A Perfect Shade of Apple Green: Bells of Ireland

'Apple Green' Bells of Ireland

This year marks the first time I've had an opportunity to cultivate this charming, old-fashioned annual, grown from a trial packet of seeds from Renee's Garden.

Moluccella laevis ... aka Bells of Ireland.

Many fine bouquets were produced!

The seeds - sown directly in the ground in late-spring - were able to thrive in the full sun of T's community garden plot.

Not surprisingly, my attempts to grow but a few seeds here at home failed, with nary a spot that received enough sunshine for the plants to flourish.

Garden Art That Stirs the Imagination

Turquoise Lotus

(Photo: Courtesy of Little and Lewis)

Click below to be redirected to the art and gardens of Little and Lewis, featured on:

Alice's Garden Travel Buzz

Alexander the Great! - Little and Lewis Garden Gallery

Little and Lewis Garden Gallery ... gracing the cover of Pacific Horticulture magazine.

Lysimachia punctata 'Alexander'

Here is yet another perennial that I've grown for years, yet it is only coming into flower this summer. I'm aware that 'Alexander' can be invasive in many situations, but in my dry garden setting, with meager hand-watering, it barely survived in the ground.

A couple years ago I lifted and moved him to a large container with a couple other specimens. Here 'Alexander' can get his feet wet: A required condition for good growth. Still, it took time for the plant to settle in, and now, bloom at last!

I've a very nostalgic attachment to this perennial, having been introduced to it in the glorious Bainbridge Island gardens of artist/sculptors/superb plantsmen, Little & Lewis. (Sadly, all my images are 35mm slides that have yet to be digitized, and so can only be shared in garden talks.)

In David and George's incredibly lush landscape, 'Alexander' grew in a pair of handsome urns that 'contained' the plant's exuberance.

Garden Alchemy in a Provencal Setting

Le Jardin de l'Alchimiste

(Above photo courtesy the Garden of the Alchemist)

Revisiting an all-time favorite ... A garden rich with atmosphere,

adjoining a lovely country inn located in the village of Eygalieres,

Update:  Mas de la Brune ~ The garden and inn are no long open, sadly.

I pay homage to the amazing landscape in a long post on:

Alice's Garden Travel Buzz

Weigela 'My Monet' and Geum 'Werner Arends'

Clash of the Wee Ones ...  A Weigela and a Geum!

My tale of woe is old-hat, remarked on countless times as the amount of sunlight continues to decrease in Alice's Garden. Thus, in early Spring I transplanted a few treasured specimens to spots that receive a bit more sun.

The wee Weigela 'My Monet' found itself lifted and moved across the pebble patio to the bed below the back porch - where the blue wall is a preening presence in various photos.

Now, the brilliant, burnt orange blooms of Geum 'Werner Arends' are now popping up through the Weigela foliage in a clashing color scheme that would, doubtless,

cause the long-departed doyenne of British gardening,

Gertrude Jekyll to shudder in her 'wellies' (rubber boots, that is).

Dare I admit to enjoying the cacophony!