A couple of answers to recent ident questions that cropped up when I’ve not been here:

– the fluffy, low growing magenta flower in the canal bank is Phuopsis stylosa
– the stiff, silvery leaved plant with the large blue daisy-like heads which has self-seeded by the polytunnel is Purple Salsify, or Tragopogon porrifolius

Top of my worry list at the moment are the 400 or so plants I’m growing for Toby Buckland’s family garden for GW live next week. The order was only placed in early May, so we’ve had just six weeks to get them big enough and in flower. The cool spell in May got them off to a slow start, and some like Echinacea were always no-hopers really. Many plants got to the bud stage last week, but have ground to a halt again with all this rain and cloudy weather. Most have been moved into the polytunnel, and I’ve stuffed our biggest greenhouse full of Lychnis coronaria ‘Gardener’s World’ and Anthemis E.C. Buxton. I’m now praying for sunshine – they’ve got six days to get flowering…

June 8, 2010