Is it still July…….

Posted on July 22, 2018 by Pauline

…….Or can I be forgiven for thinking that it looks like November?

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One man went to mow…….

Posted on July 19, 2018 by Pauline

But not yet for a while. Any mowing will be done at the end of August, by which time the grass will be a lot longer and I’ll have had a lot more different flowers in my tiny meadow.

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July 2018. Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

Posted on July 16, 2018 by Pauline

I felt that there wouldn’t be much to photograph for this month’s Bloom Day due to the drought and heat that we have been experiencing for the last few months. Our “green and pleasant land” is only as it is because of all the rain we experience throughout the year. Not this year though, we haven’t had any sizeable showers since the beginning of May and the temperatures have just kept rising to the low 30C which is much hotter than we usually have.

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Reaching for the sky.

Posted on June 23, 2018 by Pauline

Really, I don’t think they’re reaching any more, they’ve got there! I’m talking about my 2 huge climbing roses, Rosa Mulligani which was planted shortly after we moved here and Rosa Wedding Day which was planted to mark our daughter’s wedding. Last year R. Wedding Day hadn’t quite reached the top of the old ash tree, but this morning I noticed a gleam of white right at the top and there it was, basking in the beautiful morning sunlight with a brilliant blue sky behind it.

Lower down the white flowers seem to glow in the dark shade.

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Everything is coming up Roses.

Posted on June 15, 2018 by Pauline

Well almost everything. June is the month for roses and they are billowing everywhere. There are lots of other plants flowering as well, but the roses in most of the borders are stealing the show.

The rose garden is suddenly flowering on all cylinders with hardy geraniums in between.

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EOM View, a little late.

Posted on June 4, 2018 by Pauline

All through May, I have been working hard in the bog garden, the weeds had taken hold last year and were winning the battle. I had to be totally blinkered while weeding, not to get distracted by anything else, just get my head down and weed, weed, weed as the candelabra primulas and other plants were starting to flower. At last I have done it and I can now show you the result. Of course I should have taken “before” photos, but forgot.

The ferns on the left had spread so much that they had completely covered 2 lovely large hostas, they were rescued and the ferns removed from the front of the border. The variegated iris will be moved further back when they have finished flowering, to make room for more primulas which I will sow from seed.

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Not exactly reaching for the sky!

Posted on June 2, 2018 by Pauline

I planted a Clematis montana when our son got married quite a few years ago. I planted it beside an Ash tree, expecting it to climb to the top and then prettily cascade down again. That was the idea anyway, but the clematis had other ideas.

It climbed a little bit, but then flopped down over the Philadelphus coronarius Aureus in front of the ash tree.

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It must be summer.

Posted on May 30, 2018 by Pauline

Yes, it must be summer because all the roses have started flowering and I’ve never known them to flower in May before! Our warm spell is still continuing, although with rain on and off most days now. The garden certainly needs the rain, the gentle drizzle is just what was needed, but some areas of the country are under water again, with widespread floods.

R. Shropshire Lad.

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Where have all the weeds gone?

Posted on May 26, 2018 by Pauline

Slowly but surely the weeds in the bog garden have gradually been pulled out.  I’ve been so busy weeding in the garden that time for blogging has had to take a back seat.  These days I can only manage short bursts of weeding at any one time, but usually manage 3 or 4 sessions each day and its surprising how quickly a border changes completely when the plants aren’t competing for space with all the weeds.

The rhododendron was a retirement present from some of my students. Hostas and ferns make a winning combination.

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May is a wonderful month. GBBD.

Posted on May 17, 2018 by Pauline

I think May is my favourite month, so much is flowering and looking so fresh, trees and shrubs as well as bulbs and perennials.
The most obvious shrubs are the rhodos, azaleas and viburnums, you can’t miss them.

Viburnum plicatum Marieseii on the left with unknown rhodo on the right.

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