Red Valerian
In response to a request, here is a picture of the red valerian in the front garden. If you look closely you should be able to pick out the two different reds, though I have difficulty getting a good shot of them. To the naked eye they are very different but the camera tends to average them out. It also comes in white. When we go to Matlock we pass an expanse of the white variety growing from the side of a railway embankment.
The link is to a blog I just found whilst looking for information on red valerian, she explains it far better than I can. The blog address is https://bugwomanlondon.com/ and from what I can see it is full of interesting stuff about plants and weeds.
Figs are doing nicely too – you grow them by cutting sticks from other figs and sticking them in a pot. Easy. My sort of gardening.
The rosemary behind the valerian has only recently stopped flowering. We had to buy the rosemary, but three pots have produced a forest. We really should take cuttings and cut all the woody stuff out, but you know me – a lazy non-interventionist gardener. They are both great additions to any garden – low water needs, difficult to kill (I never say impossible ;-)) floral and, useful. Red valerian feeds butterflies and hummingbird hawkmoths. Rosemary tastes good and the smell is supposed to drive mice away. We have certainly had no winter mouse intrusions while w have had that monster plant outside. This seems to be the only link I have to hummingbird hawkmoths in my own blog, you have to go down to the end for a poor quality picture of one. I’m sure I wrote more than one post with photos…
The other plant is Nottingham catchfly, a local plant and one I have never managed a good photo of yet. Other people seem to have the same problem.
Nottingham Catchfly
How lucky you are to have Nottingham Catchfly in your garden!
One of the neighbours grew some from seed. They passed one on to us, which is still going strong, but theirs has all died. Ours has been neglected, which might just be the way to treat it. 🙂
You’re probably right! 🙂
🙂
Oh WoW!!! Thank you so much! Garfield Hug appreciates this lovely sight for the eyes! Beautiful and the color is so bright. I wonder if this bloom exudes any fragrance?
It doesn’t seem to have much scent, but we do get a lot from the rosemary.
Aaah rosemary, really fragrant and like they say it, Rosemary and Thyme = 2 precious herbs!
The two reds are very clear
Yes, they show better on the computer than they did on the camera. Digital photography can be a bit tricky when it comes to colour rendition.
I often find photos look better on the computer tab in the camera
That red valerian is fabulous!
Yes, it was a good day when it first started to grow.
We have hawkmoths here, too. I see them in the hollyhocks. The red valerian is very beautiful.
I was very pleased when it appeared. It’s shorter than hollyhocks, which tend to fall over when I have them,. 🙂
How very distinguished to have your own wildflower.
One has one’s moments. You can see why it’s rare – four years and no self-seeding. That’s not what our front “garden” needs.