Flaming June

today it really is................hot. a succession of warm sunny days has brought everything out. the geraniums have arrived and are in their pots, and the bluebells are just finishing at the front, so time to put the woodchip down and remove the fine crop of weeds from aming the things that are meant to be there. they certainly don't seem to be bothered by the deep shade from the tree..............at the back the aquilegias are in full flower and so is the lilac, flowering profusely and looking very nice. interestingly, the yellow rose was the first to come out and has more flowers this year than i've seen before......the organic rose was later and is only just starting to flower now. the clematis are just finishing and the purple one isn't out yet, although i see John and Fiona's is, being on a west-facing wall. the campanulas and the rue are also doing their show at the bottom of the right-hand bed.............and the Himalayan poppy is not dead as i thought but is getting ready to flower. the Oriental poppies are definitely behind this year, not out yet........maybe the lack of rain has held them back.
...........the pond now has tadpoles! unlike Carrie's mine are not getting steak but are i hope eating all the midge larvae............the salad leaves are doing really well, i guess we need to eat more salad to keep up...............the lovage of course has grown to a great height, unlike the variegated lavender which looks most unhappy............need to eat more sorrel too, and the oregano looks beautifully healthy.............patio veggies a bit variable again, the tomoatoes have looked very miserable for a while but the sun seems to be perking them up..........potatoes going great guns in the veg bed, onions too...............fennel recovering from the move............jasmine looking much happier and starting to climb...........passion plant suddenly come to life........Marvel of Peru may have failed to be marvellous, the ones i took outside look to have died, the indoor ones still alive but no sign of flowers..............the delphinium in its pot seems to have been spared by the snails so far, as do the canary creepers.............lilies looking extremely well for some reason, having been left to freeze in their pots all winter with absolutely no attention, i sometimes feel that the more i cosset things the worse they do, whereas things that are just left to get on with it seem to do rather well...............
........as usual of course things are coming up in completely different locations from where i actually put them..............love-in-a-mist by the pond instead of in the bed...............borage everywhere..................the lemon balm from Sussex has survived and is fighting its way up among the persicarias..............
............lemon catmint has produced a germination rate of 1%.......which is better than the germination rate of 0% of the eryngiums so far...............chili peppers are doing well tho............passiflora also doing well and going off to be wedding presents soon...............