The heavy rain seems to have died down and temperatures have risen again. We are promised some thunderstorms in the near future, so we will have to wait and see what is in store for us.
Although escallonias don’t seem to be as popular as they used to be, this one is so aptly named. The dark green, evergreen foliage makes an excellent foil for those plants in front of it.
The common viper’s bugloss (Echium vulgare) is a native flower, which I first saw in a garden when I was in my early teens. We had neighbours who had returned from India after serving in the British Raj, which we youngsters found fascinating. Charles was a keen amateur astronomer and my father and I spent a few nights with him gazing at the stars. His wife Effie (Euphemia) was a very keen gardener and an archetypical, indomitable Victorian lady who did much to encourage me in the ways of gardening. One of her favourites was viper’s bugloss, which I have grown in her memory ever since. Echium plantagineum, the purple viper’s bugloss, actually comes from warmer climes, but it is flowering from a February cold sowing.
Primula alpicola the moonlight primrose is another little beauty for a damp spot.
This geranium seems to grow in the poorest of conditions providing excellent ground-cover. Definitely a bee magnate!
Grows virtually anywhere, autumn tints to the leaves, aromatic foliage, bee magnate. What more could anyone want?! Geranium macrorrhizum ‘Bevan’s Variety’ is very similar, in fact, to be honest, I can’t tell them apart.
Finally a rose. I am really happy to be able to grow roses here, although I have limited them to the climbers and ramblers. I love ‘Zéphirine Drouhin’, it is the only rose that I managed to grow in my previous, shady, damp garden.
This meme is hosted by Jim Stevens who is to be found with all the details and links to plenty of other blogs to enjoy at Garden Ruminations.
A Plantsman's World 
Regarding the echium, do you sow it every year then? Don’t you overwinter it to protect it from frost? Maybe it can’t grow potted. I have an echium candicans and try to grow a pininana from seedlings …we’ll see
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Yes, I do sow every year. This is the first time I have actually grown Echium plantagineum, I just spotted in a seed list. I normally raise the common viper’s bugloss (E. vulgare) even though it can seed itself. Both are often treated as biennial, although I can get them into flower quite easily from an early sowing. I have tried several times to flower E. pininana without success. The plants were always overwintered under glass. I suspect that my previous garden was just too shaded for it. There is a flower border in Sheffield’s city centre which is facing south at the bottom of a retaining wall where they flower every year. I presume their Park’s Department must have a rota in place as they are monocarpic.
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I love the tale behind the viper’s bugloss, what a great way to honour a lovely lady.
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It is something that just stuck with me. There was a specimen of Cedrus atlantica ‘Glauca’ which was associated with my father, but unfortunately that died a few years ago.
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Such a nice variety of colors and forms! The primula are lovely, and the rose! My new favorite color!
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Thank you. I hope I can keep producing photographs from my small garden to cover the summer, without duplicating too many subjects.
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I get creative, and my penchant for photographing insects helps!
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A lovely selection. It’s nice how the plants we grow can serve as a reminder of acquaintances and family members who are no longer with us.
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Thank you. It is good to have a reminder.
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There are a lot of the taller echiums around here, they are a bee magnet.
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I have tried to flower the big ones, without success, in the past. My garden then was far too well shaded for them and they had to be overwintered under glass.
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Wonderful things I could never grow – thank you for sharing them.
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Thank you. I could put the same comment on your post. 😊
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Superb picture of the rose. I’ll have to keep my eye open for Ingwersen’s Variety, it sounds like a good geranium to have.
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I love my geraniums, they are so adaptable and hardy. Ingwersen’s Variety may not have big showy flowers but it does the business.
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Isn’t this a great meme? You’ve shared some beauties here, and it’s obvious your garden is a special place. Thanks for sharing the personal stories, too.
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Thank you. I couldn’t agree more about the meme. I had scrapped my old blog and was doing this one as a brain exercise and a bit of nostalgia, until I came across SoS and couldn’t resist.
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Fabulous primroses. A friend of mine has a carpet of Geranium macrorrhizum ‘Biokovo’ similar to ‘Album’ growing in dark shade under a huge walnut tree and it looks wonderful. I never believed that it would do so well in such a spot. I always thought that ‘Bevan’s Variety’ was more purplish than ‘Ingwerson’s Variety’. Anyway, I like the ‘ macrorrhizum’ tribe very much. I am a bit fed up with the sprawliness of so many geraniums but these stay neat. ‘Zéphirine Drouhin’ is a real beauty and no thorns! .
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Nice to see your Escallonia, I have one with dark brown leaves and white flowers, it’s adwarf variety. I also had a plant of Primula alpicola, bought it is Scotland when on holiday, the perfume in the car was almost overwhelming, sadly my soil was too wet for it!
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Alpicola does have a really nice scent. It’s a pity that it needs quite a few to notice it outside. Shame about your plant. The soil must have been waterlogged to kill it as they do like moisture. Better luck next time.
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