Wednesday 26 June 2013

Scabiosa For June

This year, I'm taking the late Geoff Hamilton's advice and visiting a nursery each month with a view to buying a plant which is in flower for my garden. Doing this should ensure that I have something blooming in my garden every month of the year.

I had a lovely trip to the garden centre this morning. My son has now finished his A levels so I dragged him along with me, it was nice to have some company whilst I browsed. I'm often rushing when I visit a nursery or garden centre on a weekend so it made a change to have some time to have a proper look around.

I decided that the plant I would buy for June would be this lovely scabiosa columbaria Barocca. The gorgeous wine coloured flowers attracted me to it, but I was sold when I read the plant information which said it would attract wildlife to the garden. Further research shows that it's a magnet to bees, butterflies and moths.

It should flower from spring through to the first frosts, so it's a plant which will definitely earn its keep in the garden.

38 comments:

  1. It's very pretty, I had planned to buy a flowering plant last week but got side tracked by the wasabi, & swamped by the choice on offer.

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    1. There's such a huge choice, isn't there? There were five or six things I could have easily brought home with me. I'm pleased with what I ended up with though.

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  2. AnonymousJune 26, 2013

    They are nice flowers and well having in the garden. I like the colour of this one. Flighty xx

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    1. I love this colour, especially as it's edged with white, it's so pretty.

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  3. That looks lovely Jo. When I was planning what to grow in my front garden I tended to go for plants that had a long flowering season. Must admit penstemons are really good performers using this criteria. Geoff would approve as we saw lots of penstemons when we visited his garden at Barnstaple some years ago.

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    1. I suppose it makes sense to have plants in the garden which flower over a long period, especially if you're after lots of colour. I've never grown penstemons, but I did see some in the garden centre when I was looking around.

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  4. Such a pretty flower.. and made even prettier by the fact that it attracts bees etc. :o)

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    1. So true. I love plants which attract bees, I think we should do what we can for them, and in return they help us by pollinating our crops.

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  5. That's a winner Jo, it ticks just about every box for me too, I will be looking out for some of that.

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    1. It's such a pretty flower, and an added bonus that it attracts bees, butterflies and moths. A long flowering season is the icing on the cake.

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  6. Glad you're able to take a leisurely browse around the garden centre just now. I like the wine colour of the flowers on the plant you chose and it's nice to know that they will attract the bees.

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    1. I never seem to have much time these days so it was nice to have an hour to myself yesterday. I think the colour is quite unusual, I haven't got anything else that colour in the garden.

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  7. Jo, at some stage you must give us a list of the 12 plants that you have acquired in this way, please.

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    1. I certainly will. I had thought that I'd do an end of year post listing all twelve plants. It will also be interesting next year to see how they've done a year on.

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  8. That really is good advice. I've never considered a flowering plant every month of the year. Your garden will always be lovely.
    Congratulations to your son on finishing his A levels.
    Tammy xx

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    1. I think it's great advice to buy a flowering plant every month of the year, Geoff Hamilton had some great tips and he's missed by many gardeners. My son's pleased that his A levels are now done with, it's just a matter of waiting for the results now.

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  9. Beautiful! It almost looks like a little peony!

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    1. Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment. It does look similar to a peony, though much smaller.

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  10. That is so pretty. Did you have to bribe your son with the promise of tea and cake or did he go willingly? Xxx

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    1. No tea and cake I'm afraid, I'm trying to shed a few pounds. He didn't have much choice about coming with me after I'd moaned about him lazing around the house. He did cut the grass for me too though, so he can shift himself when he wants to.

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  11. What an attractive colour. Definitely a good choice for June.

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    1. I love the colour, it's what attracted me to it in the first place.

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  12. The scabiosa plants are lovely. I bought one last month, with pink flowers. I find it hard to deadhead as I quite haven't figured out what is a spent flower and what is a flower bud. Suppose I'll learn eventually. They're lovely plants and I like the colour you chose.

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    1. I know exactly what you mean. I think there's some spent flowers in my photo, but they're still pretty so I've left them. They're known as pincushion flowers and I can see why.

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  13. Gorgeous, I haven't seen that colour before. I've got lots of the blue ones and they are great as cut flowers. xx

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    1. The information mentioned that they're a good cut flower. This variety apparently has more rigid stems than other varieties so they're especially good to cut. I love the colour, it's quite unusual.

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  14. Ah Geoff Hamilton, one of the few proper TV gardeners!

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    1. I think he's missed by many people.

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  15. What a lovely colour, looks like a glass of wine

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    1. It's a gorgeous colour, I love how the edges are tinged with white, quite unusual.

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  16. This is obviously a must buy for my bee plot when I get things sorted....you don't realise how much you are helping me out with your monthly visits Jo so Thanks!!

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    1. There's so many plants which are bee friendly, it will be really interesting to hear which ones you decide to grow on your bee plot.

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  17. gosh that is a lovely plant and what a great idea, visiting a garden centre regularly could bring out lots of new creative ideas

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    1. Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving a comment. I'm enjoying my monthly visits to the garden centre, I'm finding that I'm coming across lots of new plants as my visits are so regular.

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  18. Oh that is lovely! All the very best to your son, I hope he does well.xxxx

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    1. Such a lovely colour, isn't it? Thank you, it's all a waiting game now, very stressful.

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  19. Relax hun.....all will be well.xxxx

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    1. I do hope so. He's done all he can though, so I know he's given it his best.

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