Here it comes again:
Rain, rain and more rain.
My plants are loving it,
that is plain
but I’m wishing
that it would refrain.
Oh how plants all love real rain. As more and more flowers open up, judging by June 2015, I have a feeling that colourwise this will be the best couple of weeks of the year in my garden in 2016.
My favourite, Clematis ‘Dr Ruppel’ is at its best on the back wall. Cistus ‘Silver Pink’ is opening up more flowers on a daily basis in the centre of the gravel garden. The mauve Rhododendron in a pot is coming into full flower. Purple spires of Loosestrife are opening up everywhere. Down the right hand side tall Foxgloves flower alongside Aquilegias. ‘Johnsons’ Blue’ Geraniums are in full flower and there are a few flowers on the yellow Potentilla. Over by the trellis Knopfia is sending up more and more orange and yellow spikes. Pink, purple and white Little Fairy Geraniums are dotted around everywhere as is bright pink Valerian. By the patio in front of the kitchen window both Fuchsias have cerise droplets, although they look more stunning offset against the lime green leaves of Fuchsia Genii. Lovely lime green Oregano, Choisya, Pieris and Sedum add their splashes of brightness at various points in the garden. Multi-coloured Pansies are everywhere. Delicate pink Diascia Barberae, mauve Thymus, yellow Sysyrinchium, yellow Geums, white and purple Campanulas sit in their gravel surroundings, as do the dark red leaves of Heucheras almost matching the Japanese Acer. Grasses of all sizes wave their seed heads in the breeze. And last but definitely not least there is the everlasting purple Erysimum. It’s a virtual cacophony of colour in my garden. Lovely.
Wed 8th June I love weekdays in my garden, when most of my neighbours have gone to work and I can sit in peace in my garden, that is if Mr Nasty isn’t up to his anti-social tricks. I wonder why I wanted to work so long into my possible retirement years. I could have had at least seven extra almost stress-free years of peace and tranquility… and probably boredom, or maybe not. Mind you, I could not have afforded the modifications made to my house and garden had I not worked.
After the thunderstorms last evening the garden looked stunningly bright in the early morning sunshine. Birdsong fills the air. Temperatures look reasonable for the next ten days. Today will be the hottest at 23 deg and there is plenty of rain forecast right up to my holiday on 18th. I’m guessing we will be getting a warm and dry spell while I am away. That’s would be good for my holiday, but bad for my garden if I am not here to water it.
I went out early and planted some seedlings that I had potted on, probably either Stocks or Nicotiana. I planted them in the window boxes that had been emptied by either slugs, snails or pigeons. I left in the stumps of the previous plants, just in case they decided to grow again. I suppose this second lot will be eaten as well, but they needed to be planted. If they are not eaten this will give them time to establish themselves before I go away. I won’t be planting anything else as the seedlings left in the greenhouse are never going to grow anyway, I’m sure.
I took all the seed trays out and gave them a good watering, leaving them in the sunshine for the day, before watering them again and returning them to the comfort of their greenhouse. I hoped that might help them grow a bit. Mental note to self, never try to grow Busy Lizzies or Lobelia from seeds again. I will use my greenhouse for bringing on plug plants in future.
Sat 11th June Having been busy with other things for the past couple of days I took a look at my garden after the rainfall we had on Friday and overnight. Everything seemed to have grown higher and brighter.
I decided it was time to plant my tiny seedlings into pots in case they would grow bigger if they had more space. My greenhouse has therefore filled up again with lots of pots. I am not sure what I will do with them while I am on holiday. With a week to harden off outside during the day, and with them sitting in saucers of water, I hope they will be okay if it is not too hot.
I finally lifted the daffodil pots from the log-roll border to make some space for the seedlings that are starting to grow in there. I hoed over the earth a bit, trying not to disturb the tiny seedlings, but I have no idea whether they are weeds or seedlings that I have planted. I also shook the heads of the Fritillaria that had formed seeds and raked them into the ground hoping they will grow next spring. When I come back from holiday I will sow some more of the seed heads into seed trays and try to grow them on that way too.
