Pink and purple hardy geraniums in the late evening sunshine.

#gardensofpixelfed #hardyperennial #gardening #photography #lochranza #isleofarran #scottishgardens #aesthetic

#Florespondence: Tulipa 'Ballerina' and 'Havran'. Playing with colours. More: http://www.gwenfarsgarden.info/2019/05/florespondence-tulipa-ballerina-and.html #Plants #HardyPerennial #Bulbs

#DailyPerennial today is another species tulip: Tulipa Humilus Odalisque. This has the most fabulous deep pink-magenta petals and it's quite the star in the border. The petals open when the sun is on them, then closes when it goes.

It has the same growing requirements as the previous species tulip (above post). It also has a sweet-spicy fragrance that stays with you. It's another favourite will pollen beetles too. T. Humilus Odalisque is only about 10cm high, but it really has the wow factor. #Florespondence #Plants #HardyPerennial

This #DailyPerennial is Tulipa turkestanica, also known as a 'species tulip'. Species tulips are those that haven't been hybridized and are from where original tulips descend. The Turkestanica species come from either Turkey or Turkestan - my research came up with both for it's origin. It's a dwarf tulip, only coming to 30cms high.

It can have up to 12 star-shaped flowers per stem, quite a lot for a dwarf tulip! It likes full sun and because it's small, should be placed at the front of a border. It grows happily in pots, and in heavy clay soil if you add some grit/sand when you plant the bulbs. #Florespondence #Plants #HardyPerennial #Bulbs

Now that I've run out of #DailyDaffidols to share, I thought I'd move onto #DailyPerennial. For my first #DailyPerennial I give you: Chionodoxa forbesii, which is also known as ‘Glory of the Snow’. It’s a fabulous Spring blue, though it’s only 10 cm tall. It looks good at the front of a border, in containers or under deciduous trees. You can also naturalise them in grass, and they will happily self-seed. You can also get pale pink and white Chionodoxa.

In these pictures you will notice a little black beetle on them. This is a pollen beetle. It doesn’t cause any damage to the flowers, and in fact it an important pollinator for Oilseed Rape. Just remember to give any flowers you cut to bring inside, a good shake outside first to dislodge any of these beetles so you don’t end up with them in your house!

#Florespondence #Plants #Spring #HardyPerennial

#WordlessWednesday #Florespondence: The heavenly blue of: Hepatica nobilis 'Cobalt Blue'. More pics on the blog http://www.gwenfarsgarden.info/2019/03/wordless-wednesday-27th-march-2019.html. #Plants #HardyPerennial