Summer Time

   After I wrote the last post saying I had not seen any Butterflies then this Comma landed on the Buddleja. The Orange and black wings contrast nicely against the Black Knight Buddleja.

 This photo shows the Butterflies very long tongue drinking the nectar from the purple flowers. There have been Peacock Butterflies, and various white ones. The bees and hover flys love this plant. It is always a centre of insect activity. The stems have grown to around ten feet up, and the flowers are blowing around in the breeze. There is a heady scent of Butterfly Bush.

  The Buddleja acts as a cover between the conservatory and the bird feeders. The birds think we cannot see them. I photographed this Greenfinch eating the sunflower hearts.

 The sunlight brings out the khaki green and yellow of this very shy bird.I love the rarity of it visiting to feed.

 The past few days have seen the sunshine give way to clouds and rain. The garden and pots were hungry for rain water. The Sweet Peas have been revived with the water.

  The Lavender on the little patio coffee table has flowered at last. Small pale blue flowers. I love the scent of lavender in the warm sunshine. Once it fully flowers the Bees should visit its fragrant spires.

 The Night Phlox has grown beautifully now in the two pots on the patio area. The flowers are white but closed during the day with the red underneath. They smell lovely at night.

 The rain has revived the Pink Phlox which were looking very ropey. They have a slight clove smell to the bright pink flowers.

 The Climbing Fuchsia has grown beautifully and has the Purple/red pendulous flowers. I call it the Cromer Fuchsia, from where it came from. I need this to grow bigger to make it winter hardy.

The Hostas have put up the biggest flower spikes I have seen. They are nearly six feet high. The purple and white tubular flowers are inundated by Bees. They love the nectar of the green Hostas.
  I cant believe its nearly the end of July. Being away for most of June has made it feel like a shorter growing season. The Roses and Lilys are giving spectacular amounts of colour.The pond is newly filled by a night of torrential rain.
  I will do a blog post about them too. I love British Summertime..

Long Shots (of the garden)

 I thought I would share a few wider photos of the garden. I take lots of photos of individual flowers. Here is the patio area by the pond. Tomatoes (including the Chilli plants that were tomatoes), and Pumpkins.

 The wildflower area by the pond has shot up massively. It is pretty much self seeded. It will need cutting back in the winter. The frogs love hiding under the plants by the pond edge.

 The long view from the shed showing the patio, grass, pots, hungry bin, and compost bins,

 My favourite Perennial plants the Astrantia. as modelled on the top of the blog. I love the cool waters of the pond under the graceful arching stems and flowers.

 The dilapidated pond. I cleaned the small green pond leaves that grow mad  in the sunshine. The Water Lily also needed trimming back as it has taken over the pond. The Frogs and Newts love the pond. The birds drink from it and bath in it on the brick steps.

 The Sunken border with the huge Butterfly Bush, Ceanothus, Sambuca, and Dicentra. These plants have grown extremely large for the area they are in. Major decisions ahead in the winter. Can they be cut back to fit the space? The Ceanothus has such a thick trunk now It will need cutting down if I remove it. The growth has exploded from it.

 The pathway has all my pots with Roses, Lilys, Hostas, and brown leaved Bamboos. They suffered terribly in the hot weather. I think I must mulch them thickly next year and maybe move them to against the side wall where it is more shaded during the day.

 The last year of the Asiatic Lily's. They have been getting smaller each year due to pest attack killing the leaves off. This year even the flowers have been eaten. I love the colours but think I need a break from them for a few years.

 The Lily's were free from the organisers of the Big Lunch a few years ago. I love the bright primary colours. Year on year they are getting smaller and smaller with less leaves.

 This Lily reminds me of a Banana Split. I love the colours. Its a shame that the Lily Beetles decimate my plants.

 A Nettle Plant growing in the Wildflower Area. I'm pleased I have this for the Butterflies to lay their eggs. As long as I keep it small it can stay and grow next to the other wild flowers.
   The garden has been full of Bees, and Hover Flys. Also other flying insects. The plethora of flowers means their is a lot of nectar for the pollinating insects. I have not seen many Butterflies yet. A few Meadow Browns, and Cabbage Whites. Hopefully the Buddleja will attract them in.

Roses In July

The Hot weather and Lily Beetles have decimated my Asiatic Lily's. Luckily the garden Roses have all been flowering away. Every few days a new Rose opens for me to photograph, and to smell.The first Rose is the Darcey Bussell. She flowers really well despite some terrible black spot on the leaves.I must remember to buy the anti fungal spray next year to try and stop it discolouring my Roses.

Wollerton Old Hall has three Roses on it now. Chalice shaped pale Roses with a funny Myrrh smell. Like Liquorice or medicine. It has grown really healthy, with no black spot so far. The flowers hold the chalice cup shape.

One of the new Roses is the Molinuex. Ready to be planted in the front garden where the other one died. It has flowered spectacularly. It is very healthy.

