Senecio “Sunshine” (aka Brachyglottis)
The above perennial plant is one of my favourites, and I’m thankful that it seems to accept growing in a large container near our front door. I first saw one thriving in a seaside garden at our local beach, Spanish Banks, and fell in love with it. Even the leaves are lovely, being a grey-green shade, with a soft and downy texture.
What a summer we’ve had, with the most wildfires ever recorded in our province of British Columbia. For most of August the entire province was covered in a thick, smoky haze. Even here in Vancouver, for weeks at a time we couldn’t see the mountains clearly. Things are improving now that September has arrived. There are still fires burning, though, and the smell of smoke lingers in the air.
But back to more pleasant memories, which often involve flowers, for me!
The bees absolutely loved this self-seeded Himalayan blackberry bush, (Rubus), which is growing around a laneway power pole. Even though the experts say that the Himalayan is an invasive species, it does provide food for the bees and other pollinators, then later on masses of berries for anyone passing by.
Campanula poscharskyana, sharing a space with Red Valerian, Cranesbills, & Bamboo roots (!) in our front garden. Every year, this reliable, “rampant, spreading perennial” returns, with its jaunty mauve-blue flowers. It’s a good ground cover for a wild garden, like mine! The proper name is quite a mouthful. I just call it “Canterbury Bells”.
Lychnis “Coronaria”, a shameless self-seeder, is spreading itself happily amongst the English Lavender on the boulevard. I admire these hardy volunteers, which take care of themselves so well. This Lychnis is drought-tolerant, and is just wonderfully flamboyant! The flowers were originally pale pink and white, but have reverted to pure white, which I quite like.
Feverfew (Chrysanthemum parthenium) is such a hardy, cheerful little perennial, but is short-lived, and is usually grown as an annual. It’s a great plant for attracting pesky aphids away from the vegetable patch.
Masterwort (Astrantia major)…perfection! I love the green-tipped petals.
A hoverfly busily working with pollen grains on a Lily petal. I wish there was a way to include the heady fragrance of these gorgeous blooms in a blog post!
And overlooking it all, a Bald Eagle perched on an evergreen tree a few doors up the street. The crows were very perturbed about this!
These photographs were taken with my trusty old Olympus digital camera.
To be continued, with photos from my cell phone…
