Thursday, July 25, 2013

Some Flowers at the End of July

I've finally managed to take a bit of time in the garden with my camera instead of just using my phone while gardening.
I love to take pictures using my cam, but I always have so little time for the garden that I rather use it to tend to it.
I could not afford spending that long in the garden so I can take pictures of every bloom, but I went here and here, to things that are most interesting to me right now.
In the flower beds in front of the house, there is one bed with roses planted by people who lived in this house before me and this year I added some seeds in between the rose bushes and now I've got, among other things, these beautiful corn flowers – I confess they are among my favourite wild flowers and I would love to have a patch full of them.
Also blue, and also a favourite, is this very pretty love-in-the-mist. I simply adore this plant – its delicate foliage, its jewellery-like blooms, the cute seed-heads...plus, it makes for a great companion to roses.
Next year I will certainly sow more seeds


I also have white ones




These drum-stick alliums are a bit of a disappointment, as they don't stand upright and they bold in a very anaesthetic way. I will dig them out once they're done blooming and dig them deeper and close together, maybe that'll work better because I really like their flower heads.



Now, back to the roses in front of the house - this one is such a beauty! It has absolutely perfect blooms, it's very floriferous and it smells divine.
I wish I knew its name...



This is Garten Traume, a rose bred in Germany by Tantau. I have it as a standard rose and this breeder also sells them quite cheap compared to David Austin or Meilland. The thing is, not all his roses are of a great quality, at least they're not showing it in their first year. Well, Garten Traume is a good one - a lot of blooms, repeats well and has a very nice strong fragrance. A couple of things I don't like that much - the branches are rather slim, so they cannot properly support the blooms and the flowers never completely open and simply wilt from one day to the next.

 This is my most recent David Austin (Jubilee Celebration) - I found it at a local nursery that sells DA roses and I absolutely fell in love. The blooms are something else - a very nice blend of appricot and pink and pointed petals in a very impressive number. I must take its picture when it is completely open, but with this heat, the flowers are spent quite quickly.
Taking you back to the front of the house, another rose I found when I moved in is this one, that I identified as David Austin's Pilgrim. It formed a small climber, without a support to climb on, so this year it kind of fell to the ground – not a success from the point of view of its shape, but a profusion of blooms that made several nice bouquets.
Now it's all pruned and I can already see some new shoots.



And this is a present from the birds that I feed - they "planted" several suflowers around the garden. Although most of them are not in the right places, I will keep them all and let them turn to seed so the birds can take advantage of them once again.
Aren't they just amazing flowers?



Monday, July 15, 2013

A Lunch Break Walk Is

a walk through a lavender field
a walk by a lake of water-lillies in pink
and white
and pink again
A walk on a lunch break is a walk in a surprise rose garden
with special colours
and lush combos
and a profusion of blooms

A walk on a lunch break is carefree and spontaneous ... like Instagram ;)


Wednesday, July 10, 2013

My Village - The Park in Bloom

A quiet Sunday walk in the park, with my girl asleep and me enjoying the sun and the birds' song and the blooms.
It was mid-June, so the flowers were at their best. The park in Hesperange has green open areas and garden-like areas that look half wild. I love this combination and I am so glad I have pictures to remind me of the nice couple of hours of perfect relaxation just 2min from my home.
The pink rugosas with their amazing fragrance

What I discovered to be a Canadian liliac

And more rugosas



And azaleas
Japanese quince
Some weird-weird plant....
The geraniums were in full bloom
and they were making great combos

And finally this mystery rose from a bed near the town-hall that looks like a hybrid tea with a great lilac colour and a wonderful smell.
I always plan to take a cutting, but never have so far




Sunday, July 7, 2013

Red Fields of July

A great thing about Luxembourg is that it's kept its rural charm and character.
In many neighbourhoods you can simply walk into fields like this one:




The field was not only buzzing with colour, but also with life - bees and bumblebees were feeding on the pretty blooms.

This was a great relaxing walk for a lunch break from work.