Here we are back at Barnsdale and I hope you can see the butterflies enjoying the flowers. I must admit though that I’m not ever going to plant any buddleias in the future, no matter how much they’re enjoyed by butterflies, as they’re such a menace to buildings with their habit of germinating in stonework.
I think the flowers below are perovskia and agapanthus as well as some sort of huge thistle. For some reason my agapanthus didn’t flower at all, fingers crossed for next summer.
Acanthus is the main flower below, or you might know it by its common name – Bear’s breeches. These spiky leaves were often used in designs in Victorian times, in fact the cornicing on the ceiling in our old house was acanthus leaves. They also feature on the top of some Victorian pillar/post boxes which I didn’t realise until Valerie in NZ mentioned it in a comment.
As you can see below, some of the box hedges have been scarred by box blight, but it looks like they’ll recover. I love the rambling rose but have no idea what it’s called.
As the trees in my neighbourhood are beginning to change colour it’s good to be able to look back at what was the height of summer when these photos were taken.
I’ve always liked Buddleia, such a “summery” smell, and the butterflies love it. However, I could wish I’d planted my cutting-grown one further back from my driveway when I moved here: it’s truly flourishing, after being confined to a pot for some years!
I also like Agapanthus – in more sub-tropical areas of NZ it spreads easily from seed and believe it or not can be regarded as a pest there.
Those gardens in your photos look beautiful. – I see the yellow Evening Primrose beside their Agapanthus.
Valerie,
I’m so glad that you recognised the Evening Primrose, because I didn’t, I tried to grow it from seed years ago but had no luck. I once planted a Buddleia which grew to over 6′ within a year, it was a real thug. I think if I found the ‘orange ball’ type I would plant it as those don’t seem to seed all over the place. I can hardly imagine Agapanthus growing so easily anywhere, mind you I’ve always said that if dandelions didn’t grow everywhere here we would pamper them and adore them, not curse them!
Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!
Stefanie,
If you ever get to the UK you’ll have a hard job figuring out which gardens to visit in the time you have!