GBBD - New Flowers on the Block


This post's a bit hasty today as we're off to a wedding in the Cotswolds, so bridal bouquets are more on my mind than all that's blooming in the garden. A quick run round this morning found me concentrating on just this year's new additions which are now strutting their stuff. From top left circulating clockwise (click on the image to enlarge it if needed) we have:

1. The new patio bed - more on this to follow - I really am writing this in haste! 2. Dahlia 'Arabian Nights' 3. Anthemis tinctoria 'E. C. Buxton' 4. Rosa 'The Fairy' supported by an enormous pot of Lavandula angustifolia, which in turn is surrounded by bees 5. Echinacea 'Kim's Knee High' 6. Part of the revamped single terrace bed showing the Fuchsia genii has indeed recovered from its capsid bug attack :) 7. Scabiosa 'Chile Black' 8. Achillea 'Walther Funke' 9. Echinops ritro with bees 10. Begonia boliviensis 'Bonfire' enlivening the 'boring fence project' 11. Verbena bonariensis 12. Dahlia 'Dark Angel Red'

A year ago today, I opened my garden online as a standalone blog to raise money for WaterAid's Sing for Water. A magnificent total of £1085 was raised - around 1750 USD. Many thanks to all of you who visited, commented and donated, it was a fantastic response. As no further money has materialised since January, I've now closed the garden to donations. However, I won't be closing my Open Garden blog as it gives such a good introduction for new Veg Plotting readers. It'll also give you a good idea of how the garden as a whole is doing at the moment. I'll be updating the link from the sidebar on here as well as the blog itself to reflect its new status shortly.

Garden Bloggers Blooms Day is hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

Comments

  1. HappyMouffetard15 August 2009 at 19:36

    Hi VP. Beautiful flowers - I love the dahlias in particular. I can't believe it's a year since your Open Garden. What a fantastic amount of money to raise!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Victoria Summerley15 August 2009 at 20:31

    Your dahlias look superb. I love those dark, winey colours. Look forward to hearing about the patio project when you've recovered from the wedding!

    ReplyDelete
  3. The Constant Gardener15 August 2009 at 20:35

    ooh you've gone all moody and sultry this month VP. I love that Dahlia 'Arabian Nights' - just gorgeous. Another one for the list...!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Monica the Garden Faerie15 August 2009 at 21:47

    What a stunning collage--I love the deep, dark reds! Makes me smile!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anna15 August 2009 at 22:30

    Beautiful August blooms VP. I must have an echinacea 'Kim's Knee High ' after seeing your photo. Are you sure that your rose is 'The Fairy' ? I chose mine in my August GBBD selection and she is very pink :) Hope that you enjoyed the wedding and the sun shone down on the happy couple.

    ReplyDelete
  6. VP16 August 2009 at 09:32

    HM - I couldn't believe it's a year ago either! I miss all the excitement.

    Victoria - We had a fab time - it was the wedding of NAH's schoolfriend's eldest daughter. We first met her when she was days old when NAH and I had our first holiday together 26 years ago. We got quite emotional over the entire event :) BTW if you hear of UFOs being spotted over the Cotswolds last night - it was us setting off skycandles.

    CG - I think I go all moody and sultry most Augusts! Its probably my penchant for dark leaved Dahlias that does it.

    Monica - I love them at this time of the year. There's quite a few new aquisitions from last week in there :)

    Anna - yes it is. Parkers offer 3 different colours - pink as you so rightly say, the red in my picture plus white. Trouble is, I'm sure I ordered white, but actually prefer the red now its here!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Juliet16 August 2009 at 15:11

    Oh no! I was meaning to donate again this month but just haven't got round to it yet. You can't re-open it for a little while, can you?!

    I love that Achillea - it's on my wish list for my new garden.

    ReplyDelete
  8. VP16 August 2009 at 15:35

    Juliet - you're lovely and sooo generous! I've just had a peek at my donation page. Apparently donation pages are actually kept open by Just Giving 3 months after the nominated closure date. In this instance you have until 9th November to make a donation.

    If anyone else would like to donate, I've also been saving seeds again if you'd like some.

    ReplyDelete
  9. easygardener16 August 2009 at 16:29

    Congratulations on the amount raised. I like the flower colours - a very rich, luxurious selection! I must get some Dahlias - keep saying that but still have not done anything about it!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Juliet16 August 2009 at 18:04

    It doesn't seem to work, VP - if I click on the donate button it takes me to a page which says "Unfortunately, this fundraising page no longer accepts donations. " :(

    It does have a link to make a donation to WaterAid directly, so I can do that - but it won't be added to your total, I'm afraid.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Mr. McGregor's Daughter16 August 2009 at 18:07

    You missed labeling the last row - is that Scabiousa 'Beaujolais Bonnets' in the middle? Your Dahlias are gorgeous.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Carrie16 August 2009 at 19:13

    I LOVE WEDDINGS. God, I'm the biggest softie when it comes to people I love finding love and starting a live together. I love everything about it, weddings are so celebratory, we should have more days like that, how's about a 'I'm feeling happy and I love you guys' day??? Any excuse.

    Gorgeous dahlia, so like my Bishop's Children but darker, lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  13. VP16 August 2009 at 19:18

    EG - you'll have to get some next Spring! Ignore my dire warnings about the perils of plant buying - get some in!

    Juliet - that's a shame and means what the site says is a bit ambiguous. You could always tell me about your donation directly if you want to, so that I get a nice warm glow :)

    Carrie - I love them, as does NAH. We spent a lot of time yesterday grinning and winking at each other inanely. A wedding confirms our love for each other too.

    ReplyDelete
  14. VP16 August 2009 at 19:21

    Oops, MMD I did not mean to leave you out there! I did a clockwise naming of the plants, like the shell of a snail, instead of doing a left to right down each row. You'll see there's 12 pictures and 12 names :) The Scabious is 'Chile Black' and I adore it. I'm considering going back for S. 'Ace of Spades' too...

    ReplyDelete

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