Today's firsts: first nasturtium, love-in-a-mist, buddleia, borage. Inspired by our trip to Kew to see The Hive, we have been staring suspiciously at every possible plant to see if the bees like it, and stolen a bit of Veronica from Carrie's folks' garden because we noticed that the ones in the demonstration garden were absolutely covered in bees of all kinds. The Council has planted a beautiful carpet of wildflowers in the park, and we have at last realised that the patio at the front does not want to be a patio. It wants to be a wildflower meadow. In fact, it
is a wildflower meadow. So our job is to stop interfering with it and let it get on with it. Worried that everything would die in the heat, I rigged up the hose so we could connect it from the tap at the back and filled up the water barrel, adding the nettles to make plant food. So of course it then rained torrentially for 24 hours. We're having Mediterranean weather, very hot and humid with heavy showers, which is just perfect for the garden, so it all looks wonderful and new things bloom every day.
I've wrestled the morning glory outside, with some difficulty...............only the one planted indoors has done well this year, but the seeds are now about fifth-generation so perhaps it's time to buy some new ones next year. There is a huge sweet pea overwintered from last year in the greenhouse - this is not where it's supposed to be, but it seems to like it and is producing a steady flow of beautiful white flowers. The salad in the cold frame has finally bolted so I've put in some peas instead, both sets of beans are now flowering so hopefully they will fruit soon, and the first courgettes flower has also appeared.
But.......I have inflicted total carnage on the clemati and the honeysuckle. The white rose has been putting up lots of blind shoots and the other roses were completely swamped, so I've cut the whole lot down. It meant sacrificing the purple clematis while it was still flowering, but I want to see where it comes from so I can tie it up properly and feed it etc, and to keep the honeysuckle under control a bit. The latter has grown away up into the birch tree anyway, nice and near the hives, so I'm confident it won't die.....
chucked some wildflower seeds around so we'll see what happens....
this is the bit that fell off when I was planting it, doing rather well..........
We found this growing in Hill House compost heap - probably a peach stone.
Climbing French beans, having outgrown their support.......
OK this is not elegant, but trying to stop the apple tree and crocosmia from sitting on the rose aand getting tangled together. the crocosmia is really too big so once it's finished flowering we plan to move in into the space at the back, and I might get it one of those fancy support things they have at the Botanics to stop your perennials flopping over..........
pink jasmine just starting to flower
Apple, fennel and buddleia looking rather fine......
