It has been a strange sort of month weatherwise, a bit of everything really but not much rain which we really need. In spite of this, plants are carrying on doing what plants are supposed to do and making the garden nice and colourful while they are at it.
I’ll start by my front door which is north facing and doesn’t receive any sunshine. Heucheras, hellebore and begonia are happy here though.
Buddleias are now flowering ready for all the butterflies, this one is by the driveway.
This white buddleia is in the side garden near the little meadow and has a very strong perfume. This is the one that the Jersey Tiger Moth likes, haven’t seen it yet though, maybe it is still on its way!
Agapanthus are now flowering along the driveway, the blues are catching up with the white ones which have been out for a while.
The white ones have such huge heads, they have flopped, I must organise some support for next year, thanks goodness my box cubes are there to catch them.
Yellow crocosmia were planted nearby to make a contrast of shape and colour.
Not quite out yet, but nearly, these are the Agapanthus that should have gone to Chelsea called A. Alan Street.
They are a really dark purple and will be planted among lots of white flowers elsewhere in the garden.
Also by the driveway are some Kniphofia, can’t call them red hot pokers when they are yellow!
Fennel is now flowering by the corner of the house, the bees love this.
Up near the top of the garden Crocosmia Solfaterre has just started flowering. This has spread nicely, it has taken it a long time to do so but it looks lovely when it is all out in flower.
Stipa gigantea looks quite magical when the sun is shining through it as it was this morning. My little flowery meadow in the background is quite tall now.
It is doing its job well, bringing in lots of insects, which in turn bring in lots more birds.
The purple flowered self heal is favoured by the bees as is the white clover at the front. I’ve seen lots of Gatekeeper butterflies here and also lots of Meadow Browns which lay their eggs on the long grass.
I also like the patterns that are formedby the shadows and different levels of grass and flowers.
This area will be kept like this for another month, then it will be cut and be back to a normal lawn again.
Astilbes are continuing the colour in the bog garden.
My pink hydrangea is definitely turning blue,-hooray! but I think you would call it lilac at the moment.
My last offering is my Perovskia which has just started flowering, this plant always seems to be an autumnal plant but I’m not ready for autumn yet, I still haven’t had enough summer!
Those are my ten offerings for this month, other plants that I’ve shown recently are still flowering away, adding to the overall picture, it certainly is a colourful time of year, however I still appreciate the calmness of my shady borders in various areas of the garden. I have never done so much gardening before, every day I’m out there but can only work in short bursts at a time with lots of rest in between. The weeds are still growing faster than I can remove them, but hopefully I am winning now!
Thanks go once again to Chloris at The Blooming Garden for hosting, do pay her a visit to see what is growing in other gardens.
