End of Month Review July 2018

July has thankfully ended with rain, a lot of rain.  I cannot begin to tell you how much this rain has been needed.  When I wrote the June EoMR I said it was hot (hot hot) and that no rain was forecast.  We had virtually no rain at all until Saturday 28th July and temperatures were consistently in the high 20s and often 30 deg.  It has been a hard month for the garden.
Yet the side front lawn is remarkably green, I think it has died as green.  Either-way, it looks almost reasonable so this is good.
Unlike the main front garden.  The Knot Garden is fine though a bit weedy in the middle sections.
The lavender edging though is mainly weeds.  It is what a lavender edge looks like if you neglect it all year.  This is all self-inflicted and the untidier it gets the less motivation I feel to sort it out.  I must do something about this.
In the back garden the cardoons are starting to flower.  I remain over-fond of this wonderful giant.  Every year it flowers away and the bees love it.
The collection of pots is doing well, they have been watered assiduously during this dry period.  You will notice that there is now a Cercis Forest Pansy in their midst.  This tree was bought a good ten years ago and has been planted at the top of the garden.  It has never really thrived but I am very fond of it.  I dug it up to take with me if I moved house (don't ask, its all on hold until next Spring if ever), and at first I thought it was going to die.  Then it shrugged its shoulders and started to look quite happy.  I decided it is happier in the pot for now so there it will stay.
So let us talk drought.  This is the marigold and cabbage patch I planted up earlier this year.  This photograph was taken after the first downpour of rain and the cracks in the soil are still apparent.  It looks a bit pathetic as I have not watered it very well.  At least the first flowers are now starting to open.
The Tea Tree is suffering, it has a very dead looking spur.  I am hopeful it will recover but even if it does not the main tree is still green enough, I will just prune out the dead branches.
The Cercis siliquastrum is also looking stressed.  I have given it a bucket of water every now and again but it suddenly started to look very dry.
Another possible casualty, the clethra is looking very poorly.  It has a few green leaves so I hope it will be ok.
The willow by the pond is in a similar sorry state.
and I cannot tell if this euphorbia has bent over from drought or wind damage.
The echinops has definitely taken a battering from the wind.  Note the colour of the lawn by the side.
The Conservatory Border just looks dull.  It is green but it lacks any oomph at all.
The Long Shoot is equally desperate, but the Stachys is proving its worth, the grey and purple lifts the view.
I have mowed the Wild Garden early this year.  It was just looking dreadful.  I have left some nettles and ragwort by the very edge but it had to be mowed.
Not all is bad though, hollyhocks are currently bringing much joy.
I need more.
The Prairie Borders are clearly very drought tolerant, they have carried on regardless.
The plants in containers in the Courtyard are all doing well.
The Ensete ventricosum did not get planted out into the border this year and it has thrived in its pot. It also might live in its pot from now on.  It always amazes me when things happen by accident in the garden and they turn out to be the right thing to do after all.
The begonian luxurians and the Dombeya (two of my very favourite plants) are also happy enough.
and the Courtyard itself is looking lush, green and cool.  This has been much appreciated in the heat of the day.
The veg borders are mainly home to the various pots I got ready for if I moved house.
and in the greenhouse the chillies are starting to fruit.
I finish on the pond.  There was a vague glimmer of water after the first rain fall that ended the heatwave.
A couple more downpours of rain and there is definitely an improvement in the water level.  It is still incredibly low, but better than it was before.  The plus side is I have been able to weed out a lot of the parrot weed without putting my wellies on.

Thanks as ever to Helen for hosting this meme.

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