October bouquet

First blooms of the David Austin roses planted very late last year but they look to be show stoppers now and in a few days time with 30 degrees upon us. These two are not Austins but have been flowering since the beginning of October.

 

The red flower is climbing Dublin Bay and the pink climbing Cinderella. All my roses come from Treloar Roses as they are consistently the best bare rooted stock I have found.

All for beauty.

Malus ioensis 'Plena' - Betchel's Flowering Crabapple. Utterly beautiful! In this part of the garden I am trying to have only fruit trees that are useful - i.e. they give fruit! "Plena" is so lovely flowering here with white foxgloves that the usefulness is all in the beauty. I am looking forward to Autumn though to see if the crab apples are enough to add to a rose hip and crab apple jam to satisfy my thrifty housewife inclinations.

Dancing with Gauguin and Black Panthers in the garden or Peony time

There is no doubt that you will be stunned by the stunning array of blooms from Erica Peony Garden grown by Martin Farrugia. I urge you to zoom down to the Burwood Hights Uniting Church Hall tomorrow Sunday or even better, Martin tells me that his flower garden and nursery is bursting with flowers this year. It is an easy drive out on the Princess freeway from Melbourne. Here are some snaps of the flowers including the Black Panthers and Thunderbolts that were at the mini expo in Burwood, so I shall let them speak for themselves. Warning, warning picture frenzy alert!!!

 Paeonia Gauguin is a beautiful side facing bloom with blends of oranges, reds and pinks. Strawberry red, single, lutea hybrid tree peony. Shown here with Paeonia 'Corsair' (lutea group)

I fell hard for this darling! Paeonia Coral Charm An early-blooming semidouble whose deep coral buds open to form glowing chalices of a smooth coral-peach.

Golden Era

                                                               Hesperus and Thunderbolt

Golden Vanitie

Black Panther

Happy Days

 

                                                                                  Chinese Dragon

Chojuraku

Leda

Bridal Falls

White Star - Amazing 12 inch 30cm blooms.

 Rare Paeonia rockii hybred. Tree peony hybrids with Paeonia rockii as one parent are called Rockii-hybrids.

One day darling Coral you shall be mine! Meanwhile if you need more peony picture frenzy pop over to my flickr as I will put all the photos over there-so many more lovelies. Don't forget you can meet Martin and his darlings next week 27-28th October 2012 at the Erica Peony Garden. Coming from Melbourne, Erica is just 80 minutes easy driving past Dandenong.
Take the Monash Freeway past Dandenong till you reach Moe. Take the Moe exit from the Princes Freeway and follow the signs to Erica. You can call Martin on 51653394. They will post out plants too if you can't make it down there.

 

Of all the lovely blossoms



All the blossom trees, except the ornamental plum which flowered in July, are coming into bloom. Pop over to my Flickr to see a mass of blossom tree pictures - antique apples are my star showing and I shall update the growing seasons of these lovely trees over there along with the quince and plums. I don’t think the plums will come to much this year as last year was so bountiful.

Red delicious

Malus "Beauty of Bath"
 

                    

                                                       

 Apple Blossoms by Hattie Howard

 Of all the lovely blossoms

        That decorate the trees,

      And shower down their petals

        With every breath of breeze,

   There is nothing so sweet or fair to me

      As the delicate blooms of the apple tree.

Malus "Profusion"? note to self - WRITE down the names!

A rebellion in the Parliament of Plants

In 1920 Sir Francis Darwin wrote “It looks, to put the thing fancifully, as if a parliament of plants had met and decided that some arrangement must be made since the world would be inconveniently full if they all flowered at once; or they may have believed that there were not enough insects to fertilise the whole Flora, if all their services were needed in one glorious month of crowded life. Springtime and Other Essays by Francis Darwin. Well, they must be in disarray this year (perhaps they are heading into an election!) as I can hardly keep up with so many lovelies flowering at once.

A little part of England is showing itself, peaking shyly from the shady nooks; you must take the time, slow down and feel the earth beneath your knees to embrace the tiny enchantment of these spring time woodland flowers.

Crocus Pickwick

English Primrose
 

Chinese forget me not?

Primula "Clotted Cream" - what a find!

Primula "Veris"

The scent of the bluebells, primrose and violets will carry you off to the Malvern Hills or some Secret Garden reverie where you will hear Robin sing. Long before Jo Malone burst on the scene, these elusive scents have been captured by Penhaligon’s, wonderfully well in their Bluebell range.