Blooming June!
Where was the sun?
It was so cold I needed gloves
to walk my dog in the woods she loves.
But when the sun finally came out
we soon all began to shout
we were too warm in our winter clothes
and cast away our blanket throws.
4th June. Brrr! It has been so cold I have been sitting with three layers of tops, a blanket wrap around my shoulders and a blanket over my legs to avoid having the heating back on. I nearly got my fingerless gloves out as well. How can this be June?
With the amount of rain we have had, the garden has been growing nicely but I would like to get out there and enjoy it. All I have done is have a quick stroll around, picking up the odd weed and dead-heading pansies. Then I have retreated to my house to do indoor jobs.
Birds in my garden have been busily eating insects so thankfully I didn’t need to use the bug-killer that in desperation I bought to kill the greenfly on my patio rose which has now gone, touch wood. I also have a busy blackbird building her nest in my Winter Jasmine bush outside my patio doors. She seems to have found a whole tissue to put in there too. Her partner just sits watching her from my ash tree. His role is just to fight off the other couple of blackbirds, it seems. I thought the nesting period was over, but clearly not. Having googled it, apparently blackbirds raise two to three broods from March through until late July. One lives and learns, especially at my age now I have time to study such things in my retirement. Other birds, bluetits and goldfinches in particular, and are busily gathering my dog’s fur that gathers around the edges of her run. Nice to have them clear up for me. I don’t know where they are nesting, certainly not in my garden.
Seedlings in the greenhouse are doing nothing, nor are those I planted outside. There are a few more summer bulbs and things sprouting from under ground. The five Lilium Dizzy bulbs are getting higher, while a couple of Lilium Dazzlers have just poked their noses out of the ground. There are lots of yellow Sisyrinchium flower heads waiting for the sun before they will open, likewise the ‘Little Fairy’ Geraniums have screwed their little faces up tightly. When are we going to see the sun again?
‘The President’ and ‘Dr Ruppel’, the two Clematis plants don’t seem to mind it being cold and they are opening up more flowers on a daily basis. Even ‘Jackmanii’ has opened up without having seen the sun for days. ‘Elizabeth’ is on her way out although there are still a few more flowers opening out. ‘Nellie Moser’ has finished, although she is still climbing so I may get another show later.
Johnson’s blue Geraniums and even the Cistus flowers are coming out daily. The Knopfia spikes seem to have peaked without quite reaching the top of the trellis. The second spike is still about six inches away. The Solanum is still out, so are Choisya and Ceanothus flowers. Valerian is still flowering tidily, although they have blocked two pathways to the back of the garden, and the little pink Hebe underneath near the patio has some flowers out, but not as many as last year. I think she feels overpowered. Aquilegia and Alliums are vying for attention on the right hand side of the garden and the foxgloves have started to open out. They all need sunshine. The mauve Rhododendrom ‘Mason’ has a few flowers out on her lower branches.
Whatever I planted out in my window boxes, either Stocks or Nicotiana seedlings, have provided food for something, probably slugs and snails or maybe even the pigeons. I am surprised that they have left the sweet peas alone though, and nothing seems to be touching the seedlings in the logroll enclosures, maybe they don’t like ‘walking’ on the red wood chippings that I have used as a mulch. This gardening from scratch lark is very frustrating.
The wildlife area is looking good with the Ceanothus in full bloom, the pink tinged Photinia in flower and there are even more buds coming out on the Magnolia. Now everything has established it is filling up over there nicely. I can see that I will be having to start chopping things back next year. Even the right hand side of the garden looks good now it has filled up with colourful things. I just need the back border stuff to grow to a colourful and respectable height and I will be happy. Next year I should see that happen, if I should live that long.
The centre of the garden still looks stunning with the Phormium Jester, the grasses and Oregano plants. The nasturtiums are nearly filling the two logroll planters, but the Liliums are still ploughing their way higher. I am watching them with interest.
Sunday 5th June. Sunshine at last! Time to get out and enjoy the garden again… Except there was no peace to be had with noisy lawn mowers all around, someone racing up and down the street behind me on a very loud quad bike, grandkids two doors’ down shouting their heads off, a barbecue lunch party on one side of me, with a couple of very loud outspoken women putting the world to rights, and my ignorant anti-social neighbour on the other side doing his best to outdo everyone around with his off-station radio blaring away loudly, set on full base. Why do they all have to live near me? Grumpily I retired indoors to watch the birds’ activities in my garden. Roll on Monday when hopefully most of them have gone back to work and school!
Monday 6th June Another scorching hot day but this time I could enjoy the peace in my garden without the neighbours’ racket. I don’t like the heat much, so I stay in the shade as much as possible. How can weather change so much in a couple of days?
Beautiful birdsong fills the air. Mrs Blackbird has got the hump because I am sitting near her nest in the Winter Jasmine next to my patio doors, but she risks it now and again with a beak full of garden debris for her nest. There are masses of bees on the flowers and little blue butterflies chase each other around the garden. Mr Nasty next door has not switched on his noisy off-station radio, so I can listen to Radio 2 playing quietly in my kitchen. Peace is restored until I let out my dog for her scout about every couple of hours. Meanwhile she is relaxing in her basket watching me write or whatever.
I look back at June 2015 to compare my garden then and now. It is a lot fuller this year of course. Some flowers are a trifle later, some are earlier. I am wondering what will happen in a couple of weeks time while I am on holiday during the week which was the best week in my garden in 2015. Will I miss things coming into flower are will they wait for my return? I would like to fill my window boxes and dog baskets with plants in flower from a garden centre, but there is no point in doing that until I return from holiday in the last week of June. Will my young plants die in a heatwave while I am away? What a stupid time to book a holiday! Maybe I need a garden sitter. Ah well…
My Garden Transformation 