Why we do it...

Weather: Sunny morning with showers forecast. Max 21C

This week's harvest: rocket (lots) spinach (pickings from the stumps left when I cleared last year's perpetual spinach) bay, thyme, basil, lemon balm, chives, artichoke (1)

OK - so nothing happens in the video! But that's the point. That was one of my favourite garden views on June 26th 2008 at about 8.00am. If you recognise the view from stills on previous posts you might notice that the Euphorbia (Fire Glow) has been cleared from the scene.

I wouldn't have cut it back but there were huge gales a few days ago and it was the worst casualty in the whole garden. The weight of the orange heads pulled it down and it was leaning right over the rose and pulling the yellow foxgloves over. They don't feature in the video - but I'm sure they'll make an appearance on a future post.

Meanwhile enjoy the peace of an English cottage garden in June.

Midsummer flower power...

Weather: Not brilliant for June - today sunny 21C but blustery. Rain forecast in the next few days.

Harvest in last week: First small Gold Rush courgette, handful of peas, handful of spinach (re growth from cut down perpetual spinach) handful of self seeded oriental greens (not sure what variety). Three lettuces (Tom Thumb and Pablo) and many handfuls of Rocket. Mint, Dill, Chives, Lemon Balm, Bay, Thyme. Two Artichokes.

The photograph features the Rosa Mutabilis my mother gave me for Christmas. It is flowering well although it is rather overshadowed by the Euphorbia (I have cut lots of it back to let some light in). Having found the 'hot' colours of this border rather over the top earlier in the season I am now enjoying the reds and pinks and oranges that are left. It improved when I removed a clump of very strident pink self seeded Valerian. Now the cool greens and the reds that I can see from my kitchen window are a very pleasing mix.

The other pleasing combination at the moment is the lovely white Papaver poppy that was given to me as a cutting from my great uncle's garden. It has been in this spot for several years and it isn't nearly as prolific as its orange cousins but is all the more rewarding for that. These are the only two flowers this season but with the Knautia Macedonica behind it and some self seeded White Campion in front of it I have really enjoyed it this year. I love to grow things that remind me of people and every time I look at this I think of John.
I have just had a birthday and my neice Tash gave me a Nelly Moser clematis which I have just planted. It is a lovely plant and I only hope I can keep it going as I am notoriously bad with clematis. I does however have buds on it and it may even flower this year.
I have put the stones over the roots to give them some shade as that is one of the things I know about clematis! It's been in for more than a week and - dare I say it - it's looking OK so far!

Wild Fuschia!

Weather: Warm with some cloud but the sun has reappeared for at least part of the day at last! 22C max.

This week's harvest: three lettuces (two Tom Thumb, one Pablo), rocket - several big pickings, perpetual spinach (a couple of pounds) from last year's plants which I have now cut down, mint, basil, parsley, dill, chives, two artichokes.

I don't like the blousy fuschias you see in all the garden centres but I do love the 'wild' fuschia which you see as hedging in Cornwall and Ireland. I also have a very delicate pale pink version which I inherited with the garden. At the moment though my red one is startlingly beautiful - particularly in the early morning when this photo was taken. I particularly like this plant as is was grown from a cutting taking from the garden where I grew up. I often grow plants because they remind me of people and places and this is a particulary potent example!


At the same time as I took the photo of the fuschia I photographed the Euphoria (Fire Glow) wet with dew. I am in two minds about this plant this year. It is stunning - but its very 'orange' colour makes it difficult to place. (See the photo in my last post) This year, now it has grown so large (and I was warned that it could be unruly....how right they were) it has been 'shouting' at the pinks and purples around it. It is also shading my new Rose (Mutabilis) which is doing really well and blends quite well colourwise. The Euphorbia remains on my mental list of potential plants to move next year.....

In the vegetable garden - just as the slugs, encouraged by the huge amount of rain we've had in the last fortnight, were beginning to become a nuisance - the third pack of nematodes I'd ordered dropped through the letter box! I watered them in two days ago and have been trying to keep the soil moist to get them established. The beans were really beginning to suffer - I lost half a dozen plants from either end of the row (the slugs seem to hide in the walls an path edges and eat the first plants they get to first!) I also lost a whole young courgette plant.

Meanwhile the greenhouse is doing very nicely - the tomatoes are about 3ft tall, there is a flower on one of the aubergine plants and the cucumber plant is beginning to grow well. I have had leaves from the basil and the french marigold seedlings are ready to be transplanted. The chilis aren't doing great things yet...but there's time.

I planted one of my Rosemary cuttings out in the herb garden and took out the overgrown parent plant that has been slowly dying back. At the same time I removed some Sweet Cicely (which seeds itself like mad) and opened up a big space. In it I planted a tricolour sage that I bought at Waterperry Gardens and two chili seedlings. I haven't 'nematoded' this bed so I suspect slugs and snails will make short work of these. I will try sawdust as a barrier tonight.

The long term weather forecast for the summer isn't very chili friendly - after a warm June they are expecting a wet July and August....booo hisss!!

June bustin out all over?

Weather: After a bright day yesterday - today started off with rain. 17C.

Harvest this week: 2 Lettuce, 3 portions rocket, basil ( a couple of leaves), parsley, dill, 1 artichoke

I couldn't start the first post in June without a rose! This is a rose that has been in the garden longer than me - it must be well over 20 years old. I don't know its variety and it is never very prolific but there are quite a few buds this year. It is a 'classic' rose shape with a delicate perfume.

The vegetable garden is getting going properly now - but we have had a huge amount of rain over the last week and the slugs (that have been kept at bay by the nematodes) are beginning to emerge. Several leaves and a few shoots of the courgettes have been eaten away. I am hoping the next batch of nematodes will arrive this week as the weather is perfect for introducing what will be the final batch of the season now.

Yesterday I went over the newly opened shady bed that used to house the huge Choisya I removed back in January. The transformation from dark space is going well.

See April 22nd blog for the first planting I did here. The clump of Kashmir White geraniums has made plenty of leaf growth but the flowers (which are already open on the plants in the sun) have still to show. I bought an aquligea called Leprechaun's Gold with variegated foliage and double purple flowers which seem to have settled in well. Last week I bought a white (or rather cream) Camasia which I hope will make a good show next year. A white tradescantia a spiderwort called Innocence is now in its third position in the last three years and I think this is its place because at last it looks really happy! I'm also pleased with the Iris Sibirica that I put there after dividing a clump from a sunnier border - there are several flowers on it.

Final photo for this post is a wide shot of the main sunny borders taken from the same spot as the April 22nd post. I'm not sure the colour scheme is as restful as it could be. The pink Valerian on the left is self seeded - it grows really well round here. I hadn't the heart to take it out and it 'shouts' a little at the orange of the euphorbia (Fire Glow) and the helianthemum (Fire Dragon).

We could really do with some proper sunshine in the next week - although I'm not holding my breath.