Firstly I like to thank you all for the very positive response to the idea of celebrating the feast of St. Fiacre, the patron saint of gardeners next year. I had suggested that perhaps we could write about a miracle in our gardens but Marion St. Clair suggested that we bloggers could have parties in our gardens to celebrate, thank you Marion! I think this could be a wonderful idea, if you have any ideas about how this could work please leave a comment on the original post here, so that everyone can read all the ideas in one place.
This week the weather has been very changeable with quite a bit of rain, so we were amazingly lucky to have such a wonderful day on Sunday for the party. Every morning this week has been very cloudy and it rained during the night leaving raindrops on the grasses and flower petals.
Perovskia with a lovely crimson Salvia that has been flowering since May
Crimson Salvia, sorry I don’t have a name for it
The crimson Salvia hasn’t been pruned for a couple of years; it needs some of its dead wood cut out. I have small plants grown from cuttings that I will add to the slope this autumn.
The stream of prostrate rosemary is beginning to flower
I have noticed that the lilies planted close to the Rosemary don’t seem to be affected by the lily beetle as all the others in the garden are; maybe the strong smell of the rosemary has confused the beetles (I do hope so!).
Although the rosemary doesn’t produce aerial roots it wants to cling to the vertical tuffo surface
Sempervirens nestle into cracks in the tuffo
Rain drops on Mirabilis jalapa
Looking up the slope standing opposite the Cypress near the gate
A very lush view this week – lovely to see the rosemary in flower too. 🙂
I just can’t believe how green and lush it looks!
Rain here also the last couple of days. The stream of prostrate rosemary is a great feature. Did you plant the Sempervirens in the cracks or do they occur naturally?
I planted some sempervirens and now they find their own spots to grow.
The cloudy sky makes your slope look english today, but still very lovely. Woody Salvias are tricky to identify, I grow one that is a blue red and believe its some form of Salvia greggii, but cannot decide which cultivar. Interesting to read about the Rosemarys effect on the Lily Beetles. Is that prostrate Thyme in your last photo? I had one here that Ants built a nest under and after several years it looked like a small seat.
Yes it is thyme, there are ants everywhere in the garden so it is quite possible they will make a nest under it as they like dry undisturbed places. Sadly the local cats like to use it as a toilet, must be the soft surface; perhaps they like the perfume too!
You may have hit on something there, and cured lily beetle problems for good 😉 The slope looks lovely, even in the rain! I’m fascinated by your rosemary and the effect it creates.
I love the prostrate rosemary, it was quite slow to start but now there’s no stopping it.
Oh rain in the night is a most considerate event Christina – the slope looks fabulous.
Thanks Anna, Night rain is just what the gardener ordered.
How welcome your rain must be. And what a good photo opportunity with raindrops on the flowers.
I am going to try growing lilies amongst Rosemary you might have hit on a good idea there. The lily beetles must find the lilies by smell.
I hope the rosemary is an answer as the lily beetles were very bad this year. I have lots of rosemary cuttings I made last year, I wonder how big the plants need to be?
Christina your garden party looks a great success and your garden beautiful, outside parties in the climate here are just not a good idea,
the slope looks lovely as ever, I like the flush of bright green the mirabilis jalapa makes down the slope among the grey/greens and silvers, Frances
If the party had been today, it would have been a question of dodging the showers and it was only warm for an hour or so; I even thought of closing the greenhouse door this evening which would have been the first time since April! If you had a party maybe it could be around a bonfire with jacket potatoes etc. Or you could come to my party Frances, that would be lovely.
Hi Christina, the slope is looking wonderful. That’s a great find regarding the Rosemary as a companion plant to lilies.
Thankfully the lily beetle has been kept out of Australia (we have our own version, but it is no where near as destructive), however when I lived in London my neighbours and I had a fair bit of success with Chelone as companion planting: I could never grow Mediterranean plants in the mostly shaded, wet, heavy clay soils of inner-city London for more than one or two seasons…but it does make you wonder if garlic chives might work as well?
I will try the garlic chives, but I don’t think they smell strong enough, maybe Tulbaghia would work better, and the flowers would work well with the lilies too. Good thought.
Ohhhhh I love those Sempervirens. Gorgeous.
We got rain today too. Practically unheard of in San Jose this time of year, but a welcome, welcome bit of rain nonetheless for our parched state. Bliss.
Great you had rain too! Usually I’m like you grateful for every drop.
The rosemary always looks good, never tired or shabby, I don’t think I can ever see too much of it. This winter I managed to overwinter a potful and it also looks nice…. I believe two winters will be too much to hope for.
Your rosemary and mulleins might be my two favorite plants this year…. bt then there’s the tulips, and roses, and anemones… 🙂
Is it the cold or the wet that is the problem for the rosemary? I imagine wet ground, could you put some kind of cover over it to keep the rain off it and a bit of the surrounding ground?
So poetic the way you describe the plants, the weather, and the setting. The Sempervivums nestling into the tufa … raindrops on the grasses and flower petals … Rosemary clinging to the vertical tuffo surface. Very pleasant. Have a wonderful weekend!
Have a lovely weekend yourself Beth.
I’m SO envious of your rain! If/when we get some, you may hear me singing all the way from Italy.
I hope you do have some rain soon Kris.
It’s all looking very beautiful.. 🙂
Thanks Sue.
It was timely that the rain arrived after the party so that you can enjoy it. The good weather for the garden is really extending this year and the slope is really looking beautiful. Amelia
Yes, we were indeed lucky with the weather. Today would also have been wonderful. but during the week we had a lot of rain and grey days.
the crimson is Salvia greggei. I have potted up some bits to travel with me. The sunbirds love the flowers.
Thanks for the name Diana. There aren’t any birds here that take nectar from the flowers but the bees are happy.
Enjoyed your refreshing post. Everything looks so nice with a fresh coat of rain. Thanks for posting.
Thanks for commenting Patrick
The Mirabilis jalapa is beautiful, as is the whole slope. I read somewhere that rosemary is a bug deterrent, so maybe there is something to that. We were predicted to have rain this past weekend, but it passed south of us and left us high and dry! Your garden looks quite refreshed. The perfect scenario: rain at night, followed by a lovely day. Lucky you!
The mornings are now much cooler and there is heavy dew so even on the days it doesn’t rain most plants are getting enough water.
Oh refreshing rain so welcome in the garden. Can you believe it has been about 2 weeks with no rain here. My we need it. I love the colors still going on your slope Christina. I have prostrate rosemary in a pot as it is not hardy here…and for the first time it is blooming. I am so ecstatic…I wish I could plant it on my wall or in my garden.
It’s sad you can’t grow rosemary in the ground but just think of all the plants you can grow that I can’t.
I love how the Rosemary appears to be climbing on the tufa.
You would think it was putting out aerial roots but it doesn’t.
Beautiful semps, and I do love the way the rosemary is attempting to climb the wall! That first photo could almost be set in the UK with that grey sky, the red salvia provides such a lovely contrast to the perovskia, like small licks of flame in amongst the silvers and blues.
It has reminded me to take some cuttings of this salvia as it would be lovely to have more in a more visible position.