BEES, TOADS AND CRABS

This week's title would suggest that animals rather than plants will form the theme of this post.  Rest assured that it is just me trying to think of a clever theme and failing miserably.

So in first place, the TOAD lily, Tricyrtis formosana 'Black Beauty'.  I find it weirdly exotic (and it's purple!), although it's possibly a bit of an acquired taste.  I've had this one a few years and it seemed happy so I bought a few more bare root and the slugs really enjoyed eating them and that was that.

Shall we do BEES next?  I'm not keen on the 'polinator friendly' tag, which seems like a marketing ploy, but there are plants that seem to be alive with bees.  Chives, Laburnum, Lavender, Sedums and at the moment this tall mauve aster (variety unknown from a garden down the road).  It's been flowering for weeks and is always buzzing.

It isn't supposed to live behind the greenhouse, but it got planted there temporarily and it's now a bit of a beast.  I will get round to moving it in the Spring (gives self a stern pep talk), but it might just leave some here too as I've grown fond of it in it's incongruous location by the potato patch.

Moving on we reach the CRAB apples.  They have a magnificent crop this year, and so pretty.  The variety is Everest, and I'm fully intending to admire them on the tree and not pick them to make crab apple jelly.

I am growing them as espaliers but not very ruthlessly (yet) as they are still only little.  

Leaving the animal kingdom behind us, here are some pretty cyclamen in the woodland.  These were from my parents garden and have happily settled into this dry spot.  It's amazing the conditions some plants will tolerate.

Over in the Potager the Rainbow Chard is looking lovely in the afternoon sunshine.  I just love the red and yellow stems and it seems to grow well with very little input from me (which can not be said for everything - green beans I'm looking at you).  

I'm finishing with a picture of the Long Border which has a few plants still flowering, although it has had a poor year overall, never recovering from the extremely hot spell we had.

That's all from my garden for this week.  Don't forget to check out the Propagator who hosts Six on Saturday.