Things that make me go Wow!!!

The oriental poppies I planted last year have started to burst open - and I mean burst! They are eye poppingly bright, completely jarring any attempt at a subtle colour scheme... and 100% fabulous! And there's loads more to come...



The best bit is their blue centres - multiple coloured bees have been spotted after visiting them so watch out!!!




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Aquilegias everywhere...

Aquilegias...I love 'em. I don't plant them, I don't feed them, I don't even have to stake them. As long as I don't accidentally weed them they do their thing...



They crop up everywhere and last and last...



And they surprise me every year with new colours...



And plenty of ruffles...



Yes, I love 'em! All I have to do now is let them run to seed and look forward to next years crop...



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Jubilations...

   

Now the holiday is nearly over Im catching my breath after the nonstop fun I want to ask the big question...

What did you do to celebrate?

We had a bunting festooned dinner..

I made a lot, and I mean a lot of cupcakes for street parties...The red and white ones were already in the car when I took this!

Oh and I got a bit tipsy at our village talent show and sang 'how much is that doggy in the window' backwards - no photos of that one thank goodness...there are some talents that are clearly best kept hidden!

The post Chelsea post...

Blimey where does the time go? One minute I'm counting the days till Chelsea flower show, the next I'm wondering if it really happened, so much has happened since. Weve been awash with bunting and jubilee flags since then...but thats for another post...back to Chelsea...

I think this may be my favourite Chelsea yet. The gardens were amazing despite the cold start to the year, and then the drought and then the rain! Here are some of my favourite moments...

Cleve Wests garden won best in show and deservedly so. More than any Chelsea garden ive seen, i wanted to sneak in and stay in this all day...very secret garden and very magical..

 Joe Swift's garden was also a favourite - he had these amazing redwood arches that made it look like looking through frames, his colours were amazing.

 The Furzey garden created by Chris Beardshaw and the team of young people with learning difficulties was gorgeous, and made me wish we could grow rhododendrons here, but no such luck! I met the family of one of the gardeners there who were telling of how the project had changed their sons life. I'm not ashamed to say I left the Furzey Garden a bit teary eyed and truly inspired by the power of gardening...

and I loved Andy Sturgeons garden. Ive already passed this picture on to BH as inspiration for the steps to our garden - here's hoping!

I thinks The caravan garden was one of my favourites though - I've been planning a garden office for a few years now and I think this could be an answer...

The designer Kaffe Fassett had decorated his own summerhouse for the show, I wish i could have got a better picture. the colours were so much better than they came out here!

 But Chelsea isn't just about show gardens...it's also about shopping and for us champagne. The day ended with our traditional stop at the champagne bar at St Pancras before I jumped on the train back to Yorkshire...you can just see my Bill Wallace Geranium in the back ground, its already found its home in my long border...

And that was it for another year...now how many sleeps until the next one...