Mystic Merlin - June 2021

This week I had a very quick photo shoot in my back garden after it had rained for most of the day.

The plants putting on the best display in the garden at the moment were undoubtedly the Mallow (Malva sylvestris) 'Mystic Merlin' plants. I think I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that they'd escaped their original pot, and were now making their way around the garden, and were doing a much better job of planting themselves than I ever could have done.

Salmon Princess - June 2021

Another plant species doing well was the Geranium (Pelargonium) 'Salmon Princess', which had begun blooming in my grow house but were now outside in terracotta pots.

Almost Agapanthus - June 2021

The Agapanthus flower buds had turned blue and were on the cusp of opening, and would hopefully be ready to burst open for photographic purposes next week.

Common Selfheal - June 2021

There were quite a few of these little purple coloured Common Selfheal (Prunella vulgaris) blooms dotted around the gaps in the patio stones. They were essentially weeds, but pretty weeds when viewed in close up.

Golden Joy - June 2021

I was quite pleased to find my first Coreopsis (Coreopsis grandiflora) 'Golden Joy' plant forming a flower bud. I'd cared for these since early March after receiving them as ridiculously small plug plants. I'd lost most of them, but it looked like a few would make it into bloom.

Budding Dianthus - June 2021

Like the Coreopsis, I'd nurtured these Dianthus (Dianthus caryophyllus) 'Rocking Red' plants since they were tiny, and it was great to see them looking so strong, and about to flower.

Budding Achillea - June 2021

Similar to the Coreopsis and the Dianthus plants, I'd also received these Achillea (Achillea millefolium) 'Cerise Queen' plants as tiny plug plants. I'd lost well over three quarters of them, so it was a miracle that any of them had advanced this close to the flowering stage.

Budding Hosta - June 2021

My patio Hosta was taking its time in flowering, and had now been in bud for about three weeks. I was beginning to worry whether it would ever open up.

Hunting Hoverfly - June 2021

This Hoverfly (Syrphidae) seemed to be hunting down pollen from the, as yet, unopened flower buds of an Achillea (Achillea millefolium) 'Cassis' plant. It was good to see the buds beginning to colour up so it wouldn't be long before they were open.

The Hunter - June 2021

Finally, I'd like you to meet Bert. Bert is a Betta (Betta splendens), and has been exploring his new home and tankmates for the past week. Here he's trying to work out whether or not to take on this very brave (or very stupid) Red Cherry Shrimp (Neocaridina davidi).

So this week I went with Mystic Merlin as my Image of the Week simply because the flowers were putting on a great display in my garden at the moment...