It’s another ABC round of P topics plus a garden blogger’s poetry post for the premier muse day of the month…
Precipitation
April has lived up to its ‘cruellest month’ epithet this year at least. 1After the balmiest March on record, it has plummeted temperatures and poured water on the gardener’s plans. Splish, splash plop – I have measured out my days in precipitations!
pollinators
The plants are in their element and the trees have a polished appearance but pollinators have to plan foraging raids, in the rare sunny breaks.
hive of activity on the Pericallis
Spring is like a perhaps hand
(which comes carefully
out of Nowhere)arranging
a window,into which people look(while
people stare
arranging and changing placing
carefully there a strange
thing and a known thing here)and
changing everything carefully
pericallis × hybrida (Florists Cineraria)
When my friend Diane purchased a ‘Senetti Deep Blue’, little did I predict that it would withstand being placed outside on the patio. My grandmother only grew these in the greenhouse in the days before climate change debates and when these were simply called Cineraria.
In fact this is a Pericallis hybrid, lightly perfuming the air and promenading purple to pull in the pollinators. I wonder therefore how the plant developers could entitle this ‘Deep Blue’ when the only evidence of this hue is the chromatic aberration of the petals, common in digital photos.
purple not blue
spring is like a perhaps
Hand in a window
(carefully to
and fro moving New and
Old things,while
people stare carefully
moving a perhaps
fraction of flower here placing
an inch of air there)and
without breaking anything. 2
pelargonium not geranium
If the Pericallis can weather the unseasonable Spring, so perhaps could the Pelargonium. Pampered overwinter on a kitchen windowsill, it has barely interrupted blooming and now peeks out impatiently on the pelting downpours.
peering west at The 'Shard'
With May comes the mayoral elections and perhaps a London assembly that will not posture on the political stage but provide an economic and environmental balance between the pressing needs of the populace and their capital.
Maybe too I can put aside my thermals now that May is out!
Hawthorn 'May' blossom
Photo Postscript: I’m still waiting for my Photoshop upgrade but meanwhile have been playing with Picasa and considering purchasing a subscription to the more affordable Smart Photo Editor. Sometimes image manipulation is more than just fun as when there is a need to fix chromatic aberration. Here’s how
And perhaps. just maybe, me and my patiopatch might remember to link in more posts to the popular ABC Wednesday people
Hi Laura,
I used to grow Senetti in my greenhouse. Must say I have never put them outside but I suppose during the summer months you can. They are pretty……
In this part of Kent, April has been the wettest since records began. That does not surprise me.
I have never known it like this….it just won’t stop raining
The garden looks lush and beautiful but I feel so sorry for the birds bees and butterflies.
Trouble with me is, I would like a perfect world, where it rained at night and was bright and sunny during the day
seems warm enough now for the Senetti and more than wet enough. Apres the drought, le deluge!
Perhaps May will be better for the pollinators.
Perhaps…
photowannabe read my post..ABC WEDNESDAY LETTER " P "
The flowers are gorgeous and a very interesting post. Carver, ABC-Wed. Team
Carver read my post..ABC Wednesday: P is for Peekaboo
these are beautiful photos. the purple flowers are stunning, i love The shard photo, too.
That March WAS a deceiver, wasn’t it?
ROG, ABC Wednesday team
Roger Green read my post..P is for Portmanteau
Goodness, your weather seems as erratic as ours this spring. Whatever happened to four distinct seasons? The bee looks quite content on the Senetti blossom. Hopefully your April deluge will help extend the spring flower season. I love the little Hawthorn bloom, I really miss seeing Hawthorns, especially in hedgerows!
