Heat and drought

Back after two weeks in a rather hot Central Europe, to a garden that has been not a great deal cooler and is looking dry after three heatwaves and very little rain.  A hosepipe ban has just been announced – whereupon it has rained, though not nearly enough to refill the reservoirs.

A kind neighbour did an excellent job in our absence of watering the tomatoes and keeping the pots alive, though the plants in the ground have had to fend for themselves.  On the whole they haven’t done too badly.  The peas have mostly dried up and one or two ornamentals are looking the worse for wear, and the lawn is decidedly crunchy underfoot, but actually the garden is surviving and looked passably respectable for the village open gardens day (by my drawing visitors’ attention to the wildlife aspects of the plot rather than the conventional aspects of gardening).  When I spotted one visitor taking a photo, I realised that there was a reasonable amount of colour if you looked in the right places!  The dahlia pots looked good, and the Verbena bonariensis and some pinks masked the fact that much of the foreground planting (the geum and fading penstemons) needed deadheading; in 31C I hadn’t felt much like getting out there with the secateurs to sort it out!

A reasonable amount of colour

The Echium vulgare ‘Blue Bedder’ in one of the tulip pots had flowered well, and attracted interest from visitors.  And my little wildflower patch has its good points (I’m not sure I’m going to keep that for another year, though!).

'Blue Bedder' and surrounding pots

Wildflower patch

Some of the veg plot isn’t looking too bad; the climbing bean plants, with dill in front, are doing fine, though the dried-up peas need clearing (and there’s a stray radicchio plant next to them which is flowering).  The garlic (very small) and shallots (satisfyingly large) have been lifted and put in the greenhouse to dry off, and I’ve started clearing the broad beans.  A late explosion in the ladybird population is dealing with the blackfly!  I was surprised how many of my lettuce seedlings had survived the heat; before we left, I pulled up several of the little strawberry plants which were flagging badly (they don’t do well in drought) and popped lettuce in their place, and they’re coming on quite well.

Strawberry plants flagging - and about to be pulled up

Radicchio in flower

Beans and dill

Dried-up pea plants, with a nice row of carrots

There’s a new pest, melon-cotton aphid, in this country, affecting buddlejas; mine has the characteristic leaf mottling, but apparently it’s not fatal.  The plant is already in flower, much earlier than usual because of the heat, and attracting butterflies, which seem more plentiful this year.

Mottly buddleja leaf

After today’s (nicely steady) rain, the forecast is for temperatures to climb to low-to-mid twenties (centigrade), with some showery days ahead.  I’ll be tidying up the garden as the weather permits!

Seeing red

 

Geum 'Mrs Bradshaw' in the patio bed

A pop of red does seem to brighten up a garden.  This is the time for the big blowsy poppies down by the summerhouse, but also the Geum ‘Mrs Bradshaw’ is making its mark in the (not-so-)new patio bed, contrasting with the blue penstemon which is the main attraction there; a little white comes from a white thrift (Armeria maritima) and Dianthus ‘Mrs Sinkins’, both peeping out from under the purple sage, and a couple of self-seeded foxgloves complete the picture.

Lily 'Cherry Joy'

Then the lilies are just starting.  I have a potful of dark red ‘Cherry Joy’, bulbs won in a raffle and planted up two or three years ago; they’re not scented, but they’re bright, prolific and – unlike a lot of lilies – they hold their flowers upright so that you can see them.  My scented lilies are in bud but will flower a little later.

Rose 'Gertrude Jekyll'

Foxglove bed

There is plenty of pink-and-white as well, from the roses and the foxgloves, which I’ve allowed to take over one of the shadier veg plot beds.  The aquilegias are now coming to an end, and the dame’s violet (Hesperis matronalis) plants are replacing them, colour-wise.  The peony ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ is just starting.  The red take-over won’t last long.

There have been some pops of red in the garden wildlife too, and not just the three robins which have been squabbling over the fatball feeder as they collect scraps for their youngsters (at least one of which has been to the patio).  Last night, before it became totally dark, I spotted a shape moving around under the big apple tree, which is shedding surplus fruit into the lawn (the so-called June drop).  The shape looked black, but in full light it would have been redder, because as it approached the house I could see that it was a large dog fox with a very long tail.  It made off through the flowerbeds.  That certainly explains some of the larger droppings that we see from time to time on the lawn.  It probably has a taste for (very underripe) apples.

