Beeloved by butterflies and bees

My Scabiosa atropurpurea has wonderful flowers about 2 inches/5cm wide floating over a lovely emerald green foliage all summer long. Scabious is better known as the butterfly blue or pincushion flower and it was believed "that the Devil did bite it for envie, because it is an herbe that hath so many goode vertues and is so benificent to mankind" - given where the name comes from I hardly like to think of the manner of uses Scabious was taken for. It is enough that it grows in the baking hot places of my garden and is beeloved by butterflies and bees and can be cut for the house as by harvesting the flowers you get many more all season long.

Nice to meet you Mrs J. Bradshaw

Geum 'Mrs J. Bradshaw' looks lovely waving among the perennials and roses, she is light and airy with a bold splash of scarlet colour waving around up to 60 -90cm high. She is a bit prickly though as spiky little seed heads form all summer long. So with lots of seeds and splitting the clump in spring and summer I hope to have a whole flock of Mrs J. Bradshaw's. Highly recommended. Good for bees. Common name Avens.

I like that William Morris included Avens in one of his most popular designs 'Blackthorn', although he depicted a water Avens which are now rare in the wild unlike in his time when it was common in the UK along river and waterways. 

All the things that love the sun

My little hare in the herb bed

There was a roaring in the wind all night;

The rain came heavily and fell in floods;

But now the sun is rising calm and bright;

The birds are singing in the distant woods;

Over his own sweet voice the Stock-dove broods;

The Jay makes answer as the Magpie chatters;

And all the air is filled with pleasant noise of waters.

All things that love the sun are out of doors;

The sky rejoices in the morning's birth;

The grass is bright with rain-drops;—on the moors

The hare is running races in her mirth

by William Wordsworth

Sunlight through the acer

 There was a storm now everything is washed clean and new. Sunlight through the Acer palmatum 'Sango Kaku" - a delicate acer with pink stems and lime yellow foliage.

Catkins on the Macedon Oak.