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When the water lilies and peonies arrive…

  • Writer: The Gardener
    The Gardener
  • Jun 7
  • 3 min read

The water lilies are flowering, marking the arrival of summer.


Nymphea Marliacea Carnea
Nymphea Marliacea Carnea

We have various shades - dark pink, light pink, white, and yellow. It’s not quite Giverny but, like the agapanthus buds appearing, water lily blooms seem so exotic for a country like Scotland  that one never quite knows whether they will flower, until they do. They always have flowered, of course, so my doubt is so far unfounded, but the annual worry always remains.


Perhaps it’s justified, though. Years ago, having witnessed the wonderful show of Jersey lilies (Amaryllis belladonna) on Jersey (where else?), growing untended by the sides of the Ianes that weave through the island, I bought some bulbs for planting in a sunny warm spot against the south wall of the garden, trying to replicate as much as I could the conditions I felt these bulbs would like. But we’re not Jersey, clearly, and despite the annual production of healthy, strappy green leaves, these bulbs have never yet flowered. But we’ll not give up hope…


N. Marliacea Albida
N. Marliacea Albida

Everything seems to flower in the pond at once, although only the lilies are continuous until the first frosts. Bumblebees are attracted to the deep-red , star-shaped blooms of the aquatic potentilla or ‘bog strawberry’ as it is sometimes known. It’s a dainty but persistent thing, gradually working its way across the shallows and cosying up to the water lilies, hoping I won’t notice its global domination aspirations. At the other end of the pond, the yellow flag irises are, well, flying their yellow flags. These started out as 4 medium baskets of irises. They have now formed a sort of floating island, which we’ve interplanted with ragged robin, so well named,  and purple loosestrife, introducing some pink flashes to this thicket of strappy leaves.


N. Attraction
N. Attraction

And just this week, our first dragonfly appeared, a little earlier than normal, our largest insect approaching 3”, so prehistoric with its whirring wings, seemingly enclosed in an invisible forcefield that encompasses the pond edges. Seldom does it venture beyond this watery boundary.


Mecanopsis
Mecanopsis

We’ve been topping up the pond quite a lot this past six weeks or so, as it’s been so dry, but the rains have returned with the breezy Atlantic airflow, greatly welcomed and aiding the settling in of the summer bedding. Most of the cosmos are in, and recently we’ve been planting out the dahlias. The Dwarf Mixed get their own bed, prima donnas that they are, while the first batch of Bishops’ Children join the sunflowers, cosmos White Purity and Verbena bonariensis in the late summer display bed. Dahlias don’t usually start to flower until after the Summer Solstice, triggered by shortening day length, making them an ideal colour contributor when many traditional bedding plants are running out of steam.


Candelabra primula, with Hosta Samurai
Candelabra primula, with Hosta Samurai

Just over from the late-summer display bed, the shade border has been faring well, the soil there never having really dried out. The blue poppies continue to produce their caerulean blooms, set against the spring green  of the shuttlecock ferns and augmented by the exquisite and so subtle scent of a local Mexican Orange blossom (Choisya). Orange candelabra primulas, (for this seems to be our dominant colour) are popping up everywhere, with our largest hostas providing a leafy backdrop. May and June are very much the hosta months here. We’re lucky as we don’t have many slugs and snails, so their leaves aren’t shredded but too much hot dry weather can ‘age’ hostas’ leaves as we progress through the summer. We love Samurai with its camo look, but our newest hosta, the regal Empress Wu should ultimately be the show-stopper in this part of the garden, being one of the largest varieties in cultivation assuming, of course we can provide the conditions an empress should expect! She is just a teenager, though, and still growing…


Alastair’s border, with Dutch Iris in the foreground
Alastair’s border, with Dutch Iris in the foreground

It’s Alastair’s border in the Summerhouse Garden that’s robbing the limelight now, though. Here lives my late uncle’s prized peony collection and they are having a good year. Getting the staking right is the challenge here, though, as the blooms are so large and heavyfor some of the varieties. We have both  herbaceous and intersectional varieties in the border; their display is quite fleeting but very memorable! The supporting cast here include white-flowering Gaura, light blue Dutch Iris and various geraniums in pinks and blues, all of which have come into their own too this year, providing a supportive colour pallet for these blowsy divas!


Paeonia (variety unknown)
Paeonia (variety unknown)

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