Windy, is what it is. Yesterday afternoon my big sister got cut off FB messenger by a power cut, she’s in NE Scotland under a red warning for wind. I don’t like wind.
Six things in the garden right now only interests me if I can see it from indoors. Most of these are from yesterday but won’t have changed a lot, and certainly not for the better. I just ventured out, it’s not pleasant.
One.
Wind. It’s happening, in the garden, right now. How to capture it is the challenge.
Two.
Photographic studio. I am working on the records of one of the National Collections of Camellias and have been photographing shoots, foliage sometimes being useful when trying to identify Camellias, there being so many with very similar flowers. I’m doing it with a 5mm grid as background, the greenhouse is fairly well and evenly lit, if a little cramped.
Three.
Talking of Camellias, I’d been waiting for a couple of seed pods on my C. reticulata seedling to start to splitting but missed the moment. Yesterday they were fully open and I had to scrabble about on the ground looking for the seeds. Fortunately camellia seeds are big. I’ll sow them but I’m not sure why.
Four.
Correa cv. There’s a house down the road where they’ve had a Correa growing and flowering well for four or five years so I knocked the door and asked for a cutting. That was a couple of years back and it’s grown well but is still in the greenhouse. I’ll plant it in the spring. It’s doing its best but doing it behind dirty and reflective glass. I don’t know what variety it is.
Five.
While I had the camera set up, and seeing that there was nothing outstanding around, just odd flowers dotted about, I picked a selection and did a montage.
Six.
Continuing to play in the shelter of the glasshouse, I did this stacked image of Hydrangea serrata ‘Fuji-no-taki’. It has double flowers but it’s only when you look closely that you see the petals are actually spaced along the stem. It starts out greenish, turns white, then back to green with red tints. All on a plant that is still not two feet high after at least ten years.
And that’s your lot. We had our booster jabs yesterday and I’m feeling a bit achy this morning. A day for hunkering down and staying warm. There’ll be plenty of sixes to browse, with links in the usual place, though the man himself may be expected to have his attention elsewhere.
garden ruminations 
The montage of flowers is a clever idea! The hydrangea flower is very interesting and your description of the colour changes as it matures to the lovely red and green colour are lovely. You have a great project there, and one requiring lots of patience and attention to detail! As you say, an ideal project for staying out of the weather you are experiencing.
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My project keeps me out of the weather for the photography bit but not the collecting specimens part. That involves a fifty mile round trip and quite a bit of walking. Hopefully it’ll stay dry.
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Yes, I do hope it does stay dry for you!
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Marian’s Marvel? Could that be what the Correa is? I know there are many cultivars, and that those that are available there are likely different from what we get here. Although it is somewhat common, there are not many cultivars to choose from here. I know it only as Correa pulchella, without a cultivar name, but just the color of the bloom.
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‘Marian’s Marvel’ looks to be spot on. There are very few widely sold here and that’s the only one that’s a contender. I wondered about ‘Peachy Cream’ but far fewer nurseries sell it.
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Yes, I thought of that also, but the few ‘Peachy Cream’ that I remember had slightly more contrast with richer color. Of course, I saw them only once, a very long time ago, and in a situation in which they could have been given a random pretty name for marketing. (They could have been an unidentified cultivar conveniently named ‘Peaches & Cream’ rather than ‘Peachy Cream’.) I suppose that it does not matter since you are not trying to match them to existing plants.
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If I see a plant of ‘Marian’s Marvel’ in a nursery one day I’ll pinch a flower, for research purposes.
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The hydrangea is pretty, and like Fred like your camera set up.
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Love the Correa, I think I have seen ordinary ones growing here. Might have to see if I can get one. Fancy photographic setup you have, and good photos too 🙂 I didn’t know camellia seeds were so large.
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I have a hunch that what you call an ordinary Correa might a lot less ordinary in the northern hemisphere. The other Camellia seeds I sowed this morning were the size of peas, which is pretty much as small as I’ve seen.
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You might well be right about the Correa, or I might have it confused with something else? Quite possible. I do like the tubular flowers though!
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I reckon you could join us on In a Vase on Monday with your hydrangea Jim.
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I have been tempted, now seems a bad time of year to join in.
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That’s a pretty montage, they would be nice pressed into a greeting card. Attractive seed pods on the Camelllia, it’s difficult to resist the urge to sow seeds once they’re in one’s possession. That colourful hydrangea almost looks like a succulent.
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I’ll leave pressed flower cards to Sue, I know my limitations. The thing with camellias from seed is that you usually get quite a variety of progeny so It’s hard not to sow them when one of them might be something really fabulous.
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I hate wind too, it’s always unsettling. I didn’t know that Correa was hardy, how lovely. It must be fun to grow camellias from seed, you might get something really special.
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I don’t think Correa would be hardy much further up country, though it’s not long ago the only place I’d seen it outside was Isles of Scilly. I think C. lawrenceana is a bit hardier.
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Love the montage! My booster shot gave me a very sore arm the next day, and made me want to spend the day dozing under a blanket in front of the fire. Well worth it eh?
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I just hope it’s not blown off course by this new variant from SA. I suppose we’re going to have to go through it all annually for ever more now.
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That is a windy garden, we got off lightly here. Your montage is wonderful – definitely worthy a greeting card. I had to google stacked image and I am now very impressed. The hydrangea shot is beautiful and glad that you found your camellia seeds. Sounds like you are having plenty of fun with your camera and the garden!
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The thing is that the camera is in the glasshouse and I’m at the other end of a 20m USB cable at my computer taking sets of pictures for stacking remotely. Just the job for weather like this.
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The camera is posed acrobatically in the greenhouse : What a work ! And a very pretty flower arrangement # 5
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I’m not convinced the camellia photos are time well spent but it’s interesting to look for small but consistent differences between varieties.
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We have had no power since 4am and not expected to have any until 2pm. It’s no fun when you only have electricity. Underfloor heating off. Hot water off. We are due our boosters this morning, so off into St Ives to try and find a coffee shop beforehand. Definitely wild outside!
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It’s not so bad here as it was overnight, cold though. Good luck with your boosters, hope you don’t get side effects.
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I hope you are back on grid this afternoon. Wishing you well.
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Off until 2pm then on until 3pm and off again! Getting too dark to read now! We’re making a list of all the camping gear we need to buy! 😂
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How annoying. It’s not nice being reminded how desperately dependent on reliable electricity we all are.
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