Having indulged my newts with bright yellow and myself with blues and purples, I went for paler shades towards the back of the bog garden, newly created in my leaking pond.
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Ragged Robin or Lychnis flos-cuculi, is a perennial, herbaceous plant, comparatively low-growing (why didn't I read the packet before sowing it near the back?) although it can reach 35 cms. (Phew!) The stems are hairy, the pink flowers are 3 to 4 cm across and appear from May to August. The 5 narrow petals are deeply divided into 4 lobes which give it an unruly look. It will seed down - in not too unruly fashion I hope.
Water Avens or Geum rivale is also called cure-all and Indian chocolate. It produces nodding reddish flowers from May to September and grows to about 30 to 60 cm. This charmer has been placed at the side where it will catch the breezes and greet me as I hobble to my shed.
Apart from the bog garden, I am also transforming my grass lawn into a partial clover bed. It was a hard mat of yellow straw for most of this last torrid summer but I hope for better results from the white clover which should retain moisture better. Perhaps I can allow a couple of carefully supervised snails onto it for half an hour as a holiday from their vivarium. Berowne and Amanda would be the first. You can read about their relationship in a soap opera told in limericks under The Escargatoire thread on my Molluscs blog. Anything to advance a snail love affair, say I. The link is on the right side bar.
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The lawn was raked and weeded by my lady gardener who sowed the seeds, now beginning to sprout. |
For all those of you who have been wondering about the non-appearance of Doc Barbara recently, I can report that she is busy caring for Darwin, the beloved dog once belonging to Professor Ramsbottom-Crutch, who is away on a research tour. The canine seems in control of her and, since she is my alter ego, does that mean that I am ultimately in the power of a dog? Probably.
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The Professor sets off round the UK |
For more on that thrilling narrative, please visit Doc Barbara's fabulous adventures. The link is on the right side bar also.
