As a gardener the word beginning makes me think of seeds, the beginning of a new growing season, the start of a new crop or of flowers to come.
But there lies the conundrum – the chicken and egg nature of gardening, without a seed head there would be no seeds for next year’s sowing……..
…….in the beginning which came first, the chicken or the egg or in this case an Agapanthus flower or the Agapanthus seeds?
Or does it start with the seed catalogues or even the soil preparation…….
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perhaps it starts with hope – with the vision of a glorious future of bloom and harvest.
Hope and vision – you are right Joss, gardeners need to be dreamers!
totally! it’s part of the fun of it, mixed in with all the hard work, the dreaming…
Three cheers to us dreamers Joss !! Hope you have a wonderful week ahead !
Three cheers. 🙂
Great view on the challenge …. Beautiful photos – my favorite is the last … that is really stand for a beginning of some new.
Thank you Vivi, thank you
Lovely photo of Spring-In-Waiting… 🙂
Not too long now Marie 🙂
Clever post, Claire. You can have the seeds and soil but you need to have to determination and dedication to get the seeds planted. I think you should have included a photo of yourself. 🙂
Very true Karen, as Joss said hope and vision too so I’ll add your determination and dedication to the list as well. Hmmmmm a photo of me?! I do see where you’re coming from though 🙂
Beautiful beginnings. As a gardener you did it right! My little packet of seeds said it was packaged for 2011! Pretty sad. Wishing you a wonderful 2014, Claire.
Some seeds still germinate Ruth, or the germination rate will be lower, but you have nothing to lose by trying 🙂 Happy New year Ruth
That last photo is a sign of hope to me, with spring just around the corner! 😀
We don’t have too long to wait now do we Cathy, the days are getting longer, I just wish it would stop peeing it down!!!
This winter I’ve given myself the goal of starting some flowers from seed. That will be a beginning for me 😉 I love your photos. Captures everything just right. 🙂
That’s a lovely goal Dana! I want to try my hand at flowers for cutting, I really should get my seed catalogues out 🙂
Love agapanthus. I used to have them in my little courtyard garden in Walthamstow.
The E17 Massive 🙂
Claire, simply beautiful!
I like simple, thank you Kevin !
How wonderful to have thought to take a photo at each stage of the flower’s transformation.
It’s taken a few years…… but I dug around and pulled them together 🙂
Lovely photos Claire!
Thank you Tessa !
Oh my, I don’t know but I wish I had some of those agapanthus seeds! One of my favorite plants but my zone is just a bit too cold for it to grow as a perennial. I may try some this year tho, your photos are so beautiful!
I grew mine in pots for years, they survived the winter well like that (our biggest problem is wet and cold), we’ll have to see how well they do planted out……. fingers crossed !
Ah, the wonder of the cyclical nature of gardening. I love your images of Agapanthus gliding through the seasons.
Gliding through seasons sounds like a wonderful way to travel !
I have hopes and dreams. It’s the reality of big bags of potting soil, newspapers to set the germinating trays onto, looking for ANY source of light in a poorly designed house etc that keeps me from trying again.
I’ll just keep admiring your pictures.
I’m happy to share the photos with you !
You’re so organised Claire! We spent last year basically just walking outside and going, “ooh, look what’s growing…I wonder where that came from..” 🙂 May your allotment be productive and lush this year! xx
Luckily for me the agapanthus is in the garden at home, I can’t hep but be reminded of it when I trip over it hanging the washing out 🙂
Wonderful reminder of the cycle of life. And that soon I need to start planning my seed starting!
Oh, I love that last picture, spring is so close! I’ve been counting down since October! 🙂
Oh Claire ~ I am being beastly selfish, but you do not know how helpful you have been!! At the moment I have a couple of thousand baby agapanthus in big drifts sround the garden reaching the end stage of flowwering, ie, your photo number 2! Well, I normally begin cutting the long stems off the plants by now never allowing for the next stage!! Looks untidy from the street, etc et al!!! Well, not so with a large corner: this year we shall have seeds 🙂 !
Dig them up, pot them on and give them to friends as presents….. that is unless your friends have equal drifts of Agapanthus 🙂 But I know what you mean about tidying them up – I’ve been known to do that too but this year I decided I wanted the heads in the garden for a bit of extra autumn interest x
beautiful series Claire, perfect for the challenge!
Thank you Christine I find I enjoy some of the challenges so it’s a pleasure to share
It’s good that there are some things we don’t know…it’s about hope, patience and happiness, who cares what came first 😉
It’s the end result right 🙂
Beautiful post and images, Claire, and you give me hope and inspiration for having a garden this year!
Thank you Betsy, I hope you get to enjoy your garden this year
We plan to plant some Agapanthus this year but the soil needs some serious drying-out first. We’ll buy the plants at the garden centre, I think.
I think they look great in drifts if you have the space. And mine originally came from a garden centre and sat in various pots for years until I shove dit in the ground, I think it could do with splitting in Spring, but we’ll see…..
I did see a stunning and huge white one, I mean the flower head was massive….kind of tempting!
I’m leaning toward white and blue in a very sunny aspect. I reckon the colours will cool that corner of the garden.
Sounds good to me! Nothing like planning a garden is there )
What a great series of photos and musings Claire!
Thank you, it’s been a pleasure to share x
Very pretty flowers!
Thanks Yummy, I love the colour blue in the garden – lights things up in summer
We need to think about our garden in Bexhill – may have to call on you for help! My agapanthus are all dried out – what should I do with them? Cut them back? Eeek – I know nothing!
Happy to help 🙂 Agapanthus usually die back in winter, so any dead leaves etc just clear them up and in Spring you should see new green shoots emerging……
Ooh thanks Claire!
Off for 10 days (skiing) but am back after that !
Have a wonderful time but stay safe (please!) x
Yes!!!
what a stunning sequence.. I am a great fan of the aggies!..c
Good morning! Here’s hoping for a bright day
For me it begins here, Claire.. on your little corner garden of this blogging world. I can’t believe how organized you are with your little labelled packets of seeds.. no wonder you have an amazing gardener. I think you should give classes on this:)
Thank you Barbara for your kind compliments, and you have reminded me I have a load of sweet pea seeds sitting in a bowl ready and waiting to be packed up. Wishing us all a very green new gardening year x
Ah, that perfect last image. A great ‘last’ to mark a great beginning.
Love this. My seed packets cover my kitchen table awaiting evaluation. I can’t wait.