Still Sunny

Published on by Catherine

Yes, it’s true. The sun is still shining and it’s making people happy – strangers are smiling and commenting on what wonderful spring weather we’re having. Today will be the 20th day with no rain, and if the forecast is correct, the first day of light rainfall will be another 10 days from now.

Yesterday the topic was raised in the Scottish Parliament and the First Minister was equally surprised that this is only early May and they were talking about possible water shortages. He would check the SEPA report later. Well, I checked it later too, and the water scarcity report stated that my home area has been raised to ‘Alert’. Hosepipe ban ahead? I hope not. That’s something alien to us here on the west coast. I need to check the water butt and I now wonder if we should get second one. But today I’ll be outside making the most of this spring sunshine!

Six on Saturday is with us again and my first photo of what’s growing in my garden today is Syringa ‘Belle de Nancy’, a very pretty French Lilac Tree. It’s becoming tall and I can see that it will eventually be too tall for photography without ladders!

  • Syringa ‘Belle de Nancy’
  • Growing tall

Syringa meyeri Flowerfesta White. This is a delicate-stemmed, repeat-flowering dwarf lilac that I bought a few weeks ago. It still has a lot of growing to do, so there’s not a lot to show at the moment. But the flowers are pretty, starting as pink buds opening to white. It should flower from now through until early autumn and an extra bonus is its apparently beautiful sweet scent, that I’m not experiencing yet, but hope to as the weather warms.

  • Syringa Flowerfesta White
  • Delicate stems

Exochorda × macrantha ‘Niagara’. I featured this shrub two weeks ago, but since then more flowers have opened and I can now see from the little buds why it’s also called the ‘Pearl Bush’. I had doubts about it, but it’s beginning to look very pretty.

  • Exochorda ‘Niagara’.
  • Pearl Bush

Clematis ‘Bridgewater’. Just newly taken out of the delivery box, this little clematis will grow to a height of approx 1.2m (4ft). It’s new home with be in my very own little garden nook outside the greenhouse. It has arrived with two new flowers and nine buds. The flowers are fresh and small but if it performs as it should, the flowers will be 15cm (6 inches) across.

Clematis ‘Bridgewater’

Rhododendron. This was a Mother’s Day gift and although it arrived with no name tag, it’s pretty and will be planted as soon as we finish clearing the area that was badly damaged in the January storm. The photos don’t show it in two different locations – as it’s still in a pot I was able to walk around it with the camera.

  • Rhododendron
  • Set against a darker background

Aquilegia. This one has been in the garden for years. It was challenge to photograph due to the wind constantly blowing its tall, slender, stems, combined with strong sunlight that created harsh shadows, bleaching out the white areas of the flower. This was the only shot I was happy with.

Aquilegia

Jim at Garden Ruminations hosts Six on Saturday and it’s there that you can see what’s going in other folk’s gardens. Be sure to pop over for a look over the garden fence.

Today I have some new plants to get into the ground and seedlings to prick out. And then, who knows, I might just sit a while and enjoy this very unusual Spring. 😊 Have a lovely weekend!

Catherine x

30 thoughts on “Still Sunny”

  1. Always amazing photos, Catherine! This photo of the aquilegia is very elegant. You’ll see, I also added rhododendrons to my Six this week.
    Speaking of rain, we’re expecting some here on Monday, but after, we will have 15 dry days… I hope to fill the tanks.

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    1. Thank you, Fred. I also see that your lovely Wisteria has flowered again after being cut back – that must make you very happy. I hope it will grow fast and boom beautifully for you.

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  2. A beautiful selection – and fragrant too. That Aquilegia is lovely. I wonder it it’s just some varieties of Syringa meyeri that repeat flower? If your ‘Flowerfesta White’ does then I may have to consider finding space for one. The lack of rain is rather worrying. We may have some on Sunday/Monday in theory.

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      1. Yes, it is a repeat-flowering. I also have (or thought I had) the syringa in pink. I bought that last year and it was mostly twiggy when it arrived. It has leafed up this year and it was only when I received the white from the same supplier that I realised that the pink isn’t a syringa at all. It has been mislabelled and I have no idea what one from last year is! I’ll have to message them and hope that they send a replacement.

