Tuesday 19 August 2014

Giraffes and other favourite plants!

Giraffe plant - Ingrid Sylvestre
Giraffe Plant

I've been too busy with art work to blog for many months, though I've managed to squeeze in a few precious hours gardening now and then over this wonderful summer.  And of course, giraffe spotting ... I was given three glorious dahlias by a friend, and couldn't help noticing the resemblance to a giraffe!

Lions ears plant - Ingrid Sylvestre
Leonotis - Lions Ears
While on the subject of animal plants - the above plant is commonly known as Lion's Ears. Having longed for one for ages, I was delighted to acquire these in a plant swap. I love the wonderfully sculptural shapes of the pom-pom flowers.

Cytisus battandieri - Ingrid Sylvestre
Cytisus battandieri
Following our mild winter the gardens have flourished all year. One of my favourite shrubs, Cytisus battandieri, has flowered prolifically - unusual considering we are in the North East! The large blooms smell luxuriously of pineapple, hence its common name, Pineapple Broom. Let's hope we have another mild winter!

6 comments:

Mark and Gaz said...

Great to see your little update. And yes, hopefully we'll have another mild winter again!

Rune Eide said...

Nice to see you back on-line! And as usual I have learned something new: There are giraffes in the world of plants too :-)

Phoenix C. said...

Yes, Mark and Gaz - a summer that continues till December, then a short mild winter! :)

Phoenix C. said...

Ah yes, RuneE - the giraffes in the botanical world are plentiful! :)

Anna said...

Good to see a post from you Ingrid and glad to hear that you've managed to fit in some gardening this summer. I will not look at dahlias in the same light again :)

Phoenix C. said...

Anna, I'm sure you will find many varieties of giraffe plants in your garden now you have been introduced to them!(They are quite shy):)