Thursday 21 April 2011

Blues, Pinks and Whites

The garden is looking pretty with its palette of blue, pink and white flowers.  The acid yellows and the bright golden daffodils of early spring have finished blooming and the soft summer colours are coming through.

 Borage is growing rampantly throughout the garden.

 Forget-me-nots are spreading throughout the wild patch.

 Hydrangeas rest their mop heads together.

 Carnations are looking pretty in pink and oh so fragrant too.

 The apple blossom is fading from pink to white.

 Honeysuckle adorns the garage.

 Wisteria fills the air with a beautiful perfume.

 This white shrub provides a backdrop to the hen house.

The lily-of-the-valley is spreading along my garden path.  Beautiful and delicate looking but resilient too.

Edited: Thanks for all your lovely comments.  The beauty of blogging is that I can be selective in what I show!  The wisteria is a wishy washy white and I only have three blooms on it (although they still give off a heady scent).  It was here when I moved in 14 years ago and has never had much to show in the way of blooms.  The lily-of-the-valley was already here too.  It grows north facing next to the garage.  It has never been fed and I regularly pick the blooms when they come through.  I guess the wisteria needs careful pruning in order to flower well and I think it depends on the variety as to how well they do.  The lily-of-the-valley thrives on neglect.  As for the choisya (Mexican orange) it too has a heady scent but it is so large it is in danger of taking over the garden!

26 comments:

  1. Beautiful Simone!
    You're so lucky to have bluebells and honeysuckle, my bluebells are on their way but not as far on as yours and no sign of honeysuckle yet!
    Love the pretty little lilly-of-the-valley, how could they not be nice with such a pretty name!
    And the wisteria, I do so envy you having one, the scent is just gorgeous. :)
    Lovely post!
    Vivienne x

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  2. Bluebells, Honeysuckle and Primroses grow wild in my garden, they are so pretty aren't they, I even love the daisies in lawn! I wish I could grow Lily-of-the-Valley, there must be a trick for it, I wish I knew what it is because they were my mum's favourite flower
    Julie xxxxxxx

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  3. OMG!!! Lillies of the Valley..I haven't seen tham for ages, as they have disappeared in my garden through the years. They reminds me of my childhood.
    My blue and white palette includes also Irises.
    Happy Easter to you and your family Simone!
    xxx

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  4. Lily of the Valley remind me of my childhood too, is the shrub Mexican Orange Blossom?

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  5. Your garden pictures are absolutely beautiful! You have lots of lovely flowers there! I can't wait for the honeysuckle to open here too. Have a happy weekend.
    Helen x

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  6. How lovely they all are. I would love to Lily of the Valley in my garden as it too reminds me of my childhood. x

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  7. It's fantastic to see the way the gardens are racing away this year. Your wisteria is further on than mine, maybe because mine faces east. The white shrub is a meican orange blossom, also known as choisya.

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  8. Lovely pictures :-) - we're still at the daffodil stage here so it's lovely to see things like honeysuckle in your garden!

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  9. You've got some gorgeous flowers there! Love Lily of The Valley. Enjoy! Abby x

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  10. I was going to say choisya too!
    Your garden is so much further ahead than ours, our honeysuckle and hydrangeas are nowhere near flowering yet. I too have tried and failed with Lily of the Vally - what's your secret!? The wisteria is beautiful, is it difficult to grow? Perhaps harder here being further north and all that. Anyway, here's to more sunny days in the garden!

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  11. Lily of the valley and Wisteria are two of my favourite flowers.
    Have a good Easter
    Briony
    x

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  12. We used to have lily of the valley and wisteria in our garden when I was little. It's very nostalgic!
    Have a lovely Easter.
    xxx

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  13. It all looks very lovely!
    Happy Easter to you!
    Diana x

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  14. I can not get over how much further everything is in your garen to ours, we still have daffodils here but the blossom i coming out, it reminds me of what is coming our way, thank you!
    love
    Lyn
    xxx

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  15. Gosh, cant believe your hydrangeas are out already, and the honeysuckle - lovely, love both of these!
    All your flowers look beautiful!
    Hope you have a wonderful Easter Simone, and that the sun shines for you and your family!
    Gill xx

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  16. Absolutely lovely, Simone!

    Like the new look on your blog, too!

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  17. Happy Easter Simone! You may well have bombus Lapidarius in your garden - just look for the red bottoms! x

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  18. Wow Simone, I can't believe how far ahead your garden is compared to mine. I still have a few daffs out though most have gone over. Like Gill said, no sign of hydrangeas or honeysuckle flowers here. It all looks wonderful and is encouraging me to keep up with the gardening when I am flagging a bit!
    Have a lovely Easter holiday. x

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  19. Was thinking maybe I shouldn't have sown my sweet peas in toilet roll inserts. Not fitting for elegant ladies! x

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  20. Spring is certainly very early this year, its almost summer already!

    Getting wisteria to flower is all about pruning, or not pruning the buds off, which are formed on this years growth. If you are to harsh in autumn with the cutting back, you cut all next years buds off.

    Ooh a whole hour of gardening tonight!

    Have a lovely Easter Simone!!
    And whatever the weather enjoy your garden!

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  21. Oh how lovely :)

    Our garden has looked pretty with the Spring flowers but now they are ending and we have no summer things other than a few Grannies Bonnets that were here when we came. So we are in the process of seeding and planting things for Summer and hope that by next year our garden will actually have something blooming at all times of year!

    In fact, my dad just recently brought us some lily of the valley from his garden to fill in the bare patches. You should have seen him replanting it, all he did was lift a chunk of earth, dump them in, and throw the earth back on top, squashing them completely. In his words, you don't have to be particular with these particular plants! I can't wait until it starts spreading, especially as we are planning on now taking up some of the grass that is mostly moss(!) to make a bigger flowerbed. You've inspired me now, Simone, to go out, take photos, and document the changes in our garden xx

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  22. Forget me nots are one of my favourite flowers - so simple and pretty...and I love the way they spreadv so much. Your garden is beautiful. I've heard my mum grumbling about pruning wisteria - I think there must be a knack to it. Juliex

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  23. I've got English Lily of the Valley growing in my yard! It smells heavenly... doesn't take a lot of blooms to appreciate it's lovely fragrance. Irises, wood hyacinths, bleeding heart, verbena, Gerbera daisy also in bloom.. it's growing time again!

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  24. You might as well live on a different planet from me, Simone! I love all of your flowers! Here we are just seeing the very beginnings of growth. Soon everything will burst into bloom - can't wait!

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  25. Hi Simone,

    I love your garden flowers. Such an uplifting sight and how I wish that I had as much Lily of the Valley!

    Thank you for visiting and commenting at my blog. It is always a pleasure to have a new reader.

    Happy Easter.

    Marie x

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  26. heavenly!

    your garden is absolutely gorgeous Simone!!!

    i am enjoying some apple blossom in mine that is very similar to yours, but i can't remember the name of the apples. they are good though.

    wishing you a lovely week xxx

    millie

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