It's been a while but here's No 31 and 32

It's a long time since I added to my 'Flowering in my garden' series, so having missed the whole of the summer (the last post was at the end of May!) I thought I should pull my socks up and get on.

So here is  No 31 Rudbeckia

This is a plant that I planted for the first time last autumn in my new bed at the bottom of the front garden and it has been wonderful. Planted in November and then ignored, it was drowned during the winter and has been parched through the summer but even so it has performed beautifully, so I guess you could say it was robust and unfussy!

This is 'Goldsturm' and the centres are deep brown with a lovely circle of yellow specs.

Beautiful reflexed petals.

Tight buds...

and when they have opened and finished, the centre is a gorgeous, brown velvety cushion sitting in the centre of a green rosette.

It produces copious quantities of flowers over a number of months, this is just one plant, and it seems largely untroubled by slugs and snails!

It also acts as a lovely foil for other plants - here is my first sucessful Echinops...

and here is my No 32 - Larkspur, another first for me and almost as successful as the Rudbeckia.

This is Larkspur Dark Blue, grown from seed which came free with Gardeners Illustrated. Sown in April, they grew very slowly during the spring and early summer...

but once they went into the ground in July they grew away strongly. I kept them in a pots for so long because I was concerned about the snails and slugs. I had already had some of the plants that I had grown munched to oblivion and wanted to make sure that some got to flowering.

And here they are, four healthy bushy plants with the characteristic spires of vivid blue flowers. At this time of year many of the flowers in the garden are muted colours or faded looking but not the Larkspur (specially next to the Rudbeckia). Their colours hit the eyeball with a joyous vigour.

Larkspur have lovely ferny, soft foliage which is looking lush and green next to the fading Hostas.

The horned flowers are beautifully formed, and there are still spires of buds to come so hold off frosts, don't spoil my fun!