Arum italicum Pictum

"This beautiful and interesting herbaceous foliage plant turns the normal seasons of the year upside down. The exciting leaves start to unfold in autumn, and grow larger all through the winter and spring, reaching as much as a foot in length. They are shaped like an arrowhead, dark green heavily marbled with very pale green, and waved at the edges. The pale green flowers, which are short and inconspicuous, consist of a spike cloaked in a spathe (a large enfolding bract) like those of the wild arum, lords and ladies, of the hedgerows. By mid-summer, flowers and leaves have disappeared underground, but in early autumn, spikes of bright red, poisonous berries shoot up like danger signals before the leaf cycle starts afresh."

(Extract from The Best Plants for Your Garden by Anne Scott-James)

Although not a flower this is our Today's Flowers post, I'm sure you'll agree that the berries are stunning.

The Village Show

I took over a hundred photographs at the village show, many of which I've now uploaded to Renaissance Life for you to view, if you so wish. Pop over and you'll find lots of heavy horses as well as vintage cars and sheepdogs.

Today's Flower - Poppy

This is our Today's Flower post - Oriental Poppy

The Oriental Poppy is native to the Caucasus, northeastern Turkey, and northern Iran orginally a scarlet orange colour selective breeding in the 19th century has created a range of colors from clean white with black blotches through clear true pinks and salmon pinks to a deep maroon.
After flowering the foliage dies away entirely, which allows their survival in the summer drought their native lands. So ideal for the UK this summer!

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St Swithun's day

After the drought along comes the rain, and on St Swithun's ...

St Swithun's day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain,
St Swithun's day if thou be fair,
For forty days 'twill rain no more.

Recycled Reclaimed Potting Shed

by Avoca

What to tell the bees

I've left the privet hedge unclipped this year to enable it to flower,
the bees are enjoying it and I'm enjoying the sweet perfume though I do believe certain people in the nieghbourhood think it unkempt.

This is our Today's Flower post and it also gives me an excuse to post a favourite poem:

I have told the bees
He is gone from us;
I have given up gossamer prayers.
Carry roses, pacasandra, azaleas
The birch and dogwood to listen;
Send the song of his memories back to him.
He tends his garden
And remembers now,
Whispering his story on the wings of the bees.

~Julie Ferioli

The Continental Market

We'd rather have home grown but we stumbled upon a continental market in town the other day and took some photographs to share, you can find them at Renaissance Life, if you're interested that is.