The end of June signals the end of the first half of the year. Crumbs - half-way through already!
I shall start with the hanging basket by the front door, which is looking quite fab in my opinion. It is just a random set of annual plugs that I put together, I had no idea what colour the petunias would turn out to be and they have turned out to be rather wonderful. I even remember to water it every day - and this has been necessary with the heat we have had this month.
There are crocosmia growing through the new front lawn. They refuse to stop. This is ten days growth, they mean business.
The variegated Rhamnus is loving not being over shadowed by the old hedge. It has grown and grown and grown. When it was bought it was a neat lolly pop of a standard shrub - but baby look at her now! I love this shrub very much as it reminds me of a visit to Hidcote Gardens many years ago. It always raises a smile.
and this scraggy lump of deadness is my remaining box ball. It has finally succumbed to the dreaded blight and will be removed. Sigh. I spent all those years thinking that when box blight hit the Knot Garden I would replace it with something new. I gave in waiting for this and had it removed last year and this remaining ball is now laughing at me as it withers away.
The pots by the back door are looking colourful. I think I am getting quite a thing about petunias, they are so wonderfully bright and play so nicely with the other plants around them.
I am not doing well for food growing this year, the potatoes are still not planted, the courgettes have been eaten by slugs and the french bean plugs were never delivered (don't ask); but the chillies are starting to form so that is good.
I have been rubbish with sweetpeas this year as well. These that are just emerging are a dwarf variety specially bred to grow in pots. I sowed them just over a week ago, very late in the season really. They will catch up...... she says........
The Courtyard Garden is looking quite lush. The begonias are having a good year as are the hostas in the background. I cannot seem to grow hostas well in the garden itself, but I have had a few in pots in the courtyard for years. The aspidistras are doing well this year as well. They love their summers outdoors.
The pelagoniums are flowering well this year too. I potted some on into bigger pots the other day.
The back garden looks quite green, with the lawn not looking too dry yet despite the recent heat.
The shasta daisies, or as their mother calls them: Leucanthemum superbum x Phyllis Smith, are starting flower: these are a real favourite. I planted them many years ago and they return year on year.
The roses in the Pond Border are flowering well. Rose Peach Melba must be seven or eight foot tall now, she is a stunning rose.
The Spring Border is very lush this year. It feels like everything is big at the moment. The acer Orange Dream must be about fifteen or so years old and was in a 9cm pot when it arrived. She is a very slow grower and suddenly has become big. I will have a think whether she needs a bit of sensitive pruning just to keep her from overstepping her bounds.
The Exotic Year is similarly full of big plants. It is quite a shady border now for anything trying to grow beneath the tree ferns and other plants. I am making sure I am keeping them watered well especially in the heatwaves we have recently had.
The Prairie Borders are not really prairie borders any more. They are going through a period of change and I am not sure what they will become. They seem to be mainly echinops at the moment. Time will tell what their future will be.
The Wild Garden needs it mid-summer cut. Not a total cut, just a midi-trim to let in some light.
Magnolia Leonard Messel is also growing well and getting tall. Apparently it could get to be around eight metres tall, so it is still a baby really. I think it is about three or four metres tall at the moment.
The Carol Klein acer is also developing into a very fine tree. She has been in the ground here now for about eighteen years and is doing very well.
There is still water in the pond, honest I checked, but not much. The plants are drinking it all and it needs clearing. This autumn this must happen. I cannot keep dilly-dallying on this.
Comments
Post a Comment
Comments are approved before being published