And a few mornings back I opened up the greenhouse and noticed that some canes, that had been stacked in a corner, were lying on the ground.  This sort of thing is usually an indication of intruding wildlife; I assumed a mouse, since the temperatures overnight had been too low for the roof vents to open and allow a bird inside (and the door had been closed).  When I went to reach for some things lying on the gravel bed, I saw the flash of red before I spotted the black and white feathers – there was a greater spotted woodpecker under the staging, head under wing and fast asleep.  An adult male, as it had the bright red patch on the back of its head.  I can only think that it had been in there when I closed up the night before and had made the best of it by getting some shut-eye.  I wasn’t particularly quiet about my approach, and when it didn’t move at first I wondered if it was dead, but before I could pick it up it came round and shot into deeper cover.  I eventually persuaded it towards the open door and it made off, presumably quite relieved at being free again!

The (un)tidy garden

 

They say that the best way to make you tidy your home is to invite guests.  The same is true of gardens.  I’ve rather rashly agreed to open my garden for a village event this summer, which has focused the mind on getting gardening jobs done; fortunately the weather has continued dry, which has allowed for a lot of outside work (despite an intermittently chilly wind from the east or north-east).

The wisteria

It's a pity that the opening isn’t for a few weeks yet, despite all the work that remains to be done, as the garden scents have been at their best recently: the wisteria on the patio, the rugosa rose in the bottom bed, and the yellow antirrhinum in the greenhouse have all been wafting their perfume around the garden, especially on the warmer days.  I hope that the other roses might still be in flower on the day.

Rosa rugosa

The yellow antirrhinum - a great survivor!

On the subject of the yellow antirrhinum – which is as prolific as ever: the windowbox has been planted for summer, with a mixture of pink felicia, little plants of Fuchsia ‘Hawkshead’ (cuttings from my main plant), an osteospermum and some Cosmos ‘Xanthos’.  And a plant which I had thought was my tender fuchsia, one of the large-flowered varieties; but as it has developed, I see it’s an antirrhinum, probably self-seeded into the fuchsia’s pot while it was wintering in the greenhouse.  So what happened to the fuchsia?  Dead, probably.  I hope the windowbox colour combination works.

Windowbox - the antirrhinum on the right!

Talking of colour combinations, the pot of Tulips ‘Prinses Irene’, ‘Havran’ and ‘Doll’s Minuet’ was a bit of a disappointment; only two of the latter flowered, rather spoiling the point of it all, though the colour contrast worked quite well.  The forget-me-nots were less successful with these shorter tulips than with the taller ones in the larger pot; the short tulips were rather buried among the forget-me-nots.  Something to remember for next year.  The contents of the mixed tulip pots are now past, and have been dug up and sent to the green waste bin.  The dahlias will go into those pots in a few days, once the weather warms up slightly (which it is forecast to do, bringing some welcome rain).

A bit of a disappointment

Some of my ‘waifs and strays’ in little pots have been planted out, mostly in the old herb bed (which still needs some weeding round the edges), although the seedlings grown last year from my bi-coloured aquilegias have found a home around the edges of the (now fully weeded) raspberry bed, at least until I can evaluate their flower colours. 

The veg plot is taking shape too.  There are two patches of broad beans, now in flower; three varieties of pea, ‘Early Onward’, ‘Douce Provence’ and the climber ‘Alderman’, as well as a few mangetout plants grown by a neighbour and donated in return for my surplus tomato plants; leek and carrot seedlings in the ground, and cabbage, broccoli and kale seedlings ready to be planted out once the old plants have been composted and the beds vacated.  The leaf beet has seeded itself everywhere, and there will be plenty to cook this year.  There are lettuces, and also a couple of radicchio plants, survivors of last year’s slug attacks, which have grown from the roots and appeared among the seedlings!  The courgettes are now being hardened off for planting out once the last of the cold nights is past.  There are still some very wild areas round the edges, but things are improving.

Peas, beans and a radicchio among the carrot seedlings!

