Colour Inspiration #17 – Spring Flowers

Spring is well and truly here! :D It’s my favourite time of year – blue skies, the sun is warm (but not too hot!), the garden has come to life and is full of flowers like these tulips.  Although our garden is actually looking quite tidy there’s always lots to do – I spent an hour or so yesterday morning potting up sunflower, sweet pea and marigold seedlings…

I’ve almost run out of space on the greenhouse bench so am hoping that some of the plants will be able to go outside before the next ones need planting up.  A few years ago I only managed to get one marigold seed to come up – now I have a forest! :)

Colour Inspiration #8 – Schizostylis

It’s been very wet here for the last few days, although we have been much luckier than some people in other areas of the UK with floods.  This flower photograph is from a week or two ago - when we had lots of sun!
These beautiful flowers are growing in our pond and flower through the autumn – it’s lovely to have something so pretty on flower when so much of the rest of the garden is fading.  I didn't know much about the plant so looked it up – it is a Schizostylis (also known as a kaffir lily) and comes from South Africa.  Most places seem to say that it should be grown in moist but well draining soil and it grows beside streams - I've not seen many places recommending them grown in water but ours seem to do well there!