I am just so thankful that I have a decent sized garden to keep me occupied, distracted, isolated and sane. It’s all been said, I’ll move on.
If there’s one thing in the garden that will lift your spirits it’s flowers and by good fortune the weather has taken a turn for the better this last week and there really is quite a lot of colour to be had.
One.
Tropaeolum tricolor. I bought three bulbs of this after seeing it at one of the early Rosemoor shows last year. I was at Rosemoor last Saturday for a show and sadly it will be the last one for some time. It’s in a large terracotta pot and I fashioned some hoops out of thin bamboo side shoots which the tropaeolum is kind of twining around , with a bit of help now and again.
Two.
Corydalis solida. I have never fathomed how it happened but this just turned up in the garden many years ago as quite a decent sized clump. It’s been moved around a bit since and the main clump has a rather chunky primrose growing on top of it. They come up and die down so quickly it’s hard to keep the ground bare of competing plants until its time comes around again. I have one or two named forms but I like this dusky purple just as much.
Three.
Fuchsia juntacensis seems to want to do its thing at this time of year, which means nurturing a mass of long whippy stems through the winter and cutting the whole thing down as soon as it’s done. I didn’t cut it down last year and it produced fruits, which then yielded seeds, which germinated readily so I now have a tray of seedlings which I have no need of.
Four.
Skimmia ‘Rubella’, + 1. The buds form on this in the autumn and look quite ornamental all winter, seeming to take an eternity to finally open in March. The males, which it is, have much more ornamental flowers than the females, but no berries of course. There’s a female, name unknown, not so far away and there were bees on both in the sun yesterday.
Five.
Primulas. Many and various, some planted, many self sown.
Six.
Camellia ‘Adorable’. I’ve used this before but I reckon it bears repeating in these troubled times.
Hope that brightened your day a little. Stay safe and well.
Links to the other sixers at The Propagator as ever. Some things are still reliable.
garden ruminations 
Such Fuchsia envy. My day was certainly brightened by it, and ‘Adorable’. I had compost in luckily but there’s other things I’d been meaning to get. Money saved, I suppose
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Our local GC is delivering compost and other stuff, I have more on order, I get through a lot.
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Brightened my day, very much indeed. Love tricolour. As it’s in a pot, do you bring it in over winter? Very lovely plant. That fuchsia is pretty amazing as well. That skimmia . . . as usual, I like all your offerings for the week. Stay well!
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What lovely photo’s Jim. Thanks for posting these they have cheered me up. The Camelia is stunning and that Fuschia has caught my interest.
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Is Tropaeolum tricolor simple Bolivian nasturtium, or is it grown as a vegetable like Tropaeolum tuberosum? I got seed for it once, but none were viable. I do not know what to make of it. I like common nasturtiums so much, that I am not so keen on trying odd nasturtiums.
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Seems like it is Bolivian nasturtium though Chilean nasturtium is an alternative name and makes sense as it seems to come from Chile. I can’t find any reference to it being grown as a vegetable. It’s a bit of a curiosity and flowers very early when not much else is around, but is generally reputed not to survive outdoors in the UK. Probably more to do with wet than cold, one UK nursery says they do grow it outside and that it even self sows.
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Oh, of course. I should have remembered it as Chilean nasturtium. I tried to research it as Bolivian nasturtium because that is how it was labeled when I got it, but was subsequently corrected on the name. I suspect that it would do well here. Other nasturtiums do, and the weather is certainly not to damp. Nor is it too cool for other nasturtiums through winter.
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How wonderful to have a Corydalis solida that ‘just turns up’! Lucky you … as for that glorious camellia. Thanks for sharing – didn’t see it last time around. Enjoy!
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Stupendous!
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Such a lovely collection of flowers couldn’t fail to brighten the day.
I’m featuring Skimmia this week too – I just have no idea what variety it is. It’s good that you’re much more knowledgeable than me and know the names and varieties of all your plants. Perhaps I’ll learn one day – or remember where I saved the labels. 😊
The Tropaeolum tricolor is quite dramatic and of course, your beautiful Camellia is a star.
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I wish I did know the names of all my plants. My OH calls me a systemiser. I make lists, in other words. Growing plants was what I did for a living; dealing with them every day you get a head full of names, but oh how quickly you forget them when you encounter them much less often.
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Jim, with that lovely Skimmia , do you need to have both male and female shrubs in the garden to get those wonderful flowers? I’ve seen some for sale locally and they smell so lovely. Best wishes, Julie
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You don’t need both sexes to get flowers, only to get berries on the female, if only is the right word. My female has three suitors, one of mine and two just over the fence in a neighbours garden. ‘Rubella’ is probably the most widely grown male but doesn’t set a lot of pollen.
