Garden Update

Hello again! I can't believe it's July already. I'm not at all sure where June went - life and unexpected things have got in the way of blogging lately. I do hope you're all having a good summer. Down this way June's been a very wet month indeed. I've had to wear my raincoat on my walk to work most mornings and we haven't had to water the garden in weeks. As a result of all this precipitation everything's been growing madly and I've been working hard in the evenings pruning, dead-heading and weeding in between the showers. There have been some very sunshiney moments in among the downpours too, so I thought I'd show you what's been going on in the garden lately. 

The geraniums, or cranesbills, have been good this year. They are a very reliable summer flower and this year we bought two more. They're on the left below, and I love their delicate markings and soft colours.

The London Pride made carpets of tiny pale pink flowers. If you look closely you can see each little flower's pink and yellow spots.

Delicately tinged with the softest mauve, allium rosea is a flower that I discovered last year and really like. 

Meanwhile the oriental poppies made their huge splash of colour. This red one is a beauty.

And it was a delight to watch our pale pink one opening a bit more each day. Slowly its papery, crinkly petals unfolded from the bristly buds.

The clove-scented pinks are still flowering now.

 

They're so-called, not because they're mostly pink, but because the edges of their petals look like they've been cut with pinking shears. Their smell is just heavenly.

All around the garden are tiny wild strawberry plants. They are such neat little plants with pretty leaves and sweet rose-like flowers.

The yellow geum has flowered its socks off this year for several weeks on end,

and the philadelphus, or mock orange, has wafted its delicious citrus fragrance around the garden on the evening air. 

I planted up this enamel container with pansies and violas at the end of April and it has been a real treat for the eyes, full of floral colour.

The gentle little violas and pansy 'Strawberry Sundae' enjoy being a bit water-logged, it seems.

Thistle-like cirsium has made a striking statement in the flower bed,

and the chive flowers are always something to savour, both visually and in salads.

Since our neighbour's leylandii trees at the end of our garden were cut a year or two ago, our dark purple clematis has scrambled its way to the top of them.

It's never had this many flowers on it before.

In contrast its white relative lights up a dark corner of the garden beautifully.

The irises too have had their moment. The blue one in our tiny pond has the most exquisite markings,

and the yellow one is always striking against its background of blue-green spear-like leaves.

Gloriously blowsy, peonies are one of my favourite flowers and the plants in our front garden have bloomed well. However, there are two in our back garden which still have never flowered.

Finally the foxgloves have been tall and gorgeous, covered in purple bells.

Bees do love to follow their spotty paths which lead to pollen, and there's always something magical and other-worldly about these woodland-dwelling flowers.

I hope you've enjoyed our look around the garden together. See you soon x