More peas, mangetout, lettuces and leek seedlings (and weeds behind)

My ‘get out of jail’ card for the garden opening is that I’m going to bill it as a wildlife garden, which it is (at least partly), and I’m hoping that the orchids will be out.  The wildlife probably won’t be much in evidence while the garden is busy, though we see plenty of it at quieter times.  There are at least three blackbird families, goodness knows how many sparrows, and probably three robin pairs.  The great tits have raised a brood in our nestbox, and there are blue tits and wrens in the shrubby areas.  The rat that had been visiting kept a low profile after I threw a (very small) stone at it, and apparently succumbed to the neighbours’ poisoned bait.  But we have three hedgehogs visiting – not always amicably (there have been fights!) – in order to drink from the saucers on the patio every evening, and to fossick around in the undergrowth.

Hot and cold

The British summer is said to be two hot days and a thunderstorm.  Despite the arrival of the swallows (and house martins), it’s not summer yet; but the sunny weather culminated in a couple of very warm days (T-shirts), a few distant rumbles of thunder, and now cold northerly winds (full winter gardening kit).  It is supposed to warm up again, gradually, but without the temperatures in the mid-20s (centigrade) that we had last week.  It’s still dry, and pots are gasping for water.

The sun has brought on the flowers; we had lily-of-the-valley to cut for May Day, and roses are starting to bloom.  The dahlias are leafing up well in the greenhouse, but I’ll wait until the current chilly spell is past before trusting them to the great outdoors.

The cooking apple tree

The apples are also in flower; the big cooking apple tree is in better shape (literally) this year, since I removed a few of the lower branches in this winter’s pruning.  The little apple tree, which is slowly dying off, has flowered quite nicely, and I’ve cut away the dead bits to help it along a little.  The plum tree also flowered well, and the fruit seems to have set, thanks to a lack of frosts.

Climbing frames

In the veg plot, canes are in place for the climbing plants; pea ‘Alderman’ is already sown, under the slightly lop-sided left-hand structure, while the right-hand one is waiting for the summer beans (which are sprouting in the greenhouse, but won’t be put outside until the weather warms up).  The last broccoli plant, in between them, still has some usable heads on it, but will go to the compost bins soon, along with the kale (further to the right, out of the picture) which is well in flower.  Tomatoes and courgette plants are growing well, but indoors; it’s still much too cold at nights even in the greenhouse for them.

The dry weather hasn’t done much for the window-box, which I keep forgetting to water; I’ll need to put the summer planting in there soon.  Fortunately the daffodil leaves have already died back.  The wildlife also needs water; our hedgehog has been coming in the evenings for a good long drink!

A thirsty visitor

Sweet harmony

 

Stars of the show - the van Eycks

The heavy rain the other night – the first real downpour for a long time, though we’ve had a showery spell these past few days – finished off the early ‘Emperor’ tulips, which had been fading anyway.  The current stars of the show are the two ‘van Eyck’ varieties, ‘Mystic vE’ and ‘Lady vE’, in sweet-shop pink shades.  Their partner, ‘Paul Scherer’, is only just starting to bloom, with much smaller flowers, so will be a latecomer to the party, but in fact the two vEs are doing just fine by themselves, flowering in sweet harmony.  They’re new varieties to me; I like to try one or two unfamiliar ones every year, to find new favourites.  ‘Mystic van Eyck’ is a bit wishy-washy; I would find it uninspiring by itself, but with the much stronger pink ‘Lady van Eyck’ the two set each other off very nicely.  And usefully, the shocking combination of ‘Prinses Irene’ and ‘Doll’s Minuet’, in the neighbouring pot, are not yet doing their thing, otherwise the two pots together would be a real eye-opener!

Underplanting (or actually, overplanting, since I put them in above the bulbs last December) with forget-me-nots has worked very well indeed; the forget-me-not flowers are a lovely foil to the tulips.  The sparrows like them too; they’ve been eating the flowers with relish!

Sparrows nibbling the forget-me-nots

Those tulips planted in the ground haven’t done quite as well as I had hoped; ‘World Friendship’ has a few blooms, while ‘Pieter de Leur’ is bright but very short in stature and ‘Ballerina’ hasn’t flowered at all.  The dry winter and spring might have something to do with that, though I would have expected the pots to have the same problem.

