Summer in the garden

There is so much to see and smell in the garden right now. Everything is floaty, tall, colourful, scented. I am in heaven!

At Heale, the Annuals have survived from seed, through pricking out, cold frames and final transplant. A flipping miracle really. With watering and temperature changes successfully dodged, not to mention beasties trying to eat them. We have all sorts going on, Nicotiana, Ammi majus, Daucus, Miribalis, Stock, Zinnia, Tithonia. My favourite though are the pots of loveliness that abound. You can make up whatever you want at this time of year.

At home I have a deep purple Salvia happily living alongside Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost' which has tiny white flowers like a spray in amongst silvery Plectranthus leaves. I also have good old Nasturtiums trailing here and there, which soften any hard landscape. I still have a blue ceramic pot stuffed with Luzula nivea grass, which I grew from seed bought at Chelsea a few years ago. Some of the babies it kindly sent along the border next to the pot are now happily planted in my garden. The green tall grass swaying next to the blue pot. Glorious.

 

In the veg garden, it is going ON! The direct sown Beans are up and we have begun to crop; Broad Beans, Strawberries, Pots (Red Duke of York), Peas, Corgettes baby! Yep, I get excited about my veg! We have a Courgette called 'Eight Ball', a round variety, which mixes it up a bit.

In the wider garden, the Roses hold so much beauty, we have all sorts, the Musk Rose border looks gorgeous under planted with Nepeta. Some of the Roses scrambling up through the trees are spectacular, with amazing names including Bobby James and Paul's Himalayan Musk. HG talks of them as if old friends!

Solitude

Time this week alone in the gardens and I have been so lucky with the weather and the peace and quiet. Now and again a visitor pops by and lets me know how much they are loving the garden, asking how old the Apple tunnels are and how many Gardeners the garden needs to keep it on top! More than we have I say!

Everywhere I look I can see what needs doing, what could be improved with a half hour here and a half hour there. But alas, never enough time.

At this time the weeds are full on and you cannot turn a blind eye when the Thistles are up with the Alliums. So much of my time is spent kneeling and sorting it out. Yet in-between I get to crop Strawberries, plant beautiful annuals we have grown from seed and nurture seedlings of Carrot and Beet poking up through the soil. My favourite time in the garden is the nurturing stage. The watering, weeding, pricking out, potting on. Knowing that a little time here and there and the plants will thrive and go on to show off their potential.

I rushed past the gate yesterday on my way somewhere and my eye was caught by the beautiful Chinonanthus virgincus in full flower against a blue sky. What a beauty. Stunning tassel type flowers (also known as the Fringe Tree), white and slightly fragrant. It just caught me by surprise. I walk past it day in, day out and then KABOOM, it flowers!