we'll gather lilacs in the autumn again.............

......the dwarf lilac is flowering again, as are the forget-me-nots, wallflowers and violets, along with late-summer-type things like Montbretia and Michaelmas daisies. Carrie has given the clematis an extremely radical haircut, it doesn't seem to mind and is starting to grow back, but it's left some big spaces into which to put our sunflowers. the corocosmia "Lucifer" that i put in a couple of years ago has deigned to flower at last............very pretty so worth the wait..........Carrie's dahlias in their pot are spectacular, and thanks to the judicious application of organic slug pellets we have managed to get the Bishop of Llandaff to flower at the front before the snails ate it. the geraniums have also come into flower after a long delay and are looking rather Mediterranean and colourful. Carrie's Snail Purge seems to be having an effect.............however many we pick up there still seem to be plenty more, but maybe word has got round that if you're a snail and you don't want a one-way trip to England it's best to stay out of our garden..............

Monsoon season

the rain it raineth every day............today it dothn't, but we've had what seemed to be weeks and weeks of torrential rain, floods in England etc............the weeds and the snails loved it but a lot of our precious plants didn't..............as a result of the bizarre weather some things that should have been flowering in spring are still going strong.............chaenomeles, forget-me-nots, wallflowers........summer flowers are definitely delayed or didn't flower at all, day lilies still not out and normal lilies only flowering now...................Carrie's veggie patch is now a thing of beauty and pong with lots of seaweed and manure dug in and the spuds in situ............we got very behind on the planting because it was too wet to do much, but have stuck most of the remaining seeds in trays and pots in the greenhouse to see what happens.................we've decided to just not bother with the idea of seasons this year and the weather seems to agree...............
.............the Rescue Rose from Hopetoun seems to like having the greenhouse to snuggle against and has repaid the support with lots of beautiful pink flowers..............once again i had to cut the lovage which had grown to enormous height, and released from its shadow the bronze fennel is hanging in there and the oregano has come back after a very unhappy time in the cold and wet........

Miss Jekyll's marigolds

well i don't suppose she planted them herself exactly, but they came from the garden she laid out at Lindisfarne............her designs are still there in the castle to look at, although how anyone could read her writing is anybody's guess......we bought two marigolds and a lettuce in her honour. the marigolds are in with the tomato plants in the GREENHOUSE!!.........other garden works have been held up rather by the weather. it's been a cold, wet and blowy summer so far and everything is way behind last year. the Oriental poppies are only finishing now. the paeonies are still not all out, and some of them have rotted with all the rain. the Pasque flowers hardly lasted any time; the alliums were the success i'd hoped they'd be, and i've now planted up my end of the planter bench with scented geraniums, variegated lemon balm, lemon thyme, and a diascia. all the pots are doing OK, but we just need some nice warm sunny weather so i can get the grass cut and we can sit with our borage-flower drinks and admire it all........the chaenomeles at the front has decided to have another go at flowering, and i've added to the alpines by the path................the bit under the tree still looks a bit sad but we've moved the clematis from the back (to make way for the new veg bed!), i've rearranged things a bit and put down some coco shell and it looks much better. gave the willow a haircut and weeded it..............tied up the rose.......volunteers continue to make their contribution to the garden, i notice a small hypericum growing in the alley, the mystery hellebore is doing well and the campanulas are back again along with loads of herb Robert which is spreading prettily but rampantly, let's hope it's not as badly behaved as the Alchemilla..............

welcome back old friends

definitely spring............a few days of warmth and then some little showers, and everything has burst into life. welcome back, Chilean glory vine which is supposed to be an annual and has appeared four years in a row among Paul's honeysuckle. welcome, veronica "Georgia Blue", flowering since January after sulking all through last summer following the move from Cornwall and pretending to be dead. welcome, Queen of Night tulips, almost out and doing exactly what i wanted them to do in the "purple patch". welcome, first Pasque flower and lovely fluffy foliage. and of course welcome loads of beautiful daffs, narcissi and spring bulbs of all kinds. no sign of the alliums yet............but the fritillaries at the front look lovely and lots of things are flowering there already, no doubt enjoying the extra light now that the tree has had a crew-cut. i worried that it had actually died, but no, there are new shoots with flowers on so it will soon be back to its thick thatch. the chaenomeles "Madam Butterfly" has been absolutely beautiful, still quite small but with lovely pink flowers.................the one at the back is pretty too but has taken a lot longer to come out.
............the cold frame is full of seedlings, but we are awaiting something even more exciting - a greenhouse! which should arrive next week. not only are we growing stuff for ourselves, we're also giving Mary's garden a makeover, moving stuff from the garden at SQ, and constructing a new veggie patch for Carrie to play in...............