Colours And Cream

One of the hanging baskets on the side fence near the kitchen door. I love the Lotus Flowers, and Petunias. The innocent white flowers, contrasting to the flame coloured claws of the Lotus Flower. I bought them from the Spring Flower show. The dark Lilac Petunias are double flowered and called Priscilla.

A Magpie is inspecting the water Buts closely. I restocked the food the other day, but the birds have been slow in visiting today. The heat is non stop, with only one days rain in the past few weeks. The problem I have is the soil had not been managed well before we came. I need to add my compost once it has rotted down. The extra organic matter will help retain moisture in the very dry soil. At the moment the water runs through it to the clay underneath.
The only additional watering has been of the hanging baskets, and the Vegetable containers. The Tomato plants, the French Beans, the Runner Beans, and the New Potatoes are all growing beautifully.
The raised beds had a layer of manure dug into them before I planted them. They are only dry on top, but retain water below the dried out surface. Everything is growing spectacularly...

I did not get to the allotment today, because I watched the Mens singles final at Wimbledon on BBC 1. Roger Federer won an epic match against the gutsy Andy Roddick. Thats it for another year of tennis at Wimbledon. Even Pete Sampras flew in to watch the final. The Strawberrys and Cream, and Pims were flowing. They are iconic of a British summer.