Monday, June 30, 2014

Happy flowers

I've finished all the pentagons for Nellie so I'll start the final rounds using the join-as-you go method. I've still got to do a couple of hexagons, an octogon and a heptagon but I want to see how the colours sit together as I join so that I can adjust accordingly.


Btw, Heidi has just released a new pattern, Smaug the African Flower dragon, and has kindly sent me a copy so I know what I'll be starting soon as he looks amazing. She's really cornered the market on cuteness with her little critters. Thanks Heidi!

I found myself a bargain on eBay. This 'brand new without tags' Laura Ashley dress. If ever there was a fabric designed just for me then this is it as I am still a girl of the 1970s and love these stylised flowers and leaves!


There are lots of little hummingbirds too.


Tilly approves and I have now mastered the art of crocheting with a cat accoutrement! She's very good when she's sitting on me like this but show her a ball of yarn elsewhere and she goes straight for it, pouncing, biting and playing football with it.



The gravel garden has really filled out now and there have been things in flower of a couple of months.


Here's what it looked like earlier in the year:


I know I am a bit of a plant bore but there are so many wonderful things coming into flower at the moment that I have to share just a few so please forgive me.

Beautiful Berkheya 'Zulu Warrior' complete with a pollen beetle
One of my sacrificial Verbascums which has survived the caterpillars!

The spidery stems of cephalaria gigantica
cephalaria gigantica flower close-up
The flowers are very similar to those of it's smaller relative - this blue Scabious which grows to half the height.


And it also resembles the flowers of Knautia macedonica which I grow in the gravel garden (at the back on the left of the photo above).


Right, I'd better stop before I bore everyone to tears!

I've got another talk to do later this week at the Dementia: Innovation conference at the Barbican so I'll be heading into London yet again. There's so much going on at the moment it's hard to keep track of everything, which is great of course.

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