Lobelia erinus

Today I bought five lobelia erinus for $10 (Aus). There were no labels on the pots, so I'm not sure what cultivar they are, but one was a bluey-purple and the others an intense ultramarine, my favourite colour. They are native to southern Africa and I am yet to find a photo on the internet that does justice to their colour. Here is a photo I took the other day of a neighbour's lobelia. 

This Wikipedia article describes the different shades of blue. The ultramarine originally used in painting was made from high quality ground lapis lazuli from Afghanistan. It was very expensive and artists usually needed wealthy patrons to buy it for them. The pigment was often used to colour the Virgin Mary's robes in paintings. The painting below, by Sassaferrato, appears in the National Gallery's Making Colour exhibition, which examines colour in art. 

Ipomoea purpurea, or Morning Glory is no doubt classed as a weed in Sydney, but the colour of the flowers is divine. 

Cobalt blue pots can make a nice contrast in the garden. Might try some deep orange nasturtiums and sapphire coloured lobelia trailing from a blue pot. The Empress of India nasturtium is a dark, rich orange. Here is a photo from the Diggers Club website:

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need

The title is a quote by Marcus Tullius Cicero, a Roman consul, lawyer, orator, philosopher and presumably, lover of gardens. My last two sessions of gardening have been enlivened by a series of lectures by Professor Garrett G. Fagan on the History of Ancient Rome. Professor Fagan presents a well-paced overview of the long history of Rome and there is not one dull minute.

Today I planted the salvia nemorosa, perovskia atriplicifolia and nepeta "Six Hills Giant".

I am instructed to cut the nepeta to the ground after Christmas and in late autumn.

Rose feeding

I've read lots of different advice about feeding roses. I'm going to try the advice given by Magic Garden Roses, which is to feed in September, December and February with a four in one mix consisting of chicken manure, seaweed extract, fish meal and blood & bone and mulch with cow manure. I'll mulch with lucerne hay.

Initium Novem

Last year's post-Sissinghurst enthusiasm didn't last long. The other day I was casting around for a word to describe my attitude to gardening and T volunteered, "desultory?" I was thinking more of inconstant. Or sporadic. Months will go by when I barely look at the garden because I am busy at work or busy lying down reading, but then months will go by when I can hardly wait to get into the garden and I'll spend hours and hours out there, usually pulling out the weeds that have taken advantage of my absence.

Presently I am in gardening mode and  I hope it lasts. I am going to try and be more systematic in my approach. Favourite bits of gardening are: weeding, trimming and pruning. There is something therapeutic about ripping weeds out of the ground and snipping off ungainly bits of plant. Quite like planting things, preparing cuttings and sowing seed, but so often seeds have failed to germinate or died when tender seedlings because I forgot about them. So. New beginning, which sounds better in Latin.

Also starting Latin lessons learning about Ancient Rome, so I am going to make an effort to learn the Latin names of plants.

Last Saturday I pruned most of the roses. This included a radical renovation of the Cecil Brunner out the front.

I also ordered some new perennials from my new favourite nursery, Lambley Nursery in Victoria. Three nepeta x faassenii  'Six Hills Giant', three salvia nemorosa 'Blauhugel Blue Hills' and one perovskia atriplicifolia ‘Blue Spires’. All blue, because I am obsessed with blue at the moment.
Here is the perovskia, otherwise known as Russian Sage. It grows to 150 x 90cm.

By Andy Mabbett (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Salvia Nemorosa I, Rolf Engstrand [CC-BY-2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons

By Wouter Hagens (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Nepeta, otherwise known as catmint.