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Thanks for all the info.
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You were lucky being able to get to Rosemoor, I’m going to miss going to the RHS shows very much. I love the photo of the Tropaeolum – reminds me of those Japanese paper kites that look like fish. Dusky purple is one of my favourite colours, so the Corydalis appeals to me too. I like the double primulas as well, and its reminded me that I was going to try growing some from seed.
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I’d already opted out of the show at Savill, I’ve judged Camellias there for a few years but it’s a long way to go for 30 minutes of judging. Then there was one more at Rosemoor to come. Very sad. We can only hope that next spring will be back on track but I’m not optimistic.
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The Tropaeolum tricolor is amazing! Where do you grow it then Jim if not outdoors? A cool or warm greenhouse? Sun or shade? I managed to get to the Dobbies garden centre today and get some compost and grit and some packs of salad seeds so hopefully if the sun shines next week and this rather cold wind disappears then I can create a few veggie beds (using plastic crates) and get sowing. No tomato plants though 😦 and I’m not very good at growing them from seed.
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The Tropaeolum is in my just frost free glasshouse in full sun. I planted them at the end of August and they started growing around February. I went out for compost today, slightly nervous that there might have been a run on it. There hadn’t. My Tomatoes germinated today.
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I wonder how long the garden centres will remain open.
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That’s a depressing thought. If people behave sensibly they should be very low risk. I can’t bear the thought of having all those plants to care for and no one to buy them.
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No that would be a shame. Too windy here today to wander around the plants though!
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Truly heartwarming. THANK YOU
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You’re very welcome, and thank you for the comment.
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Shame we are too far away to help you find a home for those fuchsia seedlings, it is a very elegant plant. As I mentioned last week, the camellias at Carlyon Bay were lovely but your Number 6 beats them all!l
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At last the wind has moderated and my camellias aren’t getting trashed as fast as they open. The man who raised ‘Adorable’ also raised ‘Annette Carol’, which is one of my all time favourites. If I could get two that good I’d quit while I was ahead.
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Your garden has definitely brightened my day! Love the Corydalis; I have some as well, and, like yours, it just appeared! Sad that it can’t compete very well with anything more aggressive.
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Day brightening is much needed, methinks. Despondency isn’t going to help. I have three species of Corydalis and they all have that same tendency to give in too easily.
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Wonderful: I especially admire the Tropaeolum, Corydalis, and unusual Fuschia–thank you so much for sharing them with us.
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You’re very welcome.
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I consider my day brightened and send the same wishes to you – stay safe and well. I love the corydalis, so much nicer the wildflower version that pops up in my garden. I’d happily let your one stay around for a bit. The fuschia is very beautiful too. We can always rely on you to provide the variety and the exotic, much appreciated.
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If I brightened your day my work is done.
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What a smashing camellia you have ! Very nice. When did you plant the Tropaeolum tricolor bulbs to get flowers now?
(I’m like you and happy to have a big garden so I always have something to do. )
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End of August for the Tropaeolum. Avon Bulbs had a short list of things available between the spring planted and autumn planted bulbs, I bought Tropaeolum and Cypripedium Gisela, which isn’t up yet. . . . .
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Oh ! Cypripedium … I love them too… tks.
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Eye candy generating envy, one of my worst traits, which I am working on to change into admiration..Thank you so much for sharing these views of your garden, your knowledge and encouragement.
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Candy with no calories, what’s not to love. Sharing is the best bit.
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Love the camellia, fuchsia, and corydalis! I am planning to spend time in the garden every day now to cheer myself up, and for the exercice – I don’t think ‘normal life’ is every going to be quite the same again in my lifetime.
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It’s going to be a different normal from now, that’s for sure. I want the floweriest summer ever!
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Well, the first four plants featured in your post are new to me. I especially fancy the first one that you featured, and the flowers are unusual and an amazing colour combination. I will have to find out more about each. The primulas are beautiful, while the Camelia is just stunning. My Camelias are both in bud, so I am looking forward to the day they burst into flower.
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Well I can’t grow the first one outdoors here so perhaps you could. I imagine primula would really struggle with you, too hot. The Camellia was raised in Melbourne, it would be right at home.
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I will definitely investigate the first one. I have grown the fairy primula here, but it certainly does not look as good as it did when I grew it years ago in a colder climate. I haven’t tried the Primula that you featured, though. We do have some stunning Camelias on the Range, with a number of keen gardeners having some interesting Camelia collections. We inherited two very mature bushes when we first moved in, and sine then I have bought a smaller bush which has dainty white flowers. No buds on it as yet.
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I did come across some references to Camellia related activity in that area but we’ve never been out at the right time of year. Caught the tail end of some in Brisbane Botanics one time.
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