Jubilee Garden Celebration

What else could it possibly be today, but a jubilee themed garden celebration.

As Her Majesty the Queen celebrates an incredible 70 years as our Monarch. Fancy being in the same job for seventy years! I thought we’d do a look at the garden with a royal coloured theme.

We’ll start with a collection of produce from the garden, in Red, White and Blue to get you in the mood.

Purple – The Colour of Royalty

As the official colours of the Jubilee celebrations are Platinum for the seventy years and Purple for royalty. I’ve decided to shout about all of the purple flowers and produce in the garden, and I’ve been amazed how much purple produce I have!

So welcome to my purple bonanza!

The first purple of the season comes in the form of delicate little crocus. They range from the palest mauve through to dark purple.

Next up are the Tulips. It’s incredible how many different shades of purple there are. I would possibly call some of them maroon, but as they have purple in their names they get in.

Early Purple Flowers

The Pulmonaria ‘Trevi Fountain’, flower from very early on and the bees absolutely love them. Their flowers are pink and purple.

The Hyacynth have two shades of purple running through them, and the scent is fabulous.

The Magnolia starts off with purple buds, but when they open they come out pink.

As the Allium bulbs ‘Atropurpureum’ tufty buds start to open, you can’t believe they will manage to form a sphere, but they do!

This is the first time I’ve grown mini purple iris, and disappointingly not many came up. I will try again next year though as they are so exquisite.

Finally the Erysimum ‘Bowles Mauve’ is such a good value plant, flowering pretty much all year around. It does get woody though and needs replacing after a few years. Luckily it is so easy to propagate, you just snip a bit off and pop it into the ground. It nearly always roots.

This gorgeous Rhodedendrom ‘Fast. Flora Plena’ starts off with the darkest of purple buds. Opening up to mid purple flowers before fading to pale lilac.

Purple Roses

There are two reasons why this beautiful rose called ‘Rhapsody in Blue’, nearly didn’t end up in this garden.

Firstly I’d taken my mum to a gorgeous plant nursery, set in the large grounds of an old country house. I’d commented on this purple rose twice whilst we were there, so as we were leaving she said, “aren’t you going to buy that rose?” I hadn’t been intending too, but I don’t need much encouragement!

It was such a strong rose producing so many flowers and looked lovely in our old garden.

When we moved house, I took lots of cuttings from plants, but didn’t like to take any shrubs as they were part of the garden. Luckily we kept in touch with the new owners and he said after a few weeks, “I’m going to get rid of the roses, do you want them”? Of course I did! I went around with my spade and some buckets and retrieved my beautiful roses.

It had to live in a pot for a while, then had a home in a temporary bed, but it has finally settled in and performs as well as ever.

Mid-season Purple Flowers

As spring turns to summer, the next wave of purple flowers consist of; a dark purple Delphinium; a lilac Campanula; a pink & purple Agastache ‘Blue Boa’; a super smelling Phlox Paniculata ‘Uspekh’; and towering spikes of a Salvia.

Late Purple Flowers

As we pass into late summer, the last of the purples come out.

I bought a new Verbena last year, Verbena hastate ‘Blue Spires’, it’s very tall and as the name suggests, spikey. I also have the common Verbena ‘Bonariensis’ which is photographed here in front of the pink roses

The lavender ‘Lavenite Petit’, is deep purple. We have it planted on the patio, in the Mediterranean bed under the olive tree. Also a border by the greenhouse with a path next to it, as you pass by and touch it, the scent is gorgeous.

Once the lilac Aster x frikartii ‘Mönch’ starts to flower, it goes on until the first frosts. Which these days can be very late indeed!

The last purple flower of the year to open is a Salvia ‘Amistad’. The purple really stands out with it’s dark stems.

Purple Produce

I am drawn to purple veg. It is actually better for you as it has more antioxidants, but really I just can’t resist something a bit different. I grow purple French beans and purple Mangetout ‘Shiraz’, they both have lovely purple flowers too.

There’s purple sprouting broccoli; purple asparagus; and purple carrots amongst other colours.

This year for the first time I am growing purple potatoes and purple Brussels sprouts, but you’ll have to wait a while to see the results.

The Very Royal Purples

I leave you on this royal bank holiday weekend, with the two most royal flowers in the garden.

They are both varieties of Tulips. The lighter coloured ‘Purple Prince’ and his mother ‘Queen of the Night’.

I hope you’ve all been able to enjoy some of the celebrations going on around the country, whether from the comfort of your armchair or by getting out and about.

One thing is for sure, we are living through history. It will be a very long time indeed, if ever, that Britain with have another serving monarch for seventy years. Congratulations your majesty!

Stay safe and happy weekend.