Pasque Flower Joy!

Hello Friends ~~~

Springtime joy is blooming in my garden in the form of my much loved Pulsatilla vulgaris, commonly called the Pasque flower.  My treasured purple flowered one seems to have disappeared, so last year I bought a new white flowered one. I think I will see if I can buy another purple one this year, as I do love this sweet and gentle plant.

If you would like to read more about the plant and suitability, aspect and so on, you can do so here and here.

While I enjoy this delightful flower in my border, and I'm hoping it will grow much bigger in time, I confess that I grow it mainly for the magical seed heads that will follow. I do not think I have ever seen a seed head that delights me so, and in time another entry will follow to allow me to share the magnificence of this little beauty ~~~

However, for today, here is the plant as it progresses into it's second year in my garden.  I planted it into the raised border after it had finished flowering and the seed heads were over last year, so this is its first year in the new aspect ~~~

About a month ago, the first signs of movement as the plant emerges from the soil

Then, two weeks later, the first bud breaks open on a rainy day in March

Now, it is full of delicate, white blooms with bright yellow centres

No dead heading for this flower! The first sign of those magical seed heads is starting to show at last!

Peek~a~Boo ~ I "heart" you too!

A delightful crown of foliage, and yet more buds coming up underneath the ones already here!

Here are a few more things that are bringing delight and joy to the springtime garden at the cottage ~~~

The first, early bloom on my very special osteospermum ~ when this opens the centre is a deep violet~blue with bright yellow~orange stamens ~ it is a stunning beauty ~~~ look at the shimmering sheen in the centre ~ the photo does not do it justice!

The last of my yellow tulips that once were red, scattered around are Celandines, a native flower which can become invasive if not controlled, but it is so pretty I don't want to control it, but I must. Apparently, as tulips age they revert to yellow!  Isn't that strange?

I can never remember what this is called, {please say in the comments if you know, I shall be most grateful to you} but it throws out flame red tops to the green, which brings a fire like quality to that corner of the garden ~~~

Finally ~ a plant for free! During the winter my mints went into hibernation and I bought one of those growing herb pots.  I casually tossed it to one side once I had used it, then just the other day I noticed some new green buds pushing up through the soil, so I found a big pot, filled it with compost and sank the mint plant into its new home! Already it is growing well. Mint is such an easy plant to grow, almost too easy!  This one is particularly flavoursome so I am looking forward to some refreshing cups of tea later in the year.

I have been busy writing descriptive narrative over on my Facebook companion page and I think if you use that link you will be able to read what I have written, should you wish, even if you are not on Facebook. If you do, please leave your thoughts here if you can't on Facebook as I love to know what you think!   Also, I have been tagged in a photo challenge by my dear friend Linnie whose wonderfully entertaining, charming, and very informative
blog The Buttry and Bookry is oh! so worth visiting.  Here is the photo I shared this morning, a hydrangea petal that was sitting on the grass and I found it as I was mowing the other evening ~~~

