GBBD/ ABC Wednesday 4: Z is For...


... Zing!

Happy Mouffetard may have plants which go Fwing!, but I think my Dahlia 'Moonfire' have more of a Zing! to them. I love that combination of very dark foliage topped by single flowers of burnt orange when they first open, which then mellow into a deep, sunny yellow. As you can see, the bees seem to like them too.

I was convinced our really cold weather had destroyed my Dahlias as I never dig them up, but instead cover them with a snuggly quilt for the winter. I was delighted at the beginning of May to find that my 'Moonfire' and D. 'David Howard' had survived. Sadly D. 'Romeo' and D. 'Happy Party' hadn't, even though they're not that far from their surviving cousins. I think the wall immediately behind the survivors may have contributed to their success. BTW, I received an e-mail from the RHS on Monday saying their hardiness survey is now live on their website. Now's your chance to turn your winter losses and unexpected survival stories into data to help the RHS' scientific team.

Whilst I'm delighted with my Dahlias, I've decided to be a little different this Blooms Day. Last week, I mentioned my allotment's star is in the ascendant when compared to my garden at the moment. As my posts from there have been rather lacking so far this year, I've decided to present you with some of my allotment flowers this month.


Main picture: view from the top of the plot; Top Row: squash flowers with babies, pea, fennel, leeks with bee; Second Row: potatoes, nasturtiums around the onions, parsnip and celeriac, a velvety red nasturtium; Third Row: the self-sowns - Stachys and Campanula; Bottom Row: the weeds, my best crops this year! Willowherb and feathery grass heads

For extra Zingy Zeds, do go to the ABC Wednesday blog. Garden Bloggers' Blooms Day is hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

Comments

  1. Helen/patientgardener15 July 2009 at 12:16

    Your allotment is looking very flowery

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mr. McGregor's Daughter15 July 2009 at 16:49

    The hardiness survey is a great idea. Somebody should do that over here. Your allotment has a good assortment of flowers. I love the color of the Nasturtium, and the Dill is wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Roger Owen Green15 July 2009 at 18:20

    ZING went the STRINGS of my heart - that's what came to mind.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Joanne15 July 2009 at 18:22

    The zingy dahlia looks good. Nice to see flowers on your allotment too.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anna15 July 2009 at 20:38

    Great choice for Z and for GBBD. Now where have I seen those weeds before ?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Gail16 July 2009 at 02:34

    Love the dahlia...(I planted it in pots and in the ground and it is happier in the garden soil...I wonder if it will survive here?) VP, your allotment flowers are lovely...and very zingy! Gail

    ReplyDelete
  7. Regina 16 July 2009 at 06:28

    What a lovely blooms Nice post.
    Regina@DailyLiving

    ReplyDelete
  8. Carrie16 July 2009 at 12:04

    Lovely photos. I need to get out there again and take a load of updated 'what's flowering now' pics. x

    ReplyDelete
  9. Rose16 July 2009 at 13:05

    The dahlias are beautiful and certainly add some zing to your garden, VP! Very clever to combine these two memes today; if my zinnias had been blooming, I would have, too. My browser is acting up so I couldn't enlarge the collage, but I could still see most of the blooms anyway--there is a beauty to so many vegetable blooms that we forget about. And I always enjoy the nasturtiums. Weeds...yes, I am good at growing those, too:)

    ReplyDelete
  10. The Constant Gardener16 July 2009 at 16:45

    veggies are pretty! veggies are pretty!

    I particularly love courgette flowers and peas (flowers = pods). I also let my leeks flower this year and they were sensational (still are - the seedheads are holding too).

    congrats on a lovely idea (I like the willowherb too :D)

    ReplyDelete
  11. jay16 July 2009 at 17:32

    I have dahlias exactly that colour this year, but not single. The blooms are halfway between double and pompom, it seems to me. Pretty anyway!

    ReplyDelete
  12. HappyMouffetard16 July 2009 at 19:33

    Zing indeed - a real wake-me-up. Moonfire will be on my shopping list for next year. The allotment looks great - what a good idea for GBBD.

    All my fwings have fwung now, so some zings would be good!

    ReplyDelete
  13. VP17 July 2009 at 09:26

    PG - well an allotment does need flowers, otherwise the crops don't get pollinated. It's just that loads of mine shouldn't really be there this year ;)

    MMD - I think they did the survey as last winter was the worst for about 18 years, so a good time to get some hard data on what can actually grow in this country. BTW Dill's a different herb for us - my picture's of Foeniculum vulgare. 'Purpureum' is a wonderful bronze form. Dill's Anethum graveolens. Sorry for any confusion - it's my fault for being lazy and not including the latin names in the first place!

    Roger - Welcome! I've had that song on the brain too!

    Joanne - thank you.

    Anna - you've been peeking at my allotment haven't you? And I thought I'd kept them well hidden this year ;)

    Gail - that's the best solution for your Zone, unless you want to keep digging them up of course. That's really what I should do, but I'm too lazy.

    Regina - welcome and thank you!

    Carrie - joining in Blooms Day's a good excuse to do exactly that. I liked your picture over at Matron's veggie show BTW

    Rose - I thought loads of people would choose Zinnias today, so I had to get my thinking cap on to come up with something a little bit different.

    CG - Thanks - I wanted to do something a little different this month :)

    Jay - they sound fab - do you know which cultivar they are?

    HM - I always think Fwing! when I come over on a visit to you, so perhaps your blooms haven't fwung at all!

    ReplyDelete

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