Enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think;
Enjoy yourself, while you’re still in the pink!
In the language of flowers the sweet pea means delicate or blissful pleasure.
Thalictrum delavayi is just starting to flower and caught my eye today, along with the spider’s web suspended between the buds. Thalictrum, commonly known as Meadow rue, is such a delicate looking plant, with leaves like maidenhair fern, but it not only survives on our heavy clay soil, but positively thrives! It flowers all summer long and when foliage dies back, I cut it right down to the ground. It regrows the following Spring – with possibly a new seedling or two nearby.
The lavender is at its peak right now. One of my favourite flowers and loved by the bees as well! It is easy to grow in a sunny border or container. I always like to dry some of the flowers for winter flower arrangements indoors. Just tie together some of the flower spikes and hang upside down until dry.
This Giant Scotch Thistle stands majestically in the border at around nine feet tall and has just started to flower, which the bees will go made for! It is a biennial flower which will self seed readily. When I see the seedlings pop up I move them to where I want them to flower, usually at the back of a border where they are not going to attack passers-by (the leaves are very prickly!)