Isn’t this just the most gorgeous creature?

This is apparently an Asatic Hybrid Lily ‘Dimensions’ that I planted in my garden this spring and promptly forgot about.

Part of me feels like I need to rein in my predilection for very dark flowers soon before the garden looks like something out of the Addams Family.  The other part of me wants to gather up great bunches of these and put them in every room in the house.  (I should have bought more than three bulbs).

Those of you in the US who share my delight in dark flowers should visit the Chocolate Flower Farm which is based on one of the local islands and specialises, amazingly enough, in chocolate-coloured flowers and vegetables.

While you’re here, here’s a completely gratuitous picture of a bee on the lavender.

One day soon we ARE going to get to getting the inside of the house painted (we’ve got quotes and things but I just can’t bear the thought of the disruption) and I am starting to think about colour schemes.

Of course, the bedroom will be very much dictated by the presence of the Emma Gardner rug , which I realise I haven’t really shown you in all its glory.

I also recently acquired an ‘Apostrophe Chair’ from Urban Outfitters, which I got at an extremely bargainaceous price, because they were just discontinuing them in that colour.  The chair is ludicrously comfortable, but also ridiculously lightweight so I then had to acquire a sheepskin rug from UGG Australia to anchor it down a bit and stop it wandering all over the room. So not quite such a bargain as first envisaged.

Unfortunately at the moment the whole ensemble is a little vignette of hope in the middle of a sea of ugliness.  If you just pan to the left a little you will see the Husband’s incredibly un-picturesque office corner (which will have to remain there until we redo the basement, so sometime in 2020).

But one day – hopefully within my lifetime –  it will become a lovely nook from where I can read, knit and just gaze at the view over Lake Union and the downtown buildings beyond (which are  impossible to capture on film while still retaining the details of the room).

I saw these on Uncle Beefy’s fabulous blog today and thought that might be a good colour scheme for the room with the rug as a starting point and maybe some dove grey mixed in. I am leaving that thought to marinade a little.

The garden was looking all shiny and pretty just before we left for Mexico, but by the time we got back, after a week of rain and then record-breaking temps, it was looking like a branch of the Amazon rainforest.

I’ve spent every weekend since then attacking the lawn, pulling up thousands of weeds, planting new stuff and mulching everything, while the garden sort of went into suspended animation because it was so incredibly cold.

My efforts have finally been rewarded over the last couple of weeks as temperatures have risen (not that it’s exactly summer yet, mind you) and things are finally starting to happen.

It’s still looking a bit messy as all the bulbs die down (and I’m not too keen on the woodchip mulch either – who would have thought that one day I would have opinions about mulch?) However, the beds have finally filled out with perennials and the lilies I planted earlier in the year (very excited to see the lilies as I can’t for the life of me remember what colours I planted).

The big news is that we finally got round to constructing and planting a raised bed to the side of the garden and also planting a climbing rose to go over the arch.

Here’s a before picture from when we first moved into the house.

I’ve put in some roses – being English it doesn’t seem right to have a garden without them somehow. I’m wondering a bit about their garishness though.

To the side of the arch is rosa ‘ Zephirine Drouhin’  a hot pink which is looking lovely with the lavender at the front of the beds. At the moment it’s perfect, but I’m worrying whether she’ll be a bit OTT when/if she scrambles right over the arch.

In the raised bed is rosa Livin’ Easy which is the most beautiful orange (hate the name though)

and also rosa ‘Christopher Marlowe’ which looked good in the garden centre, but which might prove to have been a bit of a mistake as I think it’s too pink and sugary even for me. I may have to move him to the front garden somewhere.

Behind them is a soft pink jasmine to go with the white jasmine to the side of the trellis.  I’ve also planted a clematis, but it doesn’t seem to be doing too well at present, mostly I suspect, because we broke the growing tip in transit.

The most glorious iris has just finished blooming. It was so dark as to be almost black when in bud. The garden is so shaded now that I think I’m going to have to rein in my predilection for black flowers because you just can’t see them.  Also pretty and very unusual were the little bell-like flowers of the enkianthus by the side of the patio

The helianthemums at the front overlapping the stone walls have been flowering well, but I think they are a bit of a mistake.  I should have listened when the designer specified orange helianthemum ‘Ben Nevis’, instead I asked if we could have Ben Ledi  instead and although they look very pretty when the sun shines through them, from the front the just look too RED and don’t go so well with the lavender. 

The brig ht pink geranium Anne Folkard is also doing her thing and bringing a bit of colour to the shade garden at the back, where nothing much is happening at present, and the first oakleaf hydrangea caps are starting to come through.  I think they’re going to be beautiful next month.

The herb garden at the side of the house has also filled in nicely – all ready for the grilling season.  If it ever gets here.

This month the garden is all about blossom and tulips and the colour scheme has become more subdued again as the bright yellow early daffs and lipstick pink tulips fade away.

The cherry tree was in her full splendour earlier on in the month but now a confetti of tiny white blossoms cascades down over the garden every time there is a slight breeze, leaving a dusting of ‘snow’ all over the flower beds.  It is all very lovely.

 

The espaliered apples are also looking stunning.  I had forgotten how beautiful pink-tinged apple blossom can be.

This is the view looking across to our neighbours’ house and over towards Lake Union.

I have been talking sternly to the squirrel to make sure he doesn’t get all our apples this year.

Some gorgeous new tulips have arrived which I like much better than the rather gaudy lipstick red ones we had last month.  I wish I could remember their names though.

Somewhat foolishly though I planted these in the bed on the side of the garden where they can’t be admired easily from the patio.

Close to the patio I appear to have inadvertently created a ‘black’ garden where the black violas I planted last autumn are still going strong, mixed with the dark new leaves of the berberis and the velvety black of ‘Queen of the Night’, one of my favourite tulips. I love how it’s completely not ‘springlike’, though I wish I’d planted a few pink or orange tulips here to liven it up a bit, and it is really difficult to photograph.

The back of the garden in contrast is now a white garden full of white daffodils, counterpointed by the lime green of the fading hellebores and the sprinkling of tiny white flowers on the daphne.  I’m loving the way that bluebells are growing up naturally through the woodland garden at the back.

We’ve been working to spruce up the patio a bit as well.  The pansy which I planted last autumn is now enormous, so I moved it to the pot where the gaudy tulips were, awaiting further instructions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve also given up on my dream of growing dwarf chamomile in between the flagstones (I couldn’t find the ‘lawn’ variety anywhere) and have been putting in this pretty little thyme.

All the sprucing is in honour of the newly painted Adirondack chairs, now complete with little table from Target.