Rain Delay And Gorgeous Goldfinches

The Clematis continues to flower in the pot on the decking area. The soft lilac flowers keep on opening. I need to make a frame for the Clematis to grow up. It needs tying on in places as it does not grip surfaces like Honeysuckle or Ivy. It is opening more flower buds daily, so it seems to have good flowering potential. A lot of plants look great when you buy them but then keel over or never repeat flower again. This Clematis looks like it has stamina. I have the pot next to my white Lady statue. I think I will keep photographing her next to whatever is best in bloom. A photographic project for this year?

The juvenile Squirrel is still doing his best to decimate my pots. He just starts digging, then moves onto the next pot. I do not think he is burying anything. I wander if it's learnt behaviour, or if he is copying the adult squirrels? He is lightning fast and very athletic. Scaling sheer walls, pergolas, fences, and trees. Leaping between them. Running along the left hand fence like an Olympic sprinter, jumping up between sections. I do not know what people do to discourage Squirrel damage in the garden. I have never known one to dig in pots. I know American gardeners have suffered more damage from these cute animals.

Finally these gorgeous Goldfinches came to our garden for the first time yesterday. We have heard them singing in the trees. I played them the song from my Goldfinch toy and it finally brought them down from the Tree's. I bought a new Niger Feeder yesterday with four poles for the Goldfinches to alight on. They have been back today and fed on the Blue feeder (photographed above) and the new green feeder. They are such pretty birds with their cute little faces. I'm glad it only took a month for these to find us. The old garden took more than six months to entice them in. A collection of Goldfinches is called a Charm. I'm always charmed by them. They are lovely to watch. I have also planted six Teasel plants in the raised border. These architectural plants have lovely thistley flowers, and great seedheads in the Autumn. I want to see if the Goldfinches will feed on their natural wild food source, if it is available in our garden.
The weather is wet, grey, and cool today. The allotment trip has been put back to either tomorrow or Saturday. I need it to be dry so the allotment is not a muddy quagmire. so i have been watching the birds and enjoying the flowers in the garden. A perfect day off plan when its raining.

Clematis And Blackbird

The Clematis Angelique is in bloom now. I loved the soft violet coloured petals of the flower, and the ornate centre where the seed head will form later on. I wanted to grow this is a tub up a frame. Cats idea is to grow it from a pot up the brick wall behind the kitchen door. An arched trellis would support its climbing habit and covered the brick work with pretty flowers in the Spring.

I covered the soil with my bark chippings. I read that Clematis like Sun on their flowers and leaves, but cool, damp root systems. There is even a pruning guide on the plant label. I thought if I can get a winter flowering Clematis to grow alongside Angelique then we could have flowers most of the year round. This Clematis flowers from June to October. The greenhouse it grew in obviously forced it to flower in May.

Tonight sees the return of Springwatch on BBC 2. It is a live wildlife program being broadcast from Pensthorpe in Norfolk, with reporters in several other locations around the UK. It follows animals and birds that are living in Britain. It encourages people to get out and actively search for wildlife to observe.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/uk/
The average British garden has a vast array of wildlife in it and around it. Sometimes things are so common that they become invisible. Springwatch makes the spectacle of nature exhilirating and exciting following the life stories of various species of birds and animals. For example a family of Blue Tits, a Wren family, and a nesting Avocet are being broadcast live on Webcam. It is on Tv in the evening for 3 weeks.
In the garden today this Blackbird was posing on our fence. He had his eye on some Suet feed on the bird table. I love the golden beak contrasting to the black body feathers.