Curbstone Valley Farm read my post..Grafting Heirloom Tomatoes: From Seed to Splicing
it’s a good year for the blossom on this young tree regardless of the erratic Spring
I love the poem. I am not sure I could quite cope with the intensity of colour of the Senetti up here where everything looks better muted but I do like it. There is a clarity to it. Gorgeous.
elizabethm read my post..Growing and using herbs at Blackden
yes the Pericallis makes a passionate plea but somewhat out of place where the boundary is blurred between garden and landscape
I love that image of the Shard. I enlarged it too. Weather is nuts here also and at least you have the bees. It has been rare to see the bees yet. Great bee portraits too. New version of Photoshop? I am debating on the upgrade or going to the Cloud. The Cloud version is cheep for the first year with my NAPP membership (almost like free), but then what happens in the year, I may then have to pay the full price rather than the upgrade. Did you try the beta version? I have had it since it first arrived. Very cool new features.
Donna read my post..Month in Review- April Weather Photo Calendar
the shard is a fave image of mine Donna. As for photoshop, think pirates and copies of a copy and that is all I can afford. Never heard of the cloud
a pleasure to participate in P posts with you, PW, LC, Carver & Roger
I hope that you will soon not be thinking of what is sometimes a great P word but has been somewhat overrepresented this month (precipitation). Lovely post. I am just beginning to work on my photography skills and hadn’t heard of chromatic aberration. The only “chromatic” in my vocabulary has to do with music
The bee on the Pericallis hybrid adds delicate texture to the photo.
Lovely post, Laura. I especially like “Pericallis hybrid, lightly perfuming the air and promenading purple to pull in the pollinators.” I love alliteration. Our April weather was crazy…cold and windy … and I didn’t work in the garden much. P. x
Pam’s English Garden read my post..Inspirational Books, Blogs, and Beautiful Gardens
Perchance I’m pining for ABC Wednesday. Enjoyed your post Laura
Anna read my post..A Muse For May
and from you I usually take my Q!
Maybe the extra warmth a city brings with it but I’m impressed the senetti is surviving outdoors now. It’s still cold here in Wales. My lettuce at the allotment haven’t grown in 3 weeks. The light levels are poor as well for the time of year. I was just talking about the shard tonight. An impressive structure and great photo but I wish an architect would build something imaginative and modern out of wood for a change, all this glass and steel, well a change would be nice is all I’m saying!!! Here’s hoping for a warmer, dryer May.
wellywoman read my post..Humble by Nature – Rural Skills Centre
stopped building in wood here after the great Fire! Like the glass and steel only because it mirrors the good, old architecture.
O those deep violet colours and the little bees. Promises so much for the coming months, such lovely images, hope the rain stays away:~)
Foxglove Lane read my post..Fledgeling
Love the purple flowers…the poem is fascinating…sorry your weather has been awful too…here’s looking toward the sun and warmth!
The colors in your garden are so vibrant. We have just begun to get rain after a bit of a dry spell, but I hope your weather improves. The weather seems to have been so strange all over this year.
The Sage Butterfly read my post..My Garden Notebook – May 2012
The Pericallis is stunning! And I’ve always enjoyed Hawthorne trees. The fruit is like mini-Apples, right? Beautiful photos!
PlantPostings read my post..Trillium love
yes – botanically a pome, looks like a berry, ideal for jams and medicinally reduces blood pressure. Birds enjoy the fruit and as a consequence this seed was ‘planted’.
- hello and welcome Carol to where point and shoot is the bee all and end all of photography skills
- missed many moments Pam as the deluge has kept me indoors
- this purple has even brightened the rainy days Foxglove Lane
- Donna & Micehlle , it’s reassuring to know that the very strange weather is across both sides of the pond. Due to turn cold now.u
Blue is considered superior to purple—I am not sure why—so plant hybridizers call purple flowers blue. Do they think we won’t notice? We are finally getting rain so I am happy it is here.
Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens read my post..Beyond Mice
but purple is Imperial! Appreciate knowing why Carolyn and wonder if it has a subliminal reference to the elusive blue rose?
So many purples in the spring garden, and I sure love it!
RobinL read my post..Blooms and Butterflies