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    2. I’m currently growing the syringa in a pot, but as it reaches its final height of 1.25m (or thereabouts) I’ll probably move it into a border. I hope you get some rain. The earliest on the forecast for us is 21st of the month – and then back to sunshine. Our temps are rising now and should be in the low 20’s this coming week and beyond. Strange weather patterns. 😳

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    1. It’s been fairly calm today, Rosie and I’ve enjoyed being in the garden all day! Hopefully there won’t be an issue with water supplies, that’s normally a plentiful resource here – as most folk know. 😁

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  4. You have some exciting new buys. I love the pretty lilac and gorgeous clematis. I have Exochorda The Bride’ but I have never come across ‘ Niagara’.

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    1. E. ‘Niagara’ is shrubbier than ‘The Bride’ and the branches are less splayed (according to the RHS). I’m looking forward to seeing covered in flowers when it matures.

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  5. It’s hard to believe we’re talking about lack of water after the rain of the first week of January, but it’s definitely a lot drier than normal.
    Your efforts to get a good picture of the aquilegia definitely paid off, it’s beautiful. I love the lilacs, too.

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    1. Isn’t it crazy weather. It was warmer today and I finally picked up the scent of S. Belle de Nancy. It’s beautiful! Next week has to be warmer and I might be found going around the garden with my nose to in-flower plants.

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    1. Thank you. 😊 I had to prop the aquilegias up today. I might have to dig up the clump later in the year and move it to a more sheltered spot, it’s too tall for the space it’s in.

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    1. I had to put a support around the aquilegia today and that is now keeping it from swaying so much. I should have done that days ago! 😁

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  8. It is really dry here as well in the West Country Catherine, they will really have to change the ‘Soggy Somerset’ to ‘Sunny Somerset’. I love your two tone aquilegia which is so much more refined that the ones that decided to grow all of their own choosing in the front garden.

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    1. Sunny Somerset sounds a much happier place than Soggy Somerset. 😃 I hope you get a lot more sunshine, but plenty of overnight rain to water the fields & gardens and fill the rivers & reservoirs, Noelle.

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  9. I must buy a couple of shrubs this year, less maintenance is required. I like the idea of a repeat flowering lilac. And I want a dwarf choisya too. Maybe White Dazzler. I have the same coloured Aquilegia come up in my garden this year, along with a pale pink and the bog standard purple. No idea where they came from! It’s been dry here too since 18th April, but we are forecast rain tomorrow and possibly Monday. Meanwhile I have had to use the hosepipe on my pots!

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    1. I’ve also been looking at various Choisyas since we had to cut back our huge Choisya ternata recently, Jude, as it was badly damaged by last January’s storm. As well as the lovely evergreen leaves, I’m missing its beautiful perfume. I have a planned visit to a garden centre next week, perhaps I might see a few there to choose from! I hope you get some rain tomorrow (doesn’t it seem rather weird to be hoping for rain in May!) It looks like another dry & sunny week ahead for us – and warmer. ☀️

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  10. IT seems strange to read you are at risk of facing a hosepipe ban. I feel for you. Last summer we had water restrictions and we were down to showering in a bucket and then recycling the grey water on non edibles. Buy another waterbut before everyone gets the same idea. Can you harvest the water from your washing machine (providing you only use natural product)? Good luck 🙂

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    1. I think perhaps a hosepipe ban is just about to be averted. The forecasters (unsurprisingly) are now forecasting rain overnight and through most of Monday. My garden will love it, but tomorrow just happens to be my day out with my sister to a garden centre for lunch and shopping! 🙄 Oh well, in this case, rain is the priority!

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    1. It’s very unusual to go this long without rain, particularly at this time of year – but there’s been a change of forecast, and the clouds are gathering overhead right now, and it feels thundery. I hadn’t even noticed a theme with the colours! 😂 Well spotted.

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  13. I’m trying to cut down on work so am planting more shrubs and your dwarf repeat flowering lilacs sound just the job! I have an aquilegia just like yours which suddenly popped up in the garden many years ago, it seems to like it here so I’m very glad it flowers each spring.

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    1. I’m of the same mind, Pauline and I’ve invested in a number of shrubs recently, and planning to shop for a couple more tomorrow. The body is telling me I need to make the garden less labour-intensive.

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  14. Really love that shot of the Aquilegia Catherine. And your lilac too, with that blue sky behind it! 😃 It is extremely dry here too, and our lawn is looking brown already. We haven’t had much rain at all this spring (and loads of wind!) – only two rainy days in April and none in May so far. Luckily that won’t mean hosepipe bans here though as our reservoirs are deep underground in our area. Your Exochorda is still looking amazing! 😃

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