Saturday, July 4, 2015

Pink


I thought I would do a few posts on what is in bloom just now, selecting plants by colour. I am starting with pink. Because so far we have had a relatively cool (as well as very wet) summer, many of the things that normally would have finished blooming some time ago (for instance, peonies) are still looking good. Here are a few examples of what is in bloom in pink at Roche Fleurie. Of course, roses make up the majority of the pink blooms.

John Davis rose



Here is a close up of the same (John Davis), a wonderful rose that hardly has any thorns. It is also very cold resistant, disease resistant (at least in this garden) and grows just as well as a shrub as it does as a climber.

Bloom of John Davis

A cultivar of Lamium maculatum. This is a plant you can put in a very inhospitable corner in the shade, and it will still look good. This one is in the shade of the house (lots of light, but never any sun). It is straight on the rock, its roots have found their way to subsoil between the cracks.

Spotted Dead Nettle
As I said above, because of the cool weather, many peonies are still in bloom. Here are an unidentified pink old-fashioned and a close up of Sarah Bernhardt bloom.
Unidentified old-fashioned peony
and Sarah Bernhardt - still in bloom, because of the cool weather
The following is a nice enough plant, but it does not have the presence of its cousin Phlomis russelliana, a larger version of the same plant, but with yellow blooms.
Phlomis tuberosa
The individual blooms of the Charles de Mills rose below right seem red, especially when they are just opening, but the general effect is pink. Left of it is Jens Munk. Both are  tied to the trellis, Charles de Mills responds beautifully to tying,  but not Jens Munk which would prefer to grow as a shrub.


Once again, because of the cool weather, a pink lady slipper is still hanging on in the wild garden.

Pink Lady Slipper
This clump of pyrithrum has been the same size for over five years. I am planning to divide the clump, even if it is not very big, in order to try to force the plant to increase.

Tanacetum coccineum
I close with a shot of pinkish Oxalis and alstroemeria growing in pots by the door.


13 comments:

  1. What a beautiful garden ! I can see this is a lovely place to relax !!
    Greetings

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  2. All lovely pink flowers in your garden, especially Rose John Davis, which is unknown to me, is a beauty.

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  3. Lovely roses and their friends. Does your rose John Davis have a perfume, it must be heavenly sitting on your bench if it does!

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  4. Great idea for a post. Your roses are beautiful. And I agree with the above posters, the John Davis roses are really lovely, very soft looking and graceful. Although many up here consider all the dead-nettles to be "weeds," I personally love them. They're bright, pretty groundcover for awhile and then they vanish until the next season. The leaves are as attractive as the flowers.

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  5. I like your pink blooms! That 'John Davis' rose is enchanting. I have many of the Lamiums as groundcovers in my garden, too. They spread, but they don't seem terribly invasive like some other groundcover plants. Plus, they have wildlife value as early and late pollen and nectar sources for the pollinators. Lucky you to have pink Lady Slipper Orchids. Wow!

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  6. I'm trying to decide whether ot not to buy some alstromera, Do they have a long flowering period?

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    1. They do have a long flowering period but here they more or less have to be treated as annual. Some year I manage to carry them over.
      My computer died - a bought a new one, which is not working well and the Internet feed is not working properly either. This is why I am not very present in the blogosphere now.

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  7. I have a lot of pink. :o) I thought phlomis was a tender perennial. Do you grow yours as an annual? I have a pink lamium, too.

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    1. Phlomis are not tender here. Actually the yellow one (russelliana, my favorite) is a bit of a weed. If you move it it seems to come up just as strong in the old spot the next year.

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  8. Lovely pink flowers! I also have a Phlomis tuberosa 'Amazon Mist' and it is doing good. I wish I had a russeliana too, but haven't got a hold of it so far. These are very rare in our country. They attract bees and look wonderful in winter time!

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    1. I can send you seeds for Phlomis russelliana when they are ripe later on this summer. If you are interested just send a message under "contact" (one of the tabs on the first screen of my blog).

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    2. Thank You, Alain, I have done so! Very excited!

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  9. Hello Alain, I love the setting of the bench with the rose behind. The environment of the rocks and gravel with their low-growing, drought-tolerant plants really contrast with the planted hosta, whose lush water-rich leaves couldn't be any more different.

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