Almost at the summer solstice, but so far it has been distinctly un-summery. Today however, it’s sunny and warm with a slight breeze and generally pleasant. Before taking today’s photos I did a bit of planting in the front garden. The corner where the box used to be has seen some attention from cats so after cleaning up I planted some cosmos and nigella, and sowed a mixture of seeds that we had hanging around, including honesty, nasturtium, cornflower and aquilegia. I also planted the sunflowers in the middle of the bed beneath the front window, along with a hypericum that self-seeded in a pot last year and has already started flowering. There were some seeds left over so I scattered them in the bed at the bottom of the garden and we will see if they do anything. Most of them are species which are not especially fussy and will colonise anywhere they land, so fingers crossed.
So this morning the back garden looked like this:
It is getting ridiculously overgrown but a lot of things doing the growing are about to flower so I’m reluctant to tidy up just yet.
This shows just how “bad” it’s getting – the path has vanished under artemisia, lavender, and scabious. The scabious and lavender are covered in buds so I can’t cut them back. I just have to fight my way through every time I go out to pick raspberries.
Meanwhile the lobelia in the fence troughs is flowering and looking pretty alongside the mimulus.
Further long the fence, and on the edge of the jungle, the jasmine and the clematis floridiana are flowering well.
In the middle bed, the colour mix continues with red dianthus and blue geranium joined by alstromeria, just opening in the last couple of days.
The new salvia Hot Lips has a few flowers but the temperatures of the last week have confused it so they are all red, with no white.
Foxgloves are still going strong
as is the hypericum, which now has berries beginning to colour.
By the greenhouse we have a lovely vibrant orange lily in flower
which I only spotted this morning, though it must have been open for a day or two.
The front looks like this:
Only slightly less chaotic than the back!
The hypericum in its new home:
The grey pellets on the ground are wool pellets, which we’ve found to be pretty good at deterring slugs and snails.
And right at the front the spiraea “Goldflame” is in flower.
In fruit and veg news, we are picking strawberries and raspberries most days, though the snails are getting quite a few strawberries but I think we’re still winning. We have been eating some but most are going in the freezer. The second sowing of lettuce is growing well, protected by wool pellets, so I’m hoping to be able to eat at least some of it myself this time! The beetroot is looking very good but isn’t harvestable yet. The apple tree is laden, as is the thornless blackberry, and the rain we’ve had recently is no doubt helping. The garlic is just beginning to turn yellow so it will be harvest time soon, and the potatoes are starting to flower. Also flowering, for the first time ever, is the sage – this isn’t an ornamental one, but I’ve had it in a pot for years and it’s never flowered. in the spring I repotted it, removing a lot of old growth in the process, and it’s put out a pretty purple flower for me. So I shall harvest some leaves in the autumn, along with oregano which has been going great guns. The mint is looking a bit sad, though, and may have run its course – we have had it for some years so can’t complain.
I hope you’re having good weather and enjoying the outdoors!
The Random Gardener 