Until next time ~~~
~~~ Deborah xoxo

The Beauty and Bounty of Seed Heads

Gentle Reader ~~~ Autumn is the season of plenty, as we bring in the fruits from our harvest to see us through the slowing, darkening days of the fading year; with the joy of a bountiful harvest Autumn brings the promise of new beginnings, for what would Spring be without the seeds that scatter and sow in the months of Autumn?  Many a wutheringly wildly windy Winter's afternoon is spent, curled up in front of the fire, mug of tea and a plate of cake nearby, perusing the pages of the many seed catalogues that find their way on the west wind into my letter box ~~~

Larders, pantries, earth and sand clamps, and today modern freezers, are full to over flowing with the bounty of the harvest as we put up our shelves of jewelled jars of jams, pickles, and chutneys; vegetables and fruits to the freezer; racks of drying herbs; and beautifully braided plaits of garlic and onions to sustain and nurture us through the coming leaner days of Winter ~~~ a well stocked store cupboard is a delight to behold ~~~ but the cupboard would be bare, and the hedgerows sparse, with not a flower in the borders to cut for a vase if not for the seeds from which everything grows ~~~

Seed heads are some of the most beautiful, creative shapes and colours imaginable, if we only look at them.  Fibonacci abounds ~~~

I confess, I have somewhat of an addiction to seed heads, so today I am sharing with you some of my many images of seeds, seed heads, pods, and carriers that are now abundant in the garden and across the fields and hedgerows of The Shire ~~~

Here are a few of my favourites ~~~

Papery dry, long finger~like seed heads of Aquilegia aka Grannies Bonnet

From above such intriguing spirals ~~~

One of my favourite flowers and seed heads ~~~ the Opium Poppy ~~~

Poppy head just beginning to ripen

Drying and becoming golden, ready to shed their seeds

Golden and completely dry ~~~ seeds gone! 

The Arty Shots ~~~ macro images of skeletal poppy seed heads ~~~

The hard, prickly outer casing of a conker, or horse chestnut ~~~

and then, dried and split open ready to shed the seeds Under The Spreading Chestnut Tree

Not to be confused with the Sweet Chestnut ~~~

A single yew berry, a delicious looking {to a bird} shade of red ~~~

Three different compositions of Crocosmia Seed Heads

Covered in silken webs

Nigella Seed Pods looking fierce and alien ~~~

Haws ~ another favourite of birds ~~~

Hawthorn Berries of May Flower

Fantasy Feathery Rose Bay Willow Herb Seed Pods opening up ~~~

The Arty Shots of seed heads trapped on spider webs and kissed with raindrops ~~~

Another alien looking seed head ~ marigold ~~~

A long, spiky foxglove with many thousands of seeds long gone ~~~

Now, several images of one of my favourite seed heads ~~~ Pine cones ~~~
~~~I love Pine Cones ~~~

Oh! my goodness ~~~ what a collection of 'helicopters' just waiting to catch a lift on the breeze ~~~

More Arty Shots ~~~ the seeds of a sycamore {above} fallen and landed on a car bonnet ~~~ now, I'm sure the owner thought it made a mess and regrets parking underneath ~~~but I saw a joyful opportunity~~~

An amazing pattern ~~~

Grasses always have super seed heads and I love growing them for their photogenic looks ~~~

Water droplets gathering on hairy, sticky Goose Grass seeds ~~~

No Autumn scene would be complete without rich, red, ruby rose hips ~~~ these are rugosa rose hips ~~~

or a golden, prickly teazle ~~~ a favourite food source for Goldfinches ~~~

another Arty shot ~~~ playing with an oleander seed and a skeletal poppy seed head ~~~

{I can't help myself, can I?}

Here is an Autumnal arrangement from a year or two ago, with gourds {the most gnarly and decorative of seed heads}, teazles, and a variety of gathered pine cones ~~~

These are just a few of the seed heads and pods that decorate the Garden and the countryside around my Cottage in The Shire ~~~ I hope you have enjoyed seeing them as much as I do ~~~ I never dead head my plants at the end of Autumn, I leave them to sow themselves, and I'm sure the Birds of the Garden will enjoy eating the many that do not germinate into new plants too ~~~ but more on the birds another day ~~~

Finally, here is the solution to the little poser I set for you on Bank Holiday Conundrum picture for fun.  Well, even I am not one hundred percent certain as to what it is.  It often happens, when I develop an image, something that I did not see at the time reveals itself like a special present. This image is a cropped section of a larger image of an Alchemilla mollis after a rain shower {one of my favourite subjects} and on closer viewing there is 'something' in the centre of the dew in the middle of the leaf. Exactly what that 'something' is I don't know. I have my own two theories ~ it is either a large grain of pollen, or more likely I think it is a butterfly egg that has fallen into the 'giant' lake of water in the middle of the leaf.  So well done to anyone who came close {especially if you hadn't seen it on my Facebook page first}.

Until next time
Sincerely yours
Deborah