If only we could keep going with these lovely long days. But it is already midsummer and by the time we reach my birthday in August I know that the nights will most definitely be drawing in, even though the weather tends to be balmy then. So it is time to pirouette on the cusp for Six on Saturday. Visit Jon the Propagator’s blog to catch up with other Sixes from gardeners round the globe.
1) My first is a David Austin rose called ‘Wildeve’ that we planted a month ago in a new dedicated rose bed. The name sound suitably Midsummer’s Dreamy, but it turns out to be a reference to a character in Thomas Hardy’s The Return of the Native. It was bought as a pink, fragrant, repeater, but as you can see it has strong apricot vibes.
Rosa ‘Wildeve’
2) Well, those oca that I was complaining about not so long ago are doing a lot of growing now and are looking pretty darned healthy for such a miserable start in life. In fact, the suppliers did pick up on my critical review of the tubers and have sent a voucher by way of an apology. The plants turn out to be interestingly fleshy, plus I love that their leaves are so covered in downy hairs.
Oca in the vegetable patch
3) This week saw the first of the migrating Painted Lady butterflies. They’ve been making pit stops on our showy giant scabious, Cephalaria gigantea. Cephalaria is a real bumblebee magnet too, so it always attracts comments.
4) The Penstemon are starting to make a statement in the borders and I think that ‘Sour Grapes’ is my favourite, although ‘Husker Red’ and ‘Raven’ are in contention. This is another bee pleaser, so you can never have too many.
Penstemon ‘Sour Grapes’
5) Here’s an odd customer … There’s a lot of Broomrape (Orobanche minor) in the meadows out the back this year, so I guess the fits-and-starts weather has suited it. Broomrape makes no chlorophyll, hence its rather washed appearance. It is parasitic on other plants, particularly clover. Happily the clover is doing rather well too.
Broomrape (Orobanche minor)
6) OK … yet another photo of a poppy from me, but I really like the shadow puppet effect going on here, so you’ll have to forgive me. These poppies are in front of a copper beech hedge and look dramatic the whole time the sun shines on them.
The translucence of Papaver somniferum
You can never have too many poppies, can you?
Well, I am off to a forest (Thetford) for a concert now. I wonder whether I will meet any fairies?
Have a good weekend and enjoy browsing those Sixes!
Frogend dweller's Blog 
That poppy photo is gorgeous!
Thanks Eliza … It was quite lucky. When I got my camera out there were two bees there!!
That poppy photo is one to treasure, the way the light shines through those diaphanous petals. Gorgeous!
Yes, the texture in that translucence is wonderful. Thank you
I agree with others the poppy photo is fab. I think David Austin must have been a Thomas Hardy fan as I have Jude the Obscure in my garden and I think there are other characters in the rose catalogue logue
Ah yes, I see that now. How interesting. Thanks. Jude is a nice choice!
Very nice picture of the poppies seen from bellow ! ( it gives me ideas…)
I was inspired myself by this photo -> https://www.flickr.com/photos/henry63/3523079522/in/photolist-6njGNo-RPbBvc-2fs1wsd-2VTkJj-bHgMH-nwtNSY-2fDHhu4-24P3FS4-bWggxR-6cvBvo-Trn5ds-2cXvSG6-2fSmGX7-69BfM9-25KbEqC-2fCTcvx-ffL38H-eFzGxh-mMf2ei-275adWi-rQ8WCa-rd3c4N-26kbBZE-QLSKf-271AkmF-KqrrNd-2fumWy6-23iB9a5-6fJccN-Tm4VTL-H6q8PV-P547VK-bHgMG-27Nfg4c-8XbPdU-26fz8PW-nBtsuX-9z5W8d-24AtSuJ-7Xv79m-aegf63-TkULc3-mCHPW7-5WT24P-c7Gr17-68NjZ6-84o4F1-nBfb5A-5WT27Z-24haCnQ
A nice one too!
I was especially interested in the broomrape. I didn’t know that plant family existed until last spring, when I found another (invasive) species at the edge of a field on a back road. It took me forever to identify it, but I persisted. It was so odd looking, I wasn’t even certain it wasn’t a fungus. Nice to see yours — and the poppies, too, of course.
Oh so what was your example? I discovered that there are a lot more parasitic (to various degrees) plants than I would have guessed. I was introduced to Cow-wheat (same family) a couple of years ago when my son was clearing Himalayan balsam from the local stream. That looks less anemic though.
The one I found is hemp broomrape (Orobanche ramosa). It’s on the list of baddies, and several county ag agencies have asked that sightings be reported.
Ah yes … I see that it is a menace in the Mediterranean too.
So many of the David Austin roses have literary references and lots of Thomas Hardy ones. There’s even a Eustacia Vye – She was beautiful (as is the rose) but she came to a bit of a nasty end in a river with Wildeve, when she ran off with him.
Is there any correlation between the character (name) and rose characteristics would you say?
Boomrape has appeared in one of my borders for the first time, I can’t imagine what it is doing there and what it lives off. I got excited when they appeared because I thought they were orchids. Another David Austin and poppy fan here. Lovely photos.
I also guessed that broomrape was a type of orchid when I first found it in a field. I wonder if you imported your broomrape into your garden with some manure (you’ve got a lot of roses haven’t you?).
Nice poppy shot! I have husker red, or at least I have plants grown from seed from one. The foliage is ok but I find the flowers a bit mucky. Might just not have come good from seed. Have p. ‘Patio wine’ too, much prefer that
Yur wildeve rose is beautiful. sigh… my micro-climate is not suitable for roses so am I allowed plant envy?
You can’t have too many poppies nor too many photos of poppies. That one’s lovely. So is that rose. I could really get attached to that one & I do love its name.