I always say that the best days are when you don’t plan things! So when I had a message, on Friday evening, to ask if I’d be at home on Saturday, as they would ‘love to visit’, I was delighted - ‘ they’ being my nephew, his wife and their two daughters, who were on a flying visit to South Devon.
And they just happened to have called in at one of my favourite places - Plant World - and so they arrived with a stunning Geranium ‘Rozanne’ as well as two packets of seeds: Agrostemma and Papaver.
They know me well, don’t they?
That set me thinking! Geranium Rozanne, is, nowadays, a very popular plant indeed; it’s very much ‘on trend’ as they say! But isn’t it funny how plants can be ‘in fashion’ or ‘in favour’ or ‘on trend’ or…completely the opposite?
As I sat by the greenhouse, yesterday, I was looking at the one and only Fuchsia that I have in the garden.This one I bought last year; it’s Fuchsia ‘Britney’ and it’s only just come into flower.
And, of course, I started to think about Fuchsias!
Years ago, my garden was full of Fuchsias! I’d take cuttings too, (which are very easy to take.) And I’ve even managed to grow my own standard fuchsias, in the past. Yet, I’ve noticed that in the nurseries/garden centres, around here, there have been few Fuchsias on offer. They don’t seem to be as popular as they once were.
Have you noticed that?
Someone commented on my blog, yesterday, about another summer flower that she use to grow: the Mesembryanthemum. When I first started gardening, these plants were really popular. I used to sow no end of Mesembryanthemum seeds and I was always fascinated at how the flowers opened and closed, dependent on the sunshine. Lovely, little, summer flowers! Clarkia and Godetia, were also great favourites with me too!
I wonder if you have favourites that you used to grow? Favourites that have gone out of fashion! I’d be interested to know!
How nice to have a surprise visit and from generous visitors, too.
ReplyDeleteI think the 'fashion' now is to have native flowers but if we took that to extremes, we'd lose a lot of plants - roses, acers, dahlias, tulips, rhododendron. Anything that deigns to grow in my garden is welcome - well, almost anything .
We have quite a lot of different fuschias at home and OH took some cuttings for the caravan garden too. I do like old fashioned type cottage garden plants. I really must see if you can still buy mesbryanthemum seeds as your photo reminds me of their bright colours. Sweet Williams are a favourite with me too.
ReplyDeleteI think many fuchsias have been struck by blight from the continent recently so garden centres are loath to sell them. Some of ours looked sickly a year or so ago. We hard pruned them last autumn and they’ve grown back good as new. I love fuchsias . B x
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely gift.
ReplyDeleteFuchsias are a favourite but I lost two lovely ones in the cold winter and haven't replaced them yet. xx
I enjoy these impromptu visits, but they always throw my wife into a frenzy of cleaning an already clean house and I sometimes wonder whether they are worth it!
ReplyDeleteLOL! I’m afraid they just had to accept us as they found us..as my husband often says, they come to see YOU,
DeleteYour new geranium is such a lovely blue. We have quite a few different hardy geraniums in the garden, like geums they seem to do well with our heavy clay soil and spread quite a lot. We have a hanging basket with fuchsias in which looks rather lovely and a hardy fuchsia in the front garden. We used to have a huge one which came from my uncle's greenhouse many years ago, it moved with us three times but we finally lost it a few years ago:)
ReplyDeleteI love Geum too! What a shame re your Fuchsia! I bet you wish that you’d taken cuttings!
DeleteYes! I remember when most gardens would have at least one fuchsia. I'm not 'on trend' in any aspect of my life, so I'm not sure how fashionable my garden is :)
ReplyDeleteThe geranium looks lovely. What a stunning colour. X
Lovely to have surprise visitors! Your Geranium and Fuchsias are beautiful!
ReplyDelete