Happy New Year

May 2012 bring us only happyness and joy! ( and good weather , little pests, good soil, nice earthworms, no backpains, perfect seeds, please, please no oidium on roses... am I beeing unreasonable?)

Happy New Year to all of you !!!

Merry Christmas

Another year is hurrying to its end.... Merry Christmas to all near and far!!!

On my Xmas list

Dear all,
The countdoun for Christmas has begun ans the wishlists get longer and longer...

 But I simply could not skip this little known beauty... It looks quite like a Philadelphus, but the blooms are much silkier, somehow more translucent. And it grows to a little and compact tree ( some 3 m)suitable even for small gardens , but does it quite slowly and in a poised manner. Its name is Eucryphia. A plant originary from Australia and Chile , the Chilean species beeing more hardy. It does not tolerate harsh colds, but still resists up to - 15º C in a sheltered spot and with fresh and acid soil, like the Camelias & Co. Cherry on the cake, the flowers are fragrant, and the leves are shiny and  small, quite lovely by themselves.  There are several species and some hybrids but if this gem has a default, it is not very easy to find at the nurseryes. As usual the only ones I could find , are in the UK, so whoever falls under its spell has to order it from abroad...

Camellia Yuletide - this year's first blooms

Yuletide's satin red flowers with golden anthers always arrive punctual for Christmas. It is one of my favourite Camellias, it's balanced shape, perfect small and shiny leaves and the blooms not too heavy. And a very reliable bloomer... which ads a bright colour sparkle to a relatively calm season

Dark Queens and Black Knights II - colour combinations

Lately I have thought about the difficulties of marrying black blooms with other plants. Indeed if a little black dress goes with everything in fashion, in the garden things are quite a bit more difficult.
So here are a few combinations, to fuel our taste for adding some black mistery to our borders and pots... 

Tulips Black Parrot , Shirley, Helleborus Niger, Convallaria M.

Cosmos bipinnatus Chocolate, Stipa Tenuissima , dutch Iris combination

Daylilly Dusk Trug, Iris Crinoline, Hollyhock Black Magic, Cosmos Daydream, Begonia Evening Glow

Heuchera Chocolate Ruffles, Rudbeckia Cherry Brandy, Daylilly Jungle Beauty