I have found a curious flower in my logroll border. I have sown a lot of seeds over there but this doesn’t look like anything I remember sowing, so it must either be a rogue seed or something wild. I await with interest to see it develop.
Sunday 12th June I looked out of a back bedroom window this morning to find the champion spike on the Knopfia, the second spike to emerge, hanging its head in shame. Maybe it was feeling threatened by a couple of new meaty spikes on their way up. Curiously it had managed to reach above the top of the trellis yesterday when I had taken photos of it. Its last burst of energy must have sapped all its strength and it now hangs exhausted. I toyed with the idea of chopping it down but decided to leave it in case it recovers some energy.
Meanwhile the rest of the garden is looking stunning in masses of pinks, purples and lime green. Rhododendron ‘Mason’ and Clematis ‘Dr Ruppel’ are competing with the Foxgloves, Geranium ‘Johnson’s Blue’ and Cistus ‘Silver Pink’ for plant of the week, with the Honeysuckle on the pyramid on the patio trying to join them before the end of the week.
It was an NGS Open Gardens day at one of our local villages and having spent the best part of four hours looking around ten gardens, only breaking off for tea and cakes in the church, we ended up in the penultimate garden where there were plants for sale. I couldn’t resist buying something.
Neillia thibetica
My eyes immediately lit upon a shrub I have never seen before: Neillea thibetica. I chatted to the nurseryman to see if it would grow in my clay soil, or if it could live in a pot. He assured me it could do either. It seemed to me a like cross between a Ribes and a Spirea, both of which do well in my garden, so I bought it. However, when I got home I googled it to find it liked fertile chalky, loamy or sandy soil. So in a pot it will stay! I really do not need another shrub as big as my Ribes anyway. I also discovered I had paid more than the going on-line price for it. Ah well… I suppose impulse buys always work out dear if you don’t do your homework.
I also bought an Agapanthus, which I always say I want every time I tour around NGS Open Gardens, and Saxifraga x urbium (London Pride), which I used to have an abundance of in a previous garden but have never got around to buying for my new garden. I apparently paid too much for these as well. Still, I saved a bit of money by not going out to lunch because we hadn’t booked. We hadn’t planned to go around the gardens if it was raining. In the event it did rain lightly on and off from 11am when we arrived until we left, but fortunately it didn’t pour until we were in the car going home.
Looking around other gardens in the area it is interesting comparing how my plants are doing with those in more established gardens. I even saw a Clematis ‘Dr Ruppel’ climbing up someone’s archway which was at exactly the same stage as mine, as were the mauve Rhododendrons, Peonies, Knopfia, Valerian, climbing Ceanothus, Foxgloves and Johnson’s Blue Geraniums. However it seemed like all the Honeysuckle plants were in full flower, whereas mine are only just opening. I can remember before my garden revamp I used to get very depressed when I returned home to my garden which was lacking in colour in June, but it certainly isn’t now and I am sure I could now open my garden with pride if the NGS did such things where I live.
Tuesday 14th June Rain at the weekend, rain yesterday and more rain forecast for the rest of the week on and off. The garden is certainly getting its fair share of water this year. What happened to that old adage “Oak before Ash and we’re in for a splash”? There has been more than a splash already, although on my dog walk the oaks were definitely out before the ashes.
All these coolish temperatures with plenty of rain are a relief to me, of course, as I don’t like the heat and I don’t like having to use my hosepipe. I also enjoy sitting out under cover in my dog run listening to the rain pounding down on the roof whilst my dog and I can still enjoy fresh air.
Having consulted the long range weather forecast, it is also a relief to me to find that the next ten days will contain more of the same. This means that it will not be too hot for my journey to Cornwall next week, with my dog in the back of my car. Nor will it be too hot for me to go out and about in Cornwall when I am there. Nor do I risk coming back to a frazzled garden, that is if the current forecast proves to be correct.
A lot can happen in my garden in a week though, so I intend to spend the next few days enjoying the flowers that are currently at their best and will probably be over by the time I return from holiday. However I do hope that they will last until our return so that my daughter can enjoy my garden before she returns to Canada in early July.
And here it comes again,
rain, rain, and more rain.
My Garden Transformation 