Thursday 21 May 2020

The Invaders

Some days, right from the outset, do not quite go according to plan for me.    Is it the same for you?
Right from the moment I got up things seem to have gone wrong all along the line.   Two long phone calls, a bad attack of the shakes (I have an annoying condition called Essential Tremor, not at all dangerous, runs in families, just jolly annoying).  I had several 'business' e mails which needed answering but each time I got part way through an answer I hit the wrong key and sent the e mail off into space and had to start again.  Then after lunch instead of my usual walk I decided that there were one or two jobs in the garden I could manage.   I did manage them but with difficulty because my balance is not brilliant and I can't walk without a stick.   Still, I got the fresh air and I got the jobs completed eventually.   Anyhow enough of that - let's have a look at these 'invaders'.

I love invaders.   My gardener does not.   There is nothing he likes better than going around with the hoe chopping them off as soon as they appear and the only reason he doesn't do it is that he would have me to contend with - and I wasn't a school teacher for nothing D.

The first of these invaders, just coming into bloom as I write is the Aquelegia.   Last year I bought a pretty two coloured (deep pink and yellow) large flowered one and a smaller flowered double purple one.   This  year they are popping up all over the place - some like the parent and some unseen before - seeds which must have come in from somewhere else.   My neighbour H has plenty of diferent ones in her garden and in an effort to curb their enthusiasm she chopped a whole lot of creamy-pink ones off this morning and brought me a bunch to put in water.   I took a photo for you but even my camera is refusing to cooperate today.

Already the next invader is beginning to pop up everywhere.   Last year I did allow my gardener to hoe some up until one escaped his beady eye and I realised just how beautiful they were.   This year they are everywhere - large, deep pink, poppies.   Their foliage is a greeyish green and I noticed at least twenty this morning, some between cracks in the paving, others in the garden itself.   Everyone is staying.   They can give me maximum pleasure.

I wonder what else (other than the dreaded Mares Tail)  might arrive.   We shall have to wait and see.
**Something went right - at last my photograph printed.

30 comments:

Librarian said...

Both are beautiful flowers! The first one is called Akelei in German. I love them for their somehow old-fashioned charm; nothing posh or fancy about them, just delicate beauty, and I had no idea they are invasive. Nice of your neighbour to bring you some after she has reduced their number in her own garden.

pat chester said...

love Aqualegias - have several different colours in my garden and I also bought two a week ago. Delight yourself with them. I have now managed to set up a blog to motivate myself during lockdown - learning curve on how to do it. If you want to look it is www.pastorswife69.com

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

Flowers for free, who could possibly not like that. I always used to leave self-sown plants in my Mum's garden and found it was an excellent way to find out what liked to grow where.

Derek Faulkner said...

The original Aquelegias were always known as "Granny's Bonnets". They are masters at hybridising and self-seeding but are always welcome in my garden

Sue said...

Paul loves Aqualegias but I don't because of the way they spread everywhere. He also loves orange Californian poppies but again, I don't like they way they spread. But he is the gardener so he usually gets his own way, I just pull them out when he's not looking.

Anonymous said...

I love everything about the Yorkshire Dales - Can I ask if you knew or were aware of James Herriot? I could quite happily live in the Dales! I live near Dartmoor so am not completely innocent about solitary living in the countryside.

Bonnie said...

The Aquelegias are beautiful! If you enjoy them then you should keep them. Most invaders we get here are not at all so pretty. I do hope your evening has gone well for you!

Heather said...

I used to welcome that sort of invader into my garden. I loved getting surprises when I spotted some unfamiliar foliage and would leave it to see how it developed. Glad to know you have your gardener well trained.

gz said...

Weeds are only plants in the wrong place..but who is to decide?! Aquilegia are beautiful..I love the deep coloured single blooms..good for the bees unlike doubles.
And yes, they cross like crazy and you get some interesting combinations!

Some days just suck!! Have a rest, have a cuppa and start refreshed again!

justjill said...

I love Aquelegias also. Also I have different coloured ones. Poppies too. Love the Welsh Poppies which spread.

