at home in the garden

Thanks to Covid-19’s enforced isolation I have finally fulfilled something that has been on my to-do list for years! Once I even bought one of those fancy garden journals but it ended up as a scrap notebook – but now it’s all in hand – and what better and easier place than another blog!!

A garden in a pot

I may only have a potted garden at the moment but I’ve gathered a good many plants over the years and so I’ve put together an inventory of my collection along with pages of plant details, images, growing tips and notes.
The only ‘posting’ I need do for this blog is a monthly update

And since I’m also adding a gallery of plant portraits, it’s a good opportunity to improve my photography skills here. So I put on the Lumix 30mm macro lens and out in the garden I went.

The best time of day is of course morning and evening or overcast skies for those bright colours which pop too much for the camera – an alternative is to switch into monochrome where colour does not distract from form as in the ‘art nouveau’ design of nasturtiums.

Leaves make sensational subjects especially those plants grown more or as much, for foliage than flower, like herbs, euphorbias and hostas.

After the rains is a good time to get out the camera.

Not forgetting all those little details of spider webs and dandelion seeds

Seeking out the beauty of youth is natural enough (this is Thrift/Sea Pink) but I do not overlook the full-blown bloom either. It is also a subject that suits monochrome [click on the slider]

Choosing different angles as well as getting in close to subjects like these plantain lilies is important but so too is the negative space that surrounds and frames – -ultimately its question of personal taste

Please feel free to visit my new blog A Garden in a Pot and if you can ID either of these 2 plants I’d be most grateful.

from a packet of seeds – a woodland/ shade lover?
a succulent that blooms for a short time in May

Useful links:
Plant Photography tips for your garden

20 thoughts on “at home in the garden

  1. The orange of the nasturtium comes out especially well. My reds & oranges never do, sadly.
    Glad you’re finally having the opportunity to keep a garden!

  2. Oh, Laura, what a gorgeous garden! I wouldn’t want to leave the house/garden… just to admire all those little miracles surrounding me! 😉

    1. ahh thank you Eileen – Lewisia never came up in any of my searches but spot on ❤ –

      Not a gentian though – this is late Spring flower – small blue-purple on wiry stems. It's maybe clearer in the June potted garden slideshow – 4th image – https://plans4plants.com/

  3. Eileen’s right with the Lewisia, such a beauty which loathes the wet as I found out! And I love your slider and taped images, what are you using to produce that style? I shall be over to look at your flower blog too.

    1. thanks for seconding that Jude – the Lewisia survived the wet winter I’m pleased to say and bloomed like crazy.
      The ‘taped images’ are a template I have put into photoshop – both as rectangular and squared ones and then just have to paste in the images below it – any use to you? If so can send you the templates.

Comments are closed.