Whats Looking good May 2024

Are you sure that is G.Johnsons Blue, it looks more like G. Magnificum to me?

 

Fair enough.
This is what I grow as Johnsons blue, but perhaps it isn't.

 

My Johnsons Blue look like puncdoc's Johnsons Blue.

 

Magnificum have very soft leaves, like rabbits' ears. JBs have slightly sticky ones.

 

Lovely @simone_in_wiltshire
I know what you mean about sitting in too sunny a spot. I move my bench to suit, but even then - I simply can't take the heat for any length of time, so I have to go inside if it's too hot for me. Great when you can get five minutes to enjoy the view though!

That's a lovely foxglove/digitalis @CarolineL .
Like you - I have mainly whites, [ Snow Thimble is good] but a few years back I got some Pam's Choice as well, because of the dark splotches as I have a lot of purple in the garden. They just reverted unfortunately. Have you found that one to be reliable?

 

Absolutely gorgeous, that's what I'd like mine to look like eventually.

 

@fairygirl it's the first time flowering, so we'll see! In my last garden I had plain white and spotted, and by rigorous roguing out of dark ones in early years, they ended up coming reliably true. It's relatively easy to see dark ones even when they're small.

 

Thank you all for your kind words. If any of you would like me to send you a 'rosette' or two of the Chia' come autumn, please give me a shout (not too loudly ) then, via personal message. They spread at a middling pace and also self seed if the flower spikes aren't removed. They are also shallow rooted with barely any soil covering them.

A picture of them in my previous garden.


With no slugs, snails and very few bugs to contend with, the Lupins always put on a good show. Deer are a problem here but they won't touch them.

 

This was meant to be Shirley Temple, but it appears Sarah Bernhardt has come on stage instead! A bit annoying, as I also planted a SB elsewhere, and looks like she's true to name.

 

The overall picture of the garden today is only a result of many failures in the past.
The only plant from 2016 that is left is an Eremurus which is eaten by slugs in the last 3 years. Everything else is under 4 years old. I tried different things, and took it out again. I think I found this year the combination I can live with in the next years.

 

That's usually the way to get the result you want @simone_in_wiltshire - experimenting and adapting - and you've got there!
The problem is - it can be a lot of expensive mistakes to get there. I still find I have to take things out or move them, because your conditions dictate sizes and spreads of lots of plants.
That's where I find TV shows can be very annoying - they rarely seem to give that info, and your climate and soil can mean huge differences. We all want our plants to thrive, and if they don't have the room, and/or good airflow, that can affect them enormously.

 

I think Gardeners' World does OK on that - at least the Monty at Longmeadow sections. He's forever reworking areas and showing what failed, or saying he's like to grow something but can't because his soil is wrong. Last year he planted lots of Camassias in his wooded area and it gave me the idea to do the same in a damp, shady part of the garden. This year he's pulling them up again - he says he doesn't like the messy foliage! I won't copy that, they worked great for me and the bees absolutely adored them. I shall be buying more bulbs this autumn.

 

I'd say it's much better now on G'sW than it was in the past @Escarpment , but they certainly didn't address it well when I started gardening, and right up until the last few years. There was no concept of differing conditions around the UK.
You only have to look at suggestions for plants by people on various gardening forums, to see that the message is still not getting through well enough.