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13/08/2008


my photos

SEEING RED

The month of August has seen a lot of rain, perfect for tumbling cherry tomatoes. The variety I have been growing for the past few years is Garden Pearl (gartenperle).


Potentilla (Gibsons Scarlet), a very pretty, clump forming perennial with sprawling stems. Likes a well-drained position, being quite happy to grow through cracks in paving. Keep deadheading for continuous flowering, and when the plant has exhausted itself, leave any remaining flowers to self-seed.



Dahlia (Bishop of Llandaff) with bronze foliage lives in a large pot, and is placed in a frost-free, sheltered position to overwinter. Preferring to keep mine in pots, dahlias are great for placing in gaps which are likely to appear in late summer, and leaves room for experimenting with different colours too.



I made the mistake a few years back of treating Antirrhinum (snapdragon) as an annual, tearing out the plants once they had finished flowering. One got away, and returns ever year to show off this blousy, burgundy red flower.

19 comments:

Glo said...

Those tomatoes look about "reddy" to eat! The liquid sunshine adds a wonderful dimension to the photo. Sorry to hear you have had so much rain, but the flowers seem to have lapped it up!

HAWTHORN HALL said...

We have had more than usual rain here in Canada and everything in our garden is at least two weeks behind...is this part of global warming? Your tomatoes look delicious and and I enjoyed this lovely selection of "Reds" from your garden!

Gillian

Sal said...

I bet those toms are real tasty
;-)

Threadspider said...

You seem to be doing pretty well despite the rain, and the red flowers and tomatoes are just the cheering up we need. I do love the Bishop-next year I might add him to the plot too.

Lynn said...

Oh the tomatoes look delicious! Nice touch with the rain drops. Snap dragons are one of my favorite flowers. I think they are annual here in Pennsylvania though.

Heather said...

What beautiful photos, Louise. Snapdragons were a favourite of mine when I was little. Now they come back every year in my garden and my son loves them too.

life in red shoes said...

All in my favorite color.

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

Oh, such wonderful color!

walter and me said...

I love all these red....so cheerful and bright in this grey summer we're having.

Simone said...

The tomatoes look really healthy as do all your plants.

Suzanne said...

I love red against green its so beautiful. The tomatoes with the water drops on them look so good.

Suburbia said...

Such beautiful reds. We sadly lost our Bishop of L, though I do have an almost black dahlia now which I love but don't know the name of!

Selfsewn said...

Oh wow I love your blog. Someone after my own heart who loves taking photos of their garden!
Now I must get reading!
Clare

Bumpkin Hill said...

beatufiul, I especially love snapdragons :) I just put up some photos of Great Dixter on my blog if you'd like to take a peek, Catherine x

Selfsewn said...

Thanks for adding my blog!
I've just had another peak at yours!
I think I need a spare day to read it through. It looks great. This is so addictive, I only came back online because I made a spelling mistake and now I'm sucked in again!
LOL
Clare

Kat Mortensen said...

There is nothing like the taste of fresh, homegrown tomatoes! I would have had a bushelful of cherry tomatoes a couple of summers ago, had I not linked them to a spiral cast-iron plant stand. The squirrels found it to be their "stairway to heaven".

Kat

Twiggy said...

Beautiful dahlia, I keep saying I'm going to get one of these. Isn't it nice to finally see some red tomatoes? I've had a pathetic 5on my Gardeners Delight plants so far - boo!! I bought a lovely red lobelia last week, it has dark brown nearly black leaves and really vibrant flowers, it's a beauty!
Twiggy x

Christy said...

I love all these red hues! So vibrant and energising :)

Lavinia said...

Lots of yummy looking red shades in this post....

We've had a lot of rain too. What a strange summer!