Itoh peony

I've got this peony as a gift...well, I got a "cheque cadeau" and I chose this beauty and an arch for the garden.
It is now in its fourth year and positioned in a rather dry sandy spot near the driveway of the house, but I've found it to be so carefree.
Itoh peonies are herbaceous, so they die back to the ground every year, but their foliage looks similar to a tree peony and the flowers are similar to those of tree peonies, too.
They stay in bloom for about a month because the flowers last for a long time and because there are several flowers on the same stem that are in various stages of development.
What's not to love about it?

Aquilegias

It's soon the end of May and I am leaving tomorrow for a week away from my garden.
The garden is mostly green right now and there are not too many blooms, but many-many buds.
These beauties are putting their delicate flowers in the middle of the lush green.

This is pink Nora Barlow.
It's so easy to keep in the garden as it will self seed and I needed to take some out and give them to other gardeners, there were so many of them!

 

Among those self-seeded babies, I had this new hybrid surprise :)

Isn't this any keen gardener's dream?

Notice the difference between the aquilegia above and the one below?

Yes, this newer one has little trumpets, while the mother-plant does not.

Also, notice the last-standing Angelique tulips in the background.

And this is black Nora Barlow (yes, I like this Barlow kind a lot!).

And here is its surprise baby - another hybrid, this time an aquilegia with a single row of petals.
I must confess I like the mother-plant better in this case.

And this is whom I suspect they crossed with - a single row of petals with trumpets:

Not only aquilegias are in bloom right now, but also these big alium heads.

They smell so nice, too!

Angelique

Tulip season is almost over, but I still have some beauties in my garden.

In fact, I am lucky enough to have a flower patch mostly in shade so everything there has a later blooming season. Among the flowers planted in there, there are the Angelique tulips.

Angelique, being among my favourite tulip, is planted in several spots around the garden and in front of the house so I have a very long period when I can enjoy its blooms.

It's such a beauty - from bud, to a fully open flower and in a bouquet.

Let's not forget its amazing fragrance!

 

Purple Tuesday

I felt like posting some pretty things today, although I'm away from my garden.
At a quick glance through my phone photo library I realised I wanted to post this photo of the smallest anemones in my garden.
They look quite similar to the wild white ones growing in the forests of Luxembourg, but they're purple. Much prettier! :)

And since I started with purple tones, I had to add these beautiful giant crocuses.
I have them in a pot and also in many places in the garden.

Here, they make a decent combination with the blue iris.

 

And here they're paid a visit by a busy bee.
Look at all that polen!

Garden Tour in mid-March

It's been a while since I last wrote on the blog and these are not the newest photos I took, but .... I gotta start somewhere, right?

Last week I took some photos as a lot seems to be going on in the garden.

I love this time of the year when I go out and discover something new every day.

Well, the hellebores are not really new as I believe I also posted them at least a month ago, but in the meanwhile new ones started blooming so I'm adding those to the list as well.

This is the old one, as in the first one that blooms every year. It must start somewhere in January and it goes on for about 3 months or more.

That's what I call a good flowering plant!

The following two are very similar, but not quite the same.

The second one, which must be my favourite, is lighter and it has those pretty freckles in the centre.

There are also a lot of crocus blooms everywhere, but I'm only gonna post these ones here.
They make a pretty pair with the blue iris, although not chromatically so :)

This is a rather ugly photo because of the irrigation hose, but I admit I was too lazy to put it away for winter.
That scilla and the primula have been in my garden from the very beginning, 3 years ago, and they always come back, side by side, being among the first to bring colour in my garden.

These are the funky anemones that come out from the ground already in bloom.

They're not spectacular and not in any of my favourite colours, but they do bring colour and warmth in an early spring dull-looking garden.

And this is a new addition after having visited the gardening centre with my son.
He's so thrilled that "we take care of all the animals" !

A Walk in the Park

I've been watching all kinds of British gardening shows these January weekends while looking at the wind/snow outside.

I longed for my gardening days, but made some plans to add 2 smallish beds and dig out some of the turf.

This weekend with the last day of January and the first one of February brought a lot of snow for a country like Luxembourg.

I do love shovelling the snow on the side-walk in front of the house and so do my kids :), but the shovelling thing does not allow for a smooth sleigh ride to the park as I was to discover this Sunday.

The park in my village looks really pretty in every season and my telephone photos do not do it justice, but I'm still posting these four photos I took.

The lake was frozen and it will only freeze more over the week to come, as big frosts are announced.

This viburnum is a joy to look at and smell in these wintery days.

I must confess I broke a small branch and brought it home with me, as I have no room for a viburnum bush in my tiny garden.

Is It Spring yet?