Thursday, May 9, 2013

Out and about among the plants...

The Humble Bungalow Garden is coming to life again after it's winter slumber...
glancing around at the blooms in the Spring sunshine is such an uplifting experience.

Growing things feeds my soul...
there's something so cheerful about a window box filled with colour
or a smattering of colour in an otherwise plain bed.


Drought tolerant grasses have their place in the garden too.
They add variations of colours and texture
many smaller grasses are very reasonably priced.
My favourite is the Black Mondo grass which is still quite expensive...
frugal gardener's love a free snip here or there.
When it comes to something new and rather unusual we keep these plants until they are well established before dividing them and popping them into other areas in our own garden...
and then we can share them.
Mondo grass is one of these plants
 as is the newest black hellebore!


I love the shade of this euphorbia
 I put up with it's habit to procreate willy nilly
 because it is so pretty.
The sap can burn your skin so do be cautious when you are cutting the stalks.
It makes a lovely filler in a bouquet but the water can be milky from the sap so you may want to use a coloured vase instead of a vase of clear crystal.


Lady's Mantle is another great plant to grow as a filler for bouquets.
It is hardy and re-seeds everywhere so beware...
don't say that I did not warn you!
if you are diligent you can pull the babies up and give them away or toss them on the compost pile.

The flowers are frothy and a heavenly shade of chartreuse green!


a variegated euphorbia 
this was a gallon size only two years ago and it is thriving
I am pulling up lots of seedlings and have given lots to my sister
who has a home in the Highlands area.

I don't think the deer like these plants.
For her sake I hope that's true as she has a regular crew of deer cruising through her acreage!



A beast of a euphorbia
bulky and vast
fills in nicely...

The Humble Bungalow is under seige.
A roofing crew are on site and there's a vast bin in the drive almost full of cedar shakes...
the house was shaking and it felt like the men were walking on the ceiling
then at 4 o'clock when they quit for the day 
I sighed and put the kettle on.

 I do love peace and quiet.
(and so do the cats)

How is your week going so far?

4 comments:

Pondside said...

Thank you - I've had a good day. A fresh hair cut, a lovely dinner and an evening of knitting in front of Foyle's War. Very relaxing.
I must plant some Euphorbia again. I did so before we had a deer fence, but the deer in this part of our community devoured it.
Your garden is looking lovely!

valerietilsten59.blogspot.com said...

It was my eldest grandaughters birthday yesterday.. so i was full of the joys of spring.
Its hard to believe that my daughter has a 17 year old.
So it was a nice day for me.
I too was around looking at my garden and so happy with the way it looks this year.
I dont have any of the plants that you have there. I have to keep to plants that can survive our very hot summers here in Alentejo.
You have a lovely garden.
I too split some daisies now and again and spread them around.
Happy weekend
val

LPC said...

I agree with you - grasses are a wonderful part of any garden. Yours look beautiful.

materfamilias said...

I learned the hard way, quite a few years ago, about how badly Euphorbia can burn -- I had blisters all up my forearm, and they took weeks to heal. Now I'm careful to garb up before getting out there with my secateurs. I do like to chop the bracts off before the plants set seed -- as you say, they do like to spread themselves all over.
Your garden is gorgeous -- and it looks really well maintained, so tidy!