"in the midst of winter, I found there was within me, an invincible summer" Potting shed chat continues here

[funnyperson]

So as agreed (by 2 other people!) I have started this thread for spring gardeners follwing on from the previous thread : Welcome one and all. experts and novices alike and draw up your chairs and join in discussion on all things garden related (and even not garden related)

I keep loosing posts

Ha! Success!
Sympathy to Kwirrel on the
Monet flood. When you go, try taking the metro from Paris and stay overnight in the mill house nearby then you can walk through Giverney and the garden
Loving the peonies and clematis
Planting colour schemes can be joyful or restful , the Chelsea gardens I just posted are joyful schemes, often with flowers that prefer the sun
Restful schemes often are the shady gardens with a more limited palate and lots of foliage, white and silver, perhaps purples

The blocks of herbaceous planting you see in nt gardens are magnificent but not my thing, perhaps because I can't translate them to an urban garden
Equally, the common sight of four or five rose bushes of differing colours with little or no under planting doesn't do it for me
A neighbour has rather a lovely front garden with roses, purple alliums, tiarella, white nigella providing transparency I will see if I can post a picture

More Chelsea gardens , showing a colour wheel, a bed with heights of plants varying across as well as front to back, and a restful purple colour scheme

I am lucky - my peonies are in full flower, but the rain is rather battering them, sadly. They talked about them on GQT today .
Can I have help with identification? Not brilliant pics , sorry!
My DD moved very recently, and DH and I were there yesterday, doing 'stuff' :) I weeded the few small beds in the back garden, which were smothered in sweetheart and annual seeded weeds. By the time I had cleared that all away, there was a pretty shrub in one . And all around the front of the bed ( and underneath the shrub) were lots of clumps of these They are 3-4" at most, and have the fan shaped leaves of an iris , but the flower doesn't look to me like an iris? I am taking some home.... :)

It looks like Sisyrinchium or Pigroot to me.

I have a couple of plants (or weeds) that I have decided to not remove this year as they are filling gaps and look quite attractive. However I don't want to make problems for myself if they are invasive, so could do with some help in identifying:

The first (pink flowers) seems to seed itself quite freely and although a bit straggly has a neat form and pretty flowers.

The second is quite lush and tropical looking and adds some interesting height at the front of the bed. I suspect it arrived when I bought some plants at a local open garden sale, I was never sure whether it was just a weed or the plant I purchased. Recently I've started to be concerned that it may actually be Mare's Tail. The leaves are quite flesh, almost like a succulent.

I think the first one is herb robert , but I have seen that second plant, and cannot bring it to mind :) Will have a think !

I agree about Herb Robert. I always thought the second was veronicastrum but I have learnt from these threads that it's linaria (unless I mean the other way round!)

2nd might be Toadflax?

Oh yes it is Herb Robert, I'm pleased to learn that. I did think at one stage it may be a type of perennial geranium so glad to learn my powers of deduction where not that far away.

Could the tall one be a type of Euphorbia or Spurge, I wonder?

ah toadflax was what I was trying to remember ! ( that is Linaria isn't it?)

Oh, and thanks SilverBirch , the yellow flower does look as if it may be a Sisyrinchium it likes the damp ( the garden was very damp) and my garden is dry - ah well!

Yes, linaria is toadflax.

I'm not quite so sure it is toad flax, the leaves seem a bit too narrow. I'll take a close-up photo to post tomorrow.

Am I correct in thinking that Herb Robert is a biennial, so at the end of the summer I should clear it away?

Yes, a clearer photo would help.

Apologies Maud, I missed your linaria post. My linaria looks just like that picture, comes out with purple flowers fairly soon.

SilverBirch I agree that is Toadflax - there is also a named variety called Canon Went which is smaller, and has slightly less delicate leaves and paler flowers.

I like Toadflax & let it seed itself - it's very happy in the shade

Thanks everybody. I've had another more careful look at the leaves and I agree to is very likely to be toadflax now. It is a lovely plant with a super upright habit and the stems are a attractive blue grey.

It's good to have some reassurance that both my 'weeds' are fine to leave as they are.

I think the mystery plant I was given on Sunday is Herb Robert too. The lady who gave it to me didn't know either!

Here are photos of the combination of brown smoke bush and white rose I mentioned.

Tbh I don't like herb robert - it looks like a weed to me, and does seed itself freely: there are such pretty non-wild geraniums that one could have, so I dig it up as soon as I see it as it can be tough to pull out when it gets bigger.

But I leave toadflax as it adds height and dignity to the garden and the bees love it. This year I have also grown Canon Went from seed, and it is so pretty:

www.sarahraven.com/flowers/seeds/perennials/linaria_purpurea_canon_went.htm

That's lovely, SeaRabbit. My smoke bush is several years old, but still a feeble little thing. It has purple things in front of it - rose Reine des Violettes and geranium Rozanne.

When I had a new fence 2 years ago I had to cut my smoke bush back very hard. Since then it has been amazing each year. Maybe a good hack back will revive it

Yes, I've been pondering a hard prune but suspect I've missed the boat for this year.

I'm certainly going to get some more varieties of Linaria. Its so useful to have taller perennials that don't require staking.