July is prime Hosta time, and this dwarf, even prostrate, species is my favourite. It doesn’t spread very fast, but if one were to lash out on a number of them they would make a lovely area of underplanting in a bush rose bed. It’s cultivar name is “Blue Mouse Ears”. The picture below zooms out to show its neighbour and family member, Hosta “Blue Cadet”, which grows to a massive size by comparison.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Prologue

 I became a born-again gardener during covid. Before that I was only interested in growing things to eat, but now I have more interest in growing things of beauty. This blog is really for me. I hope I will be able to use it as a sort of diary, and a place to keep pictures of my garden. But I have a few relatives and friends who might be interested and I am happy for them and indeed anyone else who may come upon the blog to see it and maybe make comments.
Read more

First signs of spring

Image
One of the earliest hardy perennials in the garden to come into flower before winter has really ended is this unusual little woodland plant. It is Cardamine quinquefolia and is a close relative of the common wayside wild flower commonly known as ladysmock. It seems to be thriving in a shady corner of the garden next to the hedge.  
Read more
Image
 There can scarcely be a gardener who doesn’t love this harbinger of spring, the Camellia. How can something so delicate and exotic-looking appear either from December onward (in the balmy south west of England) or as early as February even here in Cumbria? This was the first flower of 2025 and the picture was taken on February 28. This is one of three we planted some 20 years ago which are adjacent to our ugly garage. They have reached the gutter and would have been larger still if we didn’t have to trim them every year lest they cast shade on the solar panels we have on the garage roof.
Read more