ALLIUMS AND IRIS

It's Chelsea next week.  So exciting!  I've got tickets for Tuesday and I can't wait.  I'm very much looking forward to seeing Sarah Price's The Nurture Landscapes Garden which takes inspiration from the work of Cedric Morris who bred Iris at his house, Benton End.  

You may already know all this, so if you do skip ahead.  Cedric Morris was an artist as well as a plant breeder. 

He ran an art school from his home where he aimed to allow his students to develop their own style.  Famous luminaries include Maggie Hamblin and Lucian Freud, so he seems to have been a very good teacher.  Somehow he found the time to breed Iris, and Sarah Cook who used to be head gardener at Sissinghurst has spent years tracking them all down so that they can once again be propagated for sale.  They were named after friends ('Benton Nigel') or cats ('Benton Menace').  I love a plant with a good name so I definitely want to track one of those down.  I could rattle on about this for a while and tell you how the Garden Museum has now acquired Benton End, but it's really supposed to be about Six things from my garden so I can almost hear Jim tutting over my shoulder.

I had better get on.  Iris then,  Here are some that are flowering in the Knot Garden this week.  No Benton ones, although a I have a few, they are still young plants.  I would love to be able to tell you what they all are, but I can't.  The lavender one with the yellow beards was a pile of  bare root rhizomes in a bin liner acquired from an open gardens.  The pale apricot one came mail order but was completely different from the rest of the ones I ordered.  

The one on the left below is Ma Mie from Cayeux Iris.  On the right is one of the three Iris which were already in the garden.

The pretty pale yellow Iris was given to me by Matt, so is labelled 'Matt's Yellow' .

On the right is one I do know the name of - it's 'Red Zinger' which is a name that makes me wince although the Iris is nice.

So that's your lot for this week.  Six Iris for Six on Saturday.  

What's that?  The Iris only count as one as you've made the pictures a bit smaller?  Well if you're sure...  The other's will be brief I promise.

In at number two is Nemesia 'Wisley Vanilla'.  I've not grown this before but it smells lush, so I bought one and put it in the greenhouse for now where I can enjoy it more.

Flipping ants!  They are everywhere.  I was delighted to see these holes yesterday, which must have been make by the Green Woodpecker having a good old feast. (I am allergic to red ant bites so I have a particular reason to dislike them).

Last week more Rhododendrons were promised, and here they are.  Pink and blowsy and I feel probably deeply, deeply unfashionable.  I'll see if I spot any at Chelsea.

Alliums next.  'Purple Sensation' in the Rose Garden, seeding themselves around and tucking themselves in among the roses and aquilegias.

A Clematis next.  'Nelly Moser' is a large flowered gal in candy pink stripes and also I suspect not likely to feature at Chelsea.

Thank you for reading, and don't forget all the Six on Saturday posts can be found on Garden Ruminations where Jim collates all our garden ramblings.