Budding potential

Getting ready to burst forth with beauty

My Writing View

Everything in my garden is lush green at the moment. The hot weather, followed by heavy downpours have caused the foliage on the shrubs and trees to put on a growth spurt. As I look around my garden from my writing window, I see very little colour.

There are the purple acers near the pond, white bridal wreath spirea is doing its waterfall cascading thing. I spy tiny pink flowers from the ever spreading geraniums and a bright red Geum in a pot by the back door, a plant that I cannot remember buying.

Oh and there is the grey and white underbelly of the squirrels that visit on a daily basis. I watch with fascination as they collect peanuts I have left out for them. They busy themselves burying them in various pots around the garden, rarely eating any. I wish they wouldn’t do that, such a waste.

The rest of the garden is an array of green hues, from almost yellow to deep bottle green. At this time of the year - between early June and the beginning of July - my garden flowers are hiding in preparation for their big ta-da!

But, looking closely, I know wonderful things are afoot, a quiet developing, and in my opinion, just as wonderful as the fully formed blooms themselves. So what follows is the potential of a garden flower bed. I hope you enjoy.

Take a peep at the delphinium, a favourite bloom of mine. The flower spike produces ever decreasing flower buds which get ready to pop. This one is white and took ages to establish itself. I had hoped I could have divided it by now but the plant is still relatively small and only produces one spike a year.

The Spirea Goldflame directly outside my writing window, has lost all of its springtime fiery foliage and is now just mid-green. It has clusters of tiny flower buds to create new interest for me. It will take a few weeks for them to develop, but once open the pollinators will flock to them, a true garden friend in early summer.

My numerous roses are gearing up for their main show, one in particular is my Hot Chocolate rose. You would never guess its prowess looking at its bud. Developing quietly inside are a bunch of silky petals, reddy brown in colour with the most amazing, sweet, chocolatey fragrance. How I love this rose, I am so excited to see how many buds there are this year.

I can see it clearly from my desk and as I write this, I spy a yellow and dark brown striped snail heading up a stem, carefully avoiding the razor sharp thorns. I wonder what he is up to? Is he lost? I’m off to have a look, ……back in a mo!

By the time I got to him he had hidden himself inside his shell. No damage has been done to the rose leaf so I am non the wiser as to his antics. I will have to keep an eye on him. He looks like he is up to no good!

I have a few hydrangeas in my garden which have the most showy of blooms of all of my garden flower collection. My favourite is Annabelle, a vibrant white cluster of flowers which are in preparation for their display. I rather like the lime green tinge that the buds create. Another hydrangea is a lace cap, brought as a cutting from a relative’s garden. You can just make out what hue it is, though for such a complex flower, it is best to wait until it is fully out to appreciate its genius.

So, for now, we wait for the flowers to show their prowess. I can’t help thinking that the real delight is in the anticipation of what they will offer. In the weeks to come, with a little more nurturing, the right balance of sunshine and showers and a little bit of love, I know I will be in awe of their beauty.

P.S. the snail is not on his way back down. He was clearly just having an early evening wander. Go steady little one, and mind those thorns!

Quiz question:

Guess the hairy bud….

An annual

A climber

A sweet, heady fragrance

A pod making machine

I am curious:

What flower bud intrigues you the most?

What are you looking forward to this summer?