Despite some recent rain showers, August has been a hot and dry month. The rain has hardly penetrated the ground yet and the garden is suffering.
The standard hydgrangea is looking a bit over heated, but I have tried to keep it watered.
Behind the hydrangea you can see the passionflower I planted last year. Not only did it survive the winter, but look, it has buds! I am very (very) excited at the prospect of it flowering and I will be unbearably happy when it does.
The variegated rhamnus, a plant full of memories, is thriving since it has been given more light. I pruned it the other week and it has responded well.
The Side Garden, which is what I am now calling this area at the side of the house, is still verbascum-heaven. I know I should probably not have allowed them to colonise like this, but I think it is rather wonderful.
The pots and Succulent Table are looking rather good at the moment. I recently repotted some of the bananas and they have definitely been grateful.
The Smell Me and Dye Garden does look rather messy, but I have weeded it and I quite like the chaos of marigolds and madder. Most of the roses are taking a bit of a flower-break, though there are lots of buds forming still so I am expecting some rose colour here soon.
The chillies on the table are ripening well. I have harvested quite a few already. You can see there are a few succulents on this table as well, the other table isn't large enough these days.
In the Courtyard Garden everything is doing well. I have kept on top of the watering which has been quite a challenge at times. I have popped a couple more aspidistras who were indoors to the outdoors. They grow better outside but I will bring them in once it starts to rain more. The winters are now too wet for them to be outdoors and I have had some drown in recent years.
The Bonsai trees are doing well.
and the Justicia carnea is starting to flower. This is one of my favourite plants and I fuss over it.
The back garden, from a distance looks dry.
and close up it looks even drier, and this is after recent showers. This astrantia is now looking almost perky.
As ever the sedums are providing great rhythm along the Pond Border. All the ones I grow came from one cutting. They are so easy to propagate and definitely earn their place in my garden. They are thriving in the dry weather.
I am worried about the edgeworthia, I have given it a few buckets of water but it still looks droopy. I really hope that it will recover. I would hate to lose it after all this time.
The cercidiphyllum japonicum is starting to smell like candy floss, always a sign that autumn is on its way.
The Liriodendron Tree is also calling autumn. I wonder if next year will be the year that it flowers.....
The Catalpa tree looks droopy.
At the top of the garden, under the horse chestnut tree, the autumn cyclamen are doing very well. This makes me very happy. They have been slow to spread but now there really are quite a lot. Not quite a carpet, but maybe a rather nice lacy throw?
The Exotic Border is doing well, though the largest treefern has quite short fronds this year. I water them very day, rain or shine, but I am a bit worrid about this one.
The Spring Border looks a scrappy mess, and that is just fine because it is the Spring Border not the Autumn Border, as the season turns its time will come again.
The Pond is a disaster area, very little water in it and too many plants. I need to actually clear the plants whilst the water is low as it should be easier. I need to get on with this. I always struggle with not wanting to top the pond up, but also thinking that a bit every now and again is probably useful. There is the tension of not having enough in the rain-butts and using fresh drinking water feels wrong. We do not have a declared drought where I live, but obviously water stocks are low and I never forget that for some fresh drinking water is a luxury. All of this combines to really make me think about how I am going to garden going forward as the climate keeps changing. I don't water the garden generally, its too big for this to be practical and, similar to my thinking on the pond, it feels extravagant. I am concerned I will have lost some plants this summer, but then I will have to replace them with ones that can cope better with the conditions. It is a worry.
Until next time
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