Summer is finally here!!!

A great week out and about this week. Summer seems to have arrived. I spent a blustery day on Tuesday, re-potting lots of established plants, giving them a new home, new soil and Osmocote. It is as if the plant breathes a sigh of relief when you give it this treatment. Ah, space and food, now I can get on with growing and doing my thing!

In my Tuesday garden, Swifts have made a nest in the barn and flitter about going in and out all day. Clematis are in flower and drifts of Orlaya grandiflora nestle in amongst the borders. It is the prettiest addition to an established border. This garden has a very cottagey feel and looks gorgeous right now.

My little veg plot in another garden is coming along, Broad Beans shooting up now, Potatoes at full height and Carrot tops and Parsnip leaf appearing.

At Heale the veg garden saw a lot of work this week. We planted out more Salads, Courgettes and Cabbage and Caulifower. The Cauliflower we have grown from seed is called 'Graffiti' and will have a purple head (if it makes it alive past the various pests we battle with).....very striking.

We also spent a lot of time planting out Dahlia's in the cut flower plots. 35 plants, some stored from last year, some new.

Exciting to see what flowers are produced from this little lot. I do love a Dahlia. Bold and brash both in style and colour.

I am really pleased with the veg garden. It is established now and planting out the Courgettes is the signal that the weather has turned and we can expect some produce soon. All that hard work digging in Winter is paying off. Worthwhile stuff. And visitors are so pleased to see our work too!

Lift your head above the parapet and you have the rest of Heale pootling along around you.

HG and I took a stroll at the end of the day to appreciate some of the plants that are showing off in early June. There are some Fox tail Lillies in the garden (Eremurus) and these white ones are already at least 6 foot tall. Stunning plant with fantastic structural qualities.

In the same border is Dracunculus vulgarism or Voodoo Lily (great nickname) which is a deep purple color and smells horrid in order to attract flies!

A visitor was asking HG about a specific Cornus in the garden. It is flowering right now, white and delicate. Cornus x venus

This little flower is pretty - Philadelphus 'starbright'

Magnolias at Heale have been on the move now for a while. This one -Magnolia x wieseneri - has such a strong smell which we think is like Germolene/Deepheat. It really whiffs! Some say medicinal and some say Pineapple scent. 

This one has the most enormous leaves and flowers. Some are going over now and I think I prefer these. The faded burnt paper look is stunning.

Orchids are out and about in the wild triangle area as you enter into the garden. Common spotted as in this photograph

and Rosa roxburghii catches the eye as you pass through the garden. In flower now

with beautiful single pink flowers. A right cracker.

Photographs by me as usual, plant identifications from the very knowledgable HG (Michael Maltby).

See you next week......