Stir-fried greenfly

warm weather continues so more things to eat developing, we have eaten the first raspberries, sugar snap peas are on the way along with spinach, lettuce, Greek cress, borage flowers (for the drinks), radishes and chard. first cornflower now out and the meadowsweet, the yellow rose not of Texas and also a beautiful orange rose next to it. hebes in full bloom and flower spikes now appearing on the day lily. and most exciting, the passiflora is not dead after all! just a little slow to get going obviously. at the front i've put in some busy Lizzies to fill the gaps and self-seeded nasturtiums..............the aquilegia are pretty well finished so some areas look a bit bare. the pot clematis looked extremely unhappy and dead for a few days after re-potting but has now begun to put up shoots, not dead after all, hooray! have moved the pansies and put in some marigolds "Gay Ladies"...........couldn't resist that one really......................

Summertime................

..........and the livin' is easy............or at least the sun is shining and there isn't much to do except admire everything, the warm weather has really brought stuff on so all the roses are out, the Shirley poppies have started to bloom and all the hebes have flowers................raspberries beginning to ripen and lots of lovely salad and spinach to eat............hours of harmless fun frog-watching, they are getting visibly bigger but will not have much chance to do so if not careful..........i guess the frog brain is not very large so thinking it's a good idea to climb out of the pond and sit in the undergrowth quickly selects out the ones that have failed to notice a large furry presence with claws and fangs also sitting in the undergrowth with frogicidal intent..............Carrie has been working hard on the compost and is most excited to discover that it's warming up like it's supposed to................43 degrees!! a proper "hot heap"...............it looks absolutely beautiful and she has just added some Hill House cow poo, these roses and rhubarb don't know how lucky they are.............

Delphinium

First Shirley poppy, with catmint

Oriental poppy

California poppies

June is bustin' out all over.............

amazing what a difference a wee bit sunshine makes, although the cold North wind is not very summery...............back from idyllic week on Iona to find everything burgeoning, no other word for it. organic rose absolutely covered in flowers...........the paeonies have taken a bit of a beating but some still aren't out yet. two California poppies out beside the patio rose. all the seedlings seem to have survived, the cerinthe, sunflowers and sweet peas.......... salads looking lovely and little onions and bulls' blood emerging in the veggie bed. many raspberries appearing.............. Chinese cabbage are bolting so we need to eat them.............the patio veg still a bit shocked from being moved but i'm sure they'll soon start growing away..................French tarragon to which i spoke severely has got a grip and looks much healthier, and so does the lemon basil...................

Oriental poppies out at last!