JayCee said...

They are beautiful indeed. We have some in our garden too. So very pretty.

angryparsnip said...

I have heard the name but didn't know the flower. If I had them here I would let them run all over the yard. Instead we have Brittle Bush silver green leaves and yellow flowers. But They last about a week then the dead dried plant is left to look awful. I have the gardner dig up the ones around the home but they spread. Do not like them.
Love Poppies and now Aquilegias.
parsnip

Ellen D. said...

Those are delicate and pretty and I love your colorful vase. So pretty on your table!

Rambler said...

I wish Aquilegias liked my garden: I have bought some, grown some from seed which I 'borrowed' from my neighbours' flowers which came through the hedge, but as soon as I transfer them to my garden, they curl up and die. At the moment I have several blooms in a large container, beautiful tawny colours but I shall leave them there and hope they continue to thrive. My soil is acid, where Azaleas, Camellias and Rhododendrons thrive happily.

Jules said...

What a coincidence. Lily and I saw some of these whilst out on our walk today and I had no idea what they were. They are pretty. X

The Weaver of Grass said...

Yes Derek - we always called them Grandmother's Bonnets when we were children. Glad you liked the jug of them on my kitchen table Ellen - the jug was bought for me many years ago by my dear friend, now long dead, so I treasure it. Every day it makes me think of her.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Anon I didn't know Herriott - I didn't move up here until I retired but I met and married the farmer and like most farmers round here he was very aware of him. Everyone had heard of him as he was such a popular character.

Salty Pumpkin Studio said...

Lovely flowers, look like ballerinas.
Mare's tail is all over the place here this year, more than I remember last year. I notice them in other yards as well.

Joanne Noragon said...

Columbine, beautiful columbine. The greenhouse warned me, They are so invasive. Good for them.

Alphie Soup said...

I see these flowers more as multipliers not invaders. Aquilegias and poppies, colour in your garden, way ahead of the ineradicable mare's tails.
Alphie

Cro Magnon said...

Oxalis is my invader. It has run amok at Haddock's and I spend a lot of time trying to find the tiny wretched pink bulbs. I also have big blousy Poppies that appear in strange places, but those I leave.

thelma said...

the word to use is promiscuous, they just love spreading their seed. Aquilegia flower is pretty, and also its dainty leaf. Also fills in the spaces where weeds are grown

Tom Stephenson said...

I had one of those days yesterday, Weave. Aquelegia - so that's what they are called. I have a bunch growing right in the middle of the path to my workshop, and I always cut round them when I trim the grass down.

Jennyff said...

I wish you'd come here and sort out the slash and burn gardener who looks after our communal areas. All he can do is cut, the grass is mown far too often, he destroys established shrubs by the £100s worth, and takes away about to open blooms. I could weep. In my own garden I used to remove the blue aquilegia before they seeded as apparently they are the dominant ones and can take over the more interesting varieties, otherwise I let them flourish, they are beautiful and lovely as cut flowers.

pam nash said...

Beautiful flowers both! I'd let them stay, bloom and reseed. The gardener will just need to hold off for a while.

Mary said...

Besides your lovely flowers-invaders or no--

To avoid email disappearance when typing, one thing I do (which assumes you have word processing software such as Word on your computer), is to write up the draft response in Word, make all the final revisions, then copy and paste it into the email and hit send. Helps avoid sending off half completed emails when a wrong key is accidentally hit. Hope this helps.

Helen said...

Your lovely photos lifted my spirits ... thank you and do have a good weekend.

Yellow Shoes said...

Far more aquilegias here in Sheffield city this year and much healthier plants than last year when they were overwhelmed with sticky aphids. They’ve popped up in the veg beds and pushing themselves under the fence from the road. I’ve never planted them but I love how they’ve moved in.

Share my Garden said...

You have a lovely colour range, very delicate. I would enjoy and keep them all!

Penny said...

I like invaders of the right kind, I love aqua Liga, mostly I like any flower that self seeds. I have Alyssa and nasturtium at the moment. That should be alyssum.