The Arthur Bell flowers with one Rose at at a time. Beautiful deep yellow Roses with a lovely strong scent. It is growing healthy. Maybe the Rose food I used has helped?

The Moliniux with apricot colours on this Rose. Beautiful colours and tea scent.

The Rose Harlow Carr flowers non stop for weeks. The scent is pure old rose scent, like soap. This has bloomed more than any of the others.I love the pink blooms.
  The other two Roses still growing that have not flowered yet are the Hybrid Tea Queen Elizabeth (from Wilkos), and the Fryers Rose Scent Sation which has a new Rose bud just opening and the hint of Turkish Delight smell. I will photograph it when it opens tomorrow or Wednesday?
  The Dog Roses have grown leaves from the bare stems, but no flowers. Maybe next year?
  I love Roses. The gardens Lily's will be composted and new plants used to fill the Barrel and green planters.The Lily Beetles can find other gardens to breed in and other Lilys to destroy.
 I want to buy a new Rose or two. A David Austin one called Jude The Obscure, a Rose called Sunrise, and maybe the original Peace Rose (named after the end of the second world war). Roses fill the garden with form, shapes, scent, and colour. I cannot imagine a garden without Roses in it.

Garden Colours

July has been so hot and sunny so far. Great for me but bad for the garden. There has been amazing flowers in a myriad of colours. But also casualties of the hot dry summer. This pretty weed is growing in the Geum Box by the back door.

The Delosperma are a beautiful magenta colour with white centres, and yellow stamen.They are growing next to the Geums.

The Sweet Williams in the rectangular planter still flower away. For an annual it has flowered over three years now. They have a slight smell of Cloves.

Self Seeded Poppies flowered all around the Bamboo pots. I love this double flowering Poppy. They actually grew across the other side of the garden. The wind must have thrown the seeds thirty feet across. I have collected the seed pods ready for them to ripen.I will sow them all over the sunken border.New colours and shapes are already expressing themselves. The flowers are very short lived but lovely to look at.

The Butterfly Bush has grown really well in the summer weather. It is covered in these purple flowers. I am waiting to see the Butterflies though this year..

Growing under the conservatory windowsill is this Foxglove. I bought a selection of Foxgloves. This is the only one that has flowered. The others may flower later or next year. I hope these self seed as I love Foxgloves. They are so pretty and delicate. The Bees love these.

The last two photos show the flowers on the Bishop series of Dahlias. This is the pretty Bishop Of Oxford.

The other Dahlia flowering is the Bishop Of Dover. It has nice pink and white petals, growing above dark foliage.
 The Bishoop Of Llanduff plants rotted away (too much watering!). I have seen there are more Dahlias for me to collect.I have Cantebury, Oxford, and Dover.
  The hanging baskets have died off spectacularly. Only two remain in flower out of ten. I need more plants to fill the eight cremated ones.
  The Strawberry bed has collapsed too in the burning hot days. It is forecast for a few humid days before some much needed rain may fall. The pond is a whole six inches lower now than in the Spring. It needs rainwater to top it up.

Evening Reflections

   July has been hot,hot, hot! It has been a blazing 27 degrees centigrade. I was up at the allotment trying to salvage the plot from the five feet weeds and grass! The harvest pics are on Twitter (link in the side bar).
 The Rose Arthur Bell opened its bloom when I was out. A lovely strong tea scent, and amazingly vibrant petals. I love how the Rose has bloomed despite the heat and lack of rain.

  The David Austin Rose Moliniuex flowers like a film star. I rarely see the Roses at the front unfurl like this. She looks like a Tea Rose, but will unfurl the yellow petals. I like seeing a variety of Rose blooms on a plant.

  This will be the last year that I grow Lily's. They have been so damaged by Lily Beetles who breed and their revolting larvae (covered in their own black poo) eat the whole plant, stripping all the leaves and destroying the flowers.I tried picking them off by hand but they kept coming.
  This is the Asda Black Knight Lily? It looks more Red on the photo then the black Lily they showed on the box the bulbs came in.

   Apart from the Aesthetics of seeing flowers covered in Lily Beetle poo, the flowers are getting smaller. The leaf damage means the bulbs are not storing enough energy to flower with big blooms next year. I think all the Barrel planters and pots will be emptied and composted. I need to think what to replace them with.
 These are my Tiger Lily's but they have lost their spots! Unless they have reverted back to one of the parents?
 Mass planting is great, but monoculture brings in a plague of pests. If I stop growing Lily's for a few seasons then the bugs can move to other gardens. They fly to the scent of Lily's.

 The Hostas are coping with the heat well.They don't seem to suffer sun damage, or even droop if the pots get dry on top. I love the cascade effect of the white flowers on the pot Hostas by the fence.The two new Hostas have survived since I put them on the table. They were too small to survive the pest attacks. They need growing on and protecting for a season or two before they can join the giant Hostas on the concrete path.

