{Crocosmia}

On July 10, we could rescue some beautiful Crocosmia flowers from the rain. They were almost flat on the ground... but still pretty enough for filling a vase. Let me show them to you.

Here they are on the new Durango Ambra, Cerdomus GREEN Tiles from Italy, on top of our balcony.

The weather is rather dark  with all our rain for the last weeks on end.

Our grass has never looked that green.

Behind our pond you cannot even walk, so soggy and also near the creek...

Ah, a bit of sunshine, it looks brighter now!

The name Crocosmia comes from the Greek words for saffron (krokos) and smell (osme).

They are from the Iris family, native to the Cape area in South Africa.

Looking lovely in this plain Baccarat crystal vase.

There are so many varieties of Crocosmia that it is very hard to tell what exactly these are.

This is a closeup that I took on my desk in the office... 

Don't you love this beauty?

This one is taken on the window sill of our office where there was more light.

They look beautiful with so much detail...

Again, shown inside the vase on my desk.

Surprise! One looked quite different...

Do you have any Crocosmia flowers?

Related links:

{Our Cerdomus Italian GREEN Tiles} | previous post by me about our new tiles on balcony
Crocosmia | Info

{Clerodendrum Philippinun - Cashmere Bouquet}

One more exotic and highly fragrant beauty I would like to introduce to you. Clerodendrum Philippinum or Cashmere Bouquet. They look like tiny rosebuds and are white with a pinkish blush. Logee's in Connecticut does sell  this variety, see link below post.

Complete with ant, as they sure love the sweet fragrance too!

Even its leaves are beautiful...

Perfect for a small vase; this is ONE stem...

Don't you love this Cashmere Bouquet as they are called?

By the way, yesterday I did forget to add the most beautiful photo we had from our Blue Butterfly Bush. You can view it here: 2004 photo from our exotic Clerondendrum Ugandense - Blue Butterfly Bush

Related link:

Clerodendrum Philippinum Cashmere Bouquet | Logee's link for buying this when you click below picture

{Clerodendrum Ugandense - Blue Butterfly Bush, Blue Glorybower}

Last year our young Clerodendrum Ugandense or Blue Butterfly Bush, Blue Glorybower, almost succumbed to the summer heat. Great was our joy when on May 28, husband Pieter could make two photos from its first blooms. Up till than we kept it inside the greenhouse for protecting its still frail growth. Let me show you first a closeup of this exotic, from an earlier shrub we had in 2004.

Clerodendrum Ugandese or Blue Butterfly Bush and also called Blue Glorybower.

You certainly understand that we wanted to replace this beauty!

This photo shows its beautiful first flowers when the pot got just taken out of the greenhouse.

It is an East African evergreen shrub from Kenya and Uganda, you can find more info below this post.

We found ours in the spring of last year, at Logee's.

Here it is still inside the greenhouse... 

Do you see the almost dead stems to the left and center, from which these new green leaves did branch out? 

Looks like quite a miracle!

It also shows that we should not throw out any plant too soon.

They might come back to life in a surprising way.

Due to the heavy rain and rather dark weather, no more flowers have formed outside but instead it has huge foliage. Looking strong and happy.

Did you know this shrub? 

Related link:
Clerodendrum ugandense | For more info
Logee's | Where we obtained ours