WHATS LOOKING GOOD IN JUNE 2019

No flowers but the size of this thing (forgotten its name) is imposing. It has to be 7 feet tall. Its a bit obscured with the heavy planning.

It has started to divide now and will need splitting this autumn to foil its attempt at world domination.

 

Looking good @shiney. Mrs Shiney is very talented and the flowers look sumptuous. I don't have eucalyptus but I have a very accommodating friend who does

I'm trying to be more environmentally friendly by not using non biodegradable flower foam for my own arrangements. It's like going backwards but I think the onus should be on the manufacturers to come up with something that degrades. Some of the churches round here have banned flower foam so the flower ladies are having to be more creative.

 

Wow! You said no flowers ...does it have some eventually and if so what are they like @andrews ??

 

It has flowers eventually but they are not as impressive as the foliage.

Apparently its a cardoon. The flowers are thistle - like

 

@shiney Great fun idea for containers. I'm always buying old bottles and vases from vintage shops and saving pretty food jars - it can become quite an obsession. I like to see a few bottle of different shapes and sizes grouped together with a flower in each one and at this time of year there's nothing prettier than a bunch of sweet peas in a jam jar.

 

That gives me a great idea @shiney . We have sturdy plastic mesh that is sold in rolls of 8" wide by several feet long - and it is ideal for this type of thing. Easily shaped into anything and a placing it in hot water helps nicely to flatten it back out, wash and reuse. I currently use it to pack the gaps where the water/solar power lines feed into base of the greenhouses. It stops chipmunks and other small intruders. Now I know I can scrunch it into a vase to make my flower cuttings look a little more orderly

 

Sunny but windy here in the NE a few from the garden today

 

Looks like Cardoon...hope mine get as big as that...love 'em...

 

From a transplant two years ago

 

@zenj - please don't tell me that you can get Digitalis 'Illumination' through the winter in the North East! I've given up here.

 

Pelargonium 'Westwood'............
Pelargonium 'Westwood' by longk48, on Flickr

Schlumbergera gaertneri (Easter Cactus)............
Schlumbergera gaertneri by longk48, on Flickr



Albuca spiralis..............
Albuca spiralis by longk48, on Flickr

Albuca spiralis by longk48, on Flickr

Echeveria noid..........
Echeveria noid by longk48, on Flickr

Echeveria noid by longk48, on Flickr

Streptocarpella............
Streptocarpella by longk48, on Flickr

My current favourite - Mackaya bella (again!)...........
Mackaya bella by longk48, on Flickr

The final Plectranthus 'Mona Lavender' blooms until the autumn...........
Plectranthus 'Mona Lavender' by longk48, on Flickr

Iochroma fuchsioides...........
Iochroma fuchsioides by longk48, on Flickr

Iochroma fuchsioides by longk48, on Flickr

Fuchsia 'Thallia'...........
Fuchsia 'Thallia' by longk48, on Flickr

Salvia 'Love and Wishes'.............
Salvia 'Love and Wishes' by longk48, on Flickr

Salvia 'Salmia'..............
Salvia 'Salmia' by longk48, on Flickr

Salvia 'Black and Bloom'...........
Salvia 'Black and Bloom' by longk48, on Flickr

Finally, a close Salvia relative, Nepeta subsessilis..............
Nepeta subsessilis by longk48, on Flickr

It has large blooms by the standards of Nepeta...........
Nepeta subsessilis by longk48, on Flickr

 

Digitalis fox light rose ivory This is what it was bought as we live only 8 miles from the coast so don’t get long hard frosts don’t think the pond as been iced over this year ,just give half Hardys deep mulch and they survive.