 The last picture shows the first Bishop Dahlia to flower. The Orange Flower belongs to the Bishop Of Oxford. The original Bishop of Llanduff was rotted away. I found three of the series in Hampsons.
 I hope the other two bishop Dahlias are as pretty as this one. The burnt orange colour just glows above the dark foliage below.
  The sun is low in the sky now, the temperature has fallen. Cat has watered the garden. The hanging baskets and Strawberry beds have been decimated by the heat. Some plants look good (the ones photographed).
  The evening garden is serene and calm after the rush of the day, and the sweltering heat. Evening is a good time to go into the garden.
 

Fabulous Flowers And Frogs

  I watched the first Wimbledon Mens Semi Final between Djokovic and Del Potro. After five hours I had been tennis-d out. I went out into the garden earlier to take some photos between the points. I watered the dry garden after it had finished. How therapeutic is it to stand watering your plants and borders? I watered the hanging baskets too. The garden is serene and green. I have enjoyed just looking at it through the conservatory window, and walking around it daily to see whats new. The birds think we cant see them behind the Butterfly Bush and Ceanothus. They are in feeding all the time. A family of Magpies has started to raid the feeders, and peck the insects out of the hundred pots that are all around the garden.
  The first photo shows the lemon yellow Snapdragon that over wintered in the pot. I do not remember planting any Snapdragons in there. The wind must have blown the seeds into my Barrel planter. Serendipity that it is so vibrant. The plants are growing next to the Sweet Peas up the spiral metal supports.

 The replacement Moliniux Rose has flowered. It has a lovely strong tea scent, and the flower looked perfect today. This Rose will be planted in the Winter into the space where the other one died in the front garden. It is enjoying its first season in a pot to develop good roots.

 The unknown pale Lilac Rose (called Anne's Rose by me after where I dug it up from).It smells divine, but there is only one flower on the plant. It is a tall Rose plant. It needs a bigger pot to spread its roots.

 The Old Rose of my collection is the David Austin Lady Emma Hamilton. The citrus scent from this Rose is amazing. The Apricot petals just glowed in the evening light. It is not quite fully open. Teasing me.

 The Dark Lady Rose is strongly tea scented, and has a beautiful Crimson Rose flower. There is only one though. This has grown poorly in a pot.

 The Rose Harlow Carr has flowered the most of all my Roses. It has lots of buds, and developed Roses ready to bust open. It has the most exotic Rose scent to the flowers.
 The Roses that are making me wait are Arthur Bell, Wollerton Old Hall, and the Fryers Sweet Scent Sation. They are all getting closer to flowering though.They are all scented. I must always have Roses that smell  in the garden. Beautiful to look at, to feel, and to hold it to your nose to inhale the delicious perfume.

 The Mallow I bought at the Spring Flower Show has bloomed. It has funny green flower buds that must contain the folded flower. They unfurl their pink sails, and contrast to the greenery behind it.

  I counted three big Frogs in the pond sunbathing around it. The pond weed has gone mad, and needs scooping out a bit. I saw Newts laying eggs the other day folding the leaves carefully. When we stood up the fallen flag Iris pot we saw a black baby newt jump out of the pot. The pond is full of Newts, mature ones, baby ones, and ones not born yet. The wildflowers and grasses around the edge of the pond keep it well hidden from view. The birds drink and bath on the edge of it. There is magic in sitting looking into the pond to see what you can see there.

The Last photo that I'm showing is the Navy Blue Sweet Peas. They smell beautiful. I have already picked one pot of posy's that scented the front room. The light shining through the petals make them like stain glass window.
  The garden looks serene now. The day has been hot and sunny. The sun is going to be here all weekend. British Summer at its best. I'm working through the weekend.

Seductive Streptocarpus

 The Streptocarpus I bought at the flower show loved my time away. They have all doubled in size, and were flowering on the kitchen windowsill when I came back from New Zealand.I love the pink petals and deep purple veins of this Streptocarpus Tina.

 Sterptocarpus Seren is much more muted colours,  with hints of purple and a yellow centre.

 Texas Hot Chili is very appropriate for me as I love hot spicy food. This Sterptocarpus has a deep crimson red flower with yellow throat inside.

 The Streptocarpus Chloe does not look like its picture. The card shows the deep red throat below salmon pink petals.I do not know if they mislabelled it, or the photo was taking in poor light.It is a very small delicate flower compared to the others.

The last Streptocarpus photographed is Katie, my Mums name.The dark purple flowers are hard to photograph. The pattern freaks out the camera!
  I love these delicate little plants with their jewel like flowers. I did  not expect them to have flowered and grown as well. The only Streptocarpus not photographed yet is Nerys, and the Harlequin Blue which is nearly done flowering.
 I love having colourful flowers to look at as I make a cup of coffee, or when I'm washing up. They cheer me up.