouring troughs, and after seeing them I looked around the rest of the garden to see if there were other flowers that had taken advantage of the weather conditions. I was happy to see that Clematis 'Sonnette', a lovely viorna type hybrid, Clematis ' Comtesse de Bouchaud' and a subtle pale pink Geranium pratense,  all glowed in the afternoon light. Geranium x lindavicum 'Apple Blossom'. Erodium x 'Natasha'. Clematis...

Clematis addisonii. Papaver orientale 'Turkenlouis'. Papaver orientale 'Victoria Louise'

When I was a kid, I remember finding a Buttercup with a strange thickened stem and multi-petalled flower; I was fascinated by it, but no one could tell me what had caused this change in such a common plant.   Now I know that this was caused by fasciation.  The reason for this condition is not easy to pin down, but the result is a genetic mutation that produces fantastic variations on a plants usual form, often with uproarious shapes and textures. Echeveria agavoides 'Cordroyi' Graptopeyalum? Graptopetalum (saxifragoides?) Echeveria runyoni

 Pelargoniums get a bad rap. Which is not surprising when you see the dreary plants that are produced in the millions for sale in supermarkets and big-box stores. I'm always mystified at what attracts the punters to these miserable plants with ratty flowers and dull lifeless foliage. Whatever it is, growers are happy to supply this nasty "product" into the marketplace.  How much more pleasing are the Pelargonium species and the thousands of cultivars that have been developed over the centuries with fabulous foliage and often lovely simple flowers. I'm showing a few that I grow, that are easy and rewarding in flower (I only like single flowers) and all have wonderful foliage. P. 'Golden Ears' P. 'Alpha' P. 'Crocodile' P. 'Golden Ears', P. 'Alpha' and P. 'Crystal Palace Gem' I think this is created by Toronto area hybridizer Will Grainger. P. 'Charity' P. 'Ray Bidwell'...