Stokesia Laevis ‘Mary Gregory’

This beautiful perennial (which I bought from Reighton Nurseries earlier this year) was for one of my most recent raised beds that has the colour scheme blue to purple & yellow to orange. I bought it specifically for an entrance greeter, it is straight instinct of the gate, in a raised bed which has full sun at one end & partial shade at the other. I wanted something compact, that didn’t grow too tall, for this front of bed & directly in front of the gate & this is ideal to about 40-45cm.

It has masses of creamy-lemon flowers that resemble cornflowers but that have a slightly more debutant opulence (think of those ruffled front shirts & sleeves of Adam Ant) well this flower is like a cornflower with those extras! I love it!

I actually spend ages looking at the sepals as I love the fine fringing even on those so I’ve added a picture of the bud in case you wanted to admire them too. (Sepals enclose the petals of the flower, they’re often green). Stokesias tend to dislike winter wet, which is another reason a raised bed is a great place for them.

I know I’ve been a bit quiet on here this week. It’s been a very busy week… a prunus laurel that was suckering has nearly been fully removed, also a hydrangea & spotted laurel (because of the prunus laurel), this has had a knock on to new exciting times…a new raised bed (white, black & green colours) is underway which has meant planters are being moved to the tropical area…I like to keep my socials quite pretty, so this has meant I’ve bought a domain & been sorting a website so I could blog show you the processes I go through in more detail etc. lots of research…busy mind…busy body…exciting times…

@just.me.in.my.garden