The first of the sunflowers.

Of all the flowers in my garden it's the sunflower that captivates me the most. It's sheer dominance, not just in size but in radiance seems to draw the eye like a magnet and I cannot leave the house any morning without pausing to admire this years first sunflower. Plus there's the suspense and anticipation since sowing on the 26th of February, the worry about pests, drought and more recently wind .......... Yes I know, I don't get out much !!



Heading for the seven foot mark and yet only four and a half months old, the second sowing has almost caught up with the first despite a four week interval.



Here's a strange looking fellow " Spilanthes acmella " or toothache plant also known as eyeball plant or peek-a-boo. Apparently it helps to improve digestion, eases nausea and has strange numbing properties if sucked or chewed. I shall try to trick the wife into trying it, will keep you posted !!



Here's a fight to the life between some violas and some apricot shimmers, sounds like a showband from the sixties ...... Introducing .... THE APRICOT SHIMMERS !!! Technically speaking it's a " Mesembryanthemum bellidiformis " but that's a horrid mouthful ..... shimmers it is then. Interestingly I planted no violas this year and I am overrun with them. Mother nature helping out in the recession I suppose.



And this cheery little bunch are Mexican daisies again a mouthful " Erigeron karvinskianus profusion ". And profusion is quite apt as these lads just keep on flowering. The flowers start out white and then slowly turn pink giving all the colours in between on a single plant. Flowering until October they represent great value for money ( even though the packet of seed was a euro )



Nemophila menziesii var. discoidalis " Pennie black " quite a contrast to a sunflower !!

Flower power.

Here's a taste of whats blooming in my garden at the moment, the recent windy spell has played havoc with the taller flowers especially the cornflowers and the borage. I didn't stake them in time so the flowers pay the price !!

" Blue boy " cornflower



Calendula



" Alyssum " receiving a hug from " Naughty Marietta "



A tired looking borage in the top left corner with in bloom sweet william, snapdragon, naughty marietta and a long suffering geranium. On the way to flowering are a black eyed susan and some petunias.



A cornflower umbrella overhead some alyssum, sweet william and the ever popular snapdragon, with some African daisy to the extreme left



French marigold " Jester " with some lobelia peeping through underneath



Baby eyes or to the botanists Nemophila maculata " five spot " ...... I prefer baby eyes !



Snapdragon with the skeletal remains of an unfortunate alyssum to the left ( a skill in itself that ! )



I tend to go for the hassle free flowers but it never ceases to amaze how a dull spot in the garden can be made into a focal point with some simple planting.

A dash of colour.

After having a few " grey " days what better way to herald the long week-end and look forward to a bit of brightness than by having a jaunt around the garden to appreciate whats already blooming. Here's a few shots of colour.











Enjoy the week-end and hopefully the sun will shine for you.

King of the sunflowers.

The above title is not a reference to myself ( although we'll see by years end ) the variety of sunflower I have chosen this year is called " Kong " and hopefully it will live up to it's name. This giant branching sunflower can apparently attain a height of fourteen feet and with flower heads an awesome twenty centimetres in diameter ! I sowed these guys on the twenty sixth of February and the tallest are approaching the two foot mark already. I will probably put them in the ground in the next week or so and hopefully they will take off. As with last year the staking is always a pain in the ass job, and last year my sunflowers only reached nine feet !!



The record for tallest sunflower is currently twenty five feet, five and a half inches. Largest head is thirty two and a quarter inches in diameter. And most flowers is eight hundred and thirty seven flowers on a single plant. I Don't think I'll trouble those records anyway especially not with my " Firewalker " as I failed to germinate a single seed. Damn amateurs !!