End of the Month Review June 2011

It's that time of the month already? Where does all the time go and where's the warmer weather?
I was looking back on the end of May post and I said something about warmer weather then. The last view days have been sunny and about 18C. Gosh I can feel a "heatwave" coming on....
In the south of England they have been sweltering in about 33C last week and we were on about 13C.  The poor sweetcorn even with fleece at night it won't be warm enough to get a decent crop. Luckily we also planted some in the greenhouse.

Looking at the photos of the flower garden it hasn't changed much since last month. It's filled out a bit more here and there. And some replanting has been done after winter losses.

Some of my favourite plants are putting on a show. The froth of white flowers seems to go on for two or three weeks and are then followed by small  pea like seed heads which take us right through to the autumn.

 The architectural serrated leaves of the melianthus major are finally growing to a decent size and make an interesting contrast with the miscathus on the left and plummy leaves of anthricus sylvestris (Cow parsley) beyond.

 The Tree Ferns (Dicksonia Antartica)  are almost back to their former glory and are complemented by some spikey plantings and One Of Frances Pelly's "Noust"  bronze.

Other plants in flower are the cirsium rivulare

The Philadelphus "Belle Etoile"

Cerinthe Major  (grown from seed every year to fill any gaps at the front of the border)

And lastly the  wonderful but short lived papaver somniferum (opium poppies)in a range of deep pinks and plums.

  The veg garden is full of goodies, although some of the greens have bolted due to the lack of water and variation in temperatures. This is the time I need to keep on sowing salad crops, beetroots etc but it always seems to get away from me in the next few weeks. Still there's enough food here for two (and visitors).

  The tomatillo plants are looking very healthy and need to be hardened off for planting out. One slight probalem is that I've run out of space. The seeds were so late in coming that I put another crop in it's place.

And the strawberries go on and on......

Thanks to Helen at The Patient Gardener for hosting the Monthly Review.

Pretty in Pink on Wordless Wednesday

Transience

The petals are starting to drop from the giant Himalyan lilies. They are such dramatic plants at over 6 feet tall with a sweet, heady scent. Soon the hundreds of seeds will form and ripen in each flower head.

The rose "Rhapsody in Blue" last a few days before making way for more buds.

 The most perfect Peony "Jan Van Leeuwn" is showing signs of decay and the seed pods are begin to swell.

Clematis montana "Freida" begins to lose its petals and changes from a pink and and multi-petalled to a green understated seed head.

"I sometimes think that never blows so red
The Rose as where some buried Caesar bled;
That every Hyacinth the Garden wears
Dropt in its Lap from some once lovely Head."
— Omar Khayyám (The Ruba'iyat Of Omar Khayyam;)

 

Dress Rehearsal

Sunday 26th of June. The garden owners and some of the volunteers (the brave souls who will be selling tickets and serving teas at Dorward House) got together to tour the gardens.  The final countdown to the Open Gardens in Montrose and Hillside on 3rd of July had begun.....

I managed to take some photos of the event.  There are fleeting glimpses of people here and there. Photos of peoples back views are not very interesting and if you try to get some group photos people tend get self conscious or (like me) don't like their photo being taken!

I've included a couple of images from each garden......

                                                                                            *****

                                                                                            *****

                                                                  

 

                                                

                                                                                             *****

                                                                                             *****

   
                                                                                           *****

And finally the garden that we couldn't visit yesterday but will be open next week.

At a Snail's Pace........

I have photos of the garden visits pre our gardens Open day in Montrose and Hillisde.
It was a fascinating afternoon. No two gardens and no two gardeners are the same. How true!

In the meantime I will post my photo of the day:

 A snail eating a strawberry slowly...

Potty about pots

Wasn't it Vita Sackville West, the writer and creator of Sissinghurst gardens who thought that any plant could be grown in a pot? They are definitely an asset in any garden for various reasons.

They can be potted up with bulbs for spring....

 They can change the look of a border and add some colour to it......

In this case rich pink pelargoniums, deep velvelty purple petunias and a hosta in a beautiful red glazed pot. Everything is dripping in this photograph but you get the picture....

The pots can also be moved around to where they're needed in the garden, covered for winter or brought inside.
The plants can be put in a pot to bring out their various colours...

In this case a euphorbia (I also plant  Tulip "Queen of the Night" in this pot earlier in the year)

Or architectural subjects such as this agave.

I love the contrast between the deep red glazed pot and the glossy green foliage of the viburnum.

Or the symmetry of two pots of standard bay trees on either side of the steps. Containers can also be for very practical uses containing herbs at the back door. Then there is not far to go when making the supper.

So many containers can be used in the garden.

We may not all have containers like this ( I wish) or even like this...

But I do think it's fun!

A Rain Check

Peony lactiflora "jan van leeuwen" and astrantia major

After heavy rain yesterday and having not done much since the TV crew were here I did a tour of the garden to take stock. The open garden Day is coming up fast. There's also a dress rehearsal next Sunday when the garden owners visit each others gardens. I'm probably more anxious about them having a look than Joe Public.....

A visit to a garden is always a snap shot of what is going on at any given moment. We all know that gardens evolve and never stand still.
It's amazing how some rain can really make such a difference to the growth of plants. Everything is lush and the plants are starting to knit together and the gaps are becoming less apparent. The down side of rain on sandy soil is that some of the plants such as roses end up flopping a bit.

Rose "Rhapsody in Blue" and Geranium "Tanya Rendall"

The giant Himalyan Lilies (cardiocrinum giganteum) are out at last and are well worth the wait.

There are also another rash of seedlings popping up which I may hoe off or hand weed. Lack of space will dictate the method of weeding. They do form a ground cover under the trees but letting them all go to seed might be a bit of a mistake.

The vegetables are also splashed with mud from the rain and the pigeons have made a nice snack of the small mange tout plants. I'm sure there's still time to re-sow.

The veg garden is always a work in progress and to that end I stand a fork or spade and a trug in the border ready to dig up our splendid new potatoes. (it gives the impression that there's work about to be done!) I still find digging up first of the potatot crop one of the most satisfying jobs in the productive garden. New potatoes and a sprig of mint - what a treat!

In addition to the ongoing strawberry crop (we picked about 3 kilos today) the raspberries are starting to ripen. Seemingly we have raspberry mite so I shouldn't get too carried away. Still it's time to get the nets on.

Glen Ample

  I picked  the sawflies off the leaves of the gooseberries and the redcurrant diligently every day(well nearly every day) but there must have been one or two that got away as we still had some damage. I've made a mental note to try nematodes next year.

The garden is full of challenges but seems to grow nonetheless.
What I would really like to see over the next few weeks is some warm sunshine. We're shivering here at about 13C! Slim chance of a sweetcorn harvest.......

Whiter Shade of Pale on Wordless Wednesday

Top row L to R : Ranunculus aconitifolius "Flora Pleno" (White Bachelor's Buttons), Cardamine pratensis (Lady's Smock), Hebe pimeloides

2nd Row L to R: Semi Aquilegia ecalcarata, snail,  Fothergilla major (Mountain witchalder)
3rd Row L to R: Spirea arguta (Bridal Wreath), Camassia leichtlinii,  Cardiocrinum giganteum (Giant Himalayan Lily)
4th Row L to R: Viburnum carlesii,  Clematis montana Grandiflora (White clematis), Tree peony