I had lots of nigella last year, and they have a reputation for easy spreading but only one has popped up so far, in with the crab apple tree. I love the delicate spiny leaves as well as the multi-layer flower.
The Jacob's Ladder was bought last year I think as a tiny plant and it grew into a huge bush, but has only finally flowered this year. It doesn't like drying out and will wilt very quickly, and I read that it prefers partial shade so I may move it to somewhere it will be happier.
This is some flax (the RHS website tells me) that was in a random dried out pot and I have been watering since the spring in the hope that it was something, and it rewarded my efforts today with these delightful flowers:
And yesterday my mining bee (yes, I get personally attached to each and every bee that visits my garden) paid a return visit to the exact same leaf as the other day. It is a bad photo as he is mostly under the leaf but I think it may be an ashy mining bee as it was definitely greyish fluff. The Urban Bees guide describes how they stuff their nest holes with chewed up leaves, rather than pieces of leaf like the leaf-cutters:
Meanwhile in the kitchen ... cucamelons:
Stay safe. Be kind. Rest in the shade.
Nigella doesn't self-seed as freely as one is led to believe, does it? I love the flax - how pretty.
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