When I bought the suet/seed mix in a plastic tub nothing went near it for a few days. I noticed then that it has a few peck marks in it. Now after two weeks the tub is nearly empty. Song Thrushes, and Blackbirds are flocking to eat the fatty snack, and to take it away to feed hungry fledglings.
The garden is full of birds now that are attracted to the new feeders. They are displaying their natural behaviour. I have seen aggression, courtship, and even mating (Cat blushed at the antics of the Collared Doves on our fence. I always thought they were quite virginal, not exhibitionists!).
Fledgling House Sparrows sit on the feeders beating their little wings, chirping at their parents to feed them. I have seen Blue Tits on my Monkey Puzzle Tree, Woodpigeons fighting on the path, House Sparrows drinking from the water bowls, Starlings bathing in the birdbath, Bee's pollinating my Raspberry and Strawberry flowers, and just now typing this House Sparrows rolling around my Strawberry bed having a dust bath!
All this activity has happened within the confines of our garden, in the middle of an urban estate. The bird song is frenetic from early morning starting with the Dawn Chorus, until the Dusk makes the birds go to roost. As the sun sets it triggers the release of the Bats into the still twilight air. The first night we stayed in this house we heard Owls twit-a-wooing in some nearby trees somewhere.I have not heard them since. I heard a Cuckoo when I went to work one morning in the deciduous woodland across the road from our house.
A new mystery from today is that something has been digging my planter boxes out, on the concrete path. Soil has been dug and thrown onto the concrete that the planters are on. leaving holes in the soil!I will try to observe it to see who has been digging. They have not eaten the plants. I think they were interested in insects beneath the bark chippings in the compost.
The garden is slowly attracting all manner of wildlife. Making the garden attractive to wildlife is one of the priorities on my list of what I want from the garden. I think i have started off well on that road.
Springwatch is always one of the highlights of the year for me. As a post Chelsea RHS flower show Tonic Kate Humble and Chris Packham are brilliant.

In Bloom Today

Its Sunday afternoon and the sky is overcast, with thick rain laden clouds. I went outside to take photos of some of the flowers in bloom today. Starting with the quintessentially cottage garden favourite, Foxgloves. These have had bee's buzzing into the spotted cup like flowers already. Hopefully these will self seed freely! I want lots more Foxgloves.

A Bee's eye view looking up the Foxglove flower. I have four plants growing, in both light and dark pink. I bought four baby Foxgloves from the plant stall. They are growing on in pots, but will not flower untill next year. Most Foxgloves are biennial, in that they grow for the first year, before flowering in the second year. They will set seed then die back.

The Gertrude Jekyll Rose in bloom. These Roses smell of sweet rose scent. They are pretty pink colours. The scent is old english Rose, crossed with more prolific flowering modern Roses.
It is healthy and got more Rose Buds than all the other shrub Roses. It was voted the UK's most popular Rose for its looks, scent, and free flowering Habit.

Another cottage garden favourite is this Aquilegia. I have them in White, this Purple and White, a pink and white, and the Blue and White. The flowers are huge and the spurs trailing behind are very long. These self seed freely too in the garden. I like the variety of colours that letting self seeded ones flower. You need to buy new ones if you want to keep the original flower colours.

Across the side of the garage I have these five window box planters full of Verbenas, Mimulus, Sea Hollys, St James Wort, Busy Lizzies, and a Heuchera. The Eryngiums are finally forming their spiky flower bracts. This year after they have finished Flowering I will put them in the garden borders. with a label saying this is a plant not a weed!

There are Two clumps of Snapdragons growing in the raised borders. These beautiful White flowers with a hint of yelllow in the centre. They smell like candy sticks, yum yum. I have a greenhouse full of Snapdragons grown from seeds my mum sent me.
They will grow away this year, for flowering next year. They need to gain in Size, and sturdiness.

Growing up the right side of the pergola was the sickly looking Clematis. After I cleared the weeds around it its regained vigour. The furry flower bud has opened to reveal this Purple/Lilac coloured flower..

The Clematis has two climbing Roses growing now alongside it on the right side of the Pergola. The left hand side and top is covered in Honeysuckle. The pink Rose is so sweet smelling, Zephrine Drouhain. I love stopping to smell the Roses. Especially when it is as strongly fragrant as this one.

The final photo on my whirlwind flower tour is the Butterfly Flower. I saved the seeds from last year and sowed them in a pot. Schizostylis I think there latin name is. There appear to be a variety of colours and faces on these Orchid like flowers. I think they are called poor mans orchid too.
I have them in Lilac, Purple, and White. The spotted colouring is different on every flower. Like an organic Rorsasch test!
Sundays are perfect for walking around your garden and seeing whats flowering, and whats growing.

Purple Clematis

I could not see the name on this Purple flowered Clematis.I loved the battered flower shape, and the cramy/lilac centre like fireworks.

Unfortunately there are millions of Clematis, so if anyone wants to hazard a guess to its identity.

Im assuming it is scented too, although I dont remember smelling this one.