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.

Sunday Selection

   This Daisy type flower was in flower in one of the Rose pots. I think they originally started in the wild flower area but have been spread across the garden by the wind.

 This Dianthus just sings in the planter next to the compost bin. When I left this was just a few stems. It has exploded into magenta glory.

 All the Hostas have unfurled their leaves like green sails, and are now hoisting up their flower spikes. I think they add a little interest to the garden. Big tubular white flowers.

 The Astrantia's have suddenly come into bloom. When I left these were just a few leaves growing from the ground. They are hovering above the pond looking gorgeous. This is the Astrantia Ruby.

  The last bloom of the Flag Iris. I love these iconic anglo saxon plants. I might try to split the plant into two. One for the pond, and one for the wild flower garden.It has just seed pods growing now. Im pleased it kept one last yellow Iris flower for me to see.

 This Nemesia Vanilla Scent smells divine. Today the sunshine made the scent fill the garden, and just caught it on the breeze.

 Pink and White flowers with yellow centre. These arrived as small plug plants and have been grown on. I need to plant the Night Phlox that are sat in the greenhouse. They will scent the garden in the evening and night time.

 My Petunia Blackberry Sour are now blooming. I love the dark purple nearly black Petunias, against the Lime Green Petunias. I have three baskets planted with these combination.

 Petunia Presto White, and Presto Blue fill two baskets. They compliment each other nicely.

  The Sambuca Niger is flowering now with its champagne bubble frothy pink flowers. This poor Sambuca is swamped by the Dicentra. It probably needs moving to where it can be seen with its dark foliage.

  A highlight of my return is seeing the Peony Sarah Bernhardt flowering. It has taken it three years but the bloom is spectacular. 26 layers of satin soft petals surrounding golden yellow stamen. It smells too, like a medicine smell? I cannot think what it smells like.

The last flower is a lemon yellow and white Aquilegia. I love these flowers with their long nectar filled spurs.These should hopefully self seed, and produce more varieties of plants.
 Being away for a month means I missed the build up of all these flowers. I returned to the wow factor moment, but loved them all.

Saturday Pics

   After three weeks away from the garden its amazing how much has grown and how many plants are now in bloom. This Pink Daisy has gone mad in the pot by the backdoor. It is vibrant magenta colour with white centre and golden stamen.

 The Sweet Williams in the green planter box has flowered again. They are pinks, reds, whites, and combinations in between. They smell of cloves. I thought these were annuals or biennials. These have flowered for three years in a row now.

 The photo shows the detail of the Sweet William. White, red, pink, and white stamen.

 The Darcey Bussell Rose has bloomed whilst I have been away.There are two Roses in flower at the moment.They have a slight tea scent.

 My gorgeous Gertrude Jekyll Rose in flower. There are loads of blooms on this thorny climbing Rose. The scent is pure orange and lemon.Good enough to eat.

 Flowering along side the Getrude Jekyll is the Rose Harlow Carr. This has spiny stems and is very floriferous. It smells of fragrant old roses. You could make perfume or soap from this. A warm breeze carrys this right up your nose.I love it.

 A fourth Rose in bloom is the Rose Margaret Merrill. This has four large white blooms with beautiful red and yellow stamen. It is very fragrant too.

 The flowers are big enough to cup, and to inhale the sweet scent.

 The Candy Lip Gloss plants in the baket smell too. I love the vibrant colours of the pink flowers.

Growing in one of the Rose pots is the delicate Forget Me Not. The blue flowers dance above the sea of green leaves and stems.
 This is a small selection of colour and blooms here.More flowers tomorrow.

Back Again

  My first post for a good few weeks. After a marathon flight back from Auckland I'm back in Yorkshire. I took 850 photos in New Zealand. I loved the fact I did not know the names of anything like Trees, shrubs, plants,or birds. The whole two and a half weeks was educational.That will probably be a separate blog from this to show the many pics i took.
  Now I'm back in Wakefield, I have so much in this garden to blog about. Many more photos to take..
 This Bee was walking over the Darcey Bussell Rose which has flowered in my absence. It has a slight fruity tea smell. Seeing Bees in the garden is good..
 The weather has been a mixture of hot sunshine and rain.The garden has exploded in new lush growth and flowers.Its good to go on holiday, but equally nice to come home to your own little green oasis.

Rose dreams

My last three UK blog photos are of the Roses.The David Austin Moliniuex in the front garden had flowered, and the Roses all look healthy with plenty of yellow flowers.It has a delicate tea scent.

The Rose I was worried about was Sweet Scent Sation, from Fryers Roses.I bought it after Monty Don mentioned it on Gardeners World.I am pleased to say it has started growing in earnest.It was three bare stems for weeks.The flowers are supposed to smell like Turkish Delight.I hope they flower for when i come back off holiday.

The Hybrid Tea Queen Elizabeth is also growing on well.This Rose has the cut stems sealed off with green wax.The leaves are getting bigger slowly. This should have beautiful pink Roses on it when it blooms.
   I will enjoy seeing my Sister and new Nephew. But also all the new flora and fauna that grows there. Plenty of trips to the botanical gardens, experiencing the wilderness and beauty of there. My camera is primed and ready.Only one more night then a 25 hour flight to Auckland.