Tulipa 'Pieter de Leur' - a bit short

My recent big job has been to weed the raspberry patch; the easy end (not many raspberry canes in there) has been done, with the crowded end still to do!  It should look fairly presentable when complete.  The blackbirds and robins have appreciated the effort, checking the area for insects and worms; the first two little blackbirds are out of the nest, following mum around in search of food.  I’ve stopped putting out breakfast for the birds, apart from the blackbirds’ apple, to deter the woodpigeons, who are coming in too large numbers; a younger pigeon has chased off Lefty, who reappears occasionally for a drink but no longer comes for food.  He may come back later in the year, as he has done some years in the past.  I’m also trying to keep the pheasants off the veg patch; our handsome male has a harem of six females with him, in a different sort of sweet harmony. 

The swallows are back; three overflew the garden the other day.

Feast or famine

Today it rained.  For only a few minutes, and very very lightly, but it rained.  It is supposed to rain a little tomorrow, and even more the next day and for at least a week after that.

Last year, that would have been unremarkable.  Last year was wet.  Very wet.  This year – not so much, in fact there has been hardly any rain for some weeks.  Cloud and fog, yes, but very little rain.  The ground is hard and dry, and I’ve been watering the pots and seedbeds to keep things going.  Not that I’m complaining; the weather has been mostly sunny, although often with a chilly wind from the north or north-east, and I’ve been able to work in the garden most days when time permits.

This is a pond.  Or not ....

As I noted in a recent post, the water level in the pond has dropped considerably.  I’ve given up trying to keep it topped up; I manage it as a wildlife pond, letting the level go up and down with the weather as happens in nature.  But watching a blackbird run across the surface one day brought home to me just how badly it needed attention.  I’ve taken advantage of the dry weather to get in there and tackle the problem, before the rains fill it up again.

The main problem is the iris; a lovely plant, but it has spread itself right across the pond, filling the whole thing with its roots and swamping the only other plant in there, a water lily.  When I got down to it, it turned out that the vegetation not only supported the weight of a passing blackbird, but in most places it supported my weight, which is not inconsiderable.  There is water, but most of the area is solid root.  The only way to get it out is to take the old bread-knife to the plant and cut it out, bit by bit; this is hampered by the roots having wrapped themselves around some of the big pebbles that are supposed to be covering the pond margins but many of which have slipped down into the water.  Chipping them out of the rootballs is a slow process, and I’ve only managed to clear about a third of the pond area, and that mostly around the edges; the difficult bit will be the deeper central area, where the roots go right down to the bottom of the pond.  There are also at least two plastic pots in there, the original containers of the iris and water lily, and the bread-knife won’t cut through those.  Still, a start has been made, and I hope to move forward as the weather allows!

A start has been made!

I took a break from pond clearance – it’s hard work on the back – to attend to the sickly euonymus nearby.  On close inspection it looks like a scale insect attack, though I can’t see any actual insects.  There’s a lot of healthy new growth at the ends of long bare, scaly, stems, so the plant doesn’t look as if it’s about to die, and there are also fresh shoots low down.  So I’ve cut it back hard (and taken cuttings as insurance), and am hoping that it will regenerate.

The euonymus, cut back

The dry weather has not been entirely to the liking of the birds; the blackbirds in particular are feeding nestlings, and finding it difficult to dig up worms for them.  They and the robins have been following my gardening progress with great interest, and clearing the pond edges has thrown up some nice damp corners for them to dig around in.  The mystery of the blackbirds’ apples disappearing from the patio has been solved; this evening, before I had gone out to cover the apple up for protection, a rat appeared and bounded away, rather awkwardly, with the remains of the apple in its mouth, taking it under the hedge.  Some of the apples are nearly as big as the rat, so it can’t be an easy takeaway!

Well, hello Molly!

Molly-the-Witch - back where she belongs

 Some years ago, a kind neighbour gave me a little of her Paeonia mlokosewitschii.  It’s a yellow peony from the Caucasus, and being a bit of a mouthful for English-speakers, it’s generally known as Molly-the-Witch.  I didn’t treat Molly well.  She was left in her very small pot for some years, while I dithered about what to do with her; last year I finally decided to plant her in the new patio bed, along with other waifs and strays looking for a home.  And, after a few weeks there, she disappeared.

Ah well, my own fault.  Not the first time that my indecision resulted in a plant dying.  Anyway, the other plants in that bed filled out and made quite a good show, without Molly.

The other day I took a break from weeding around my other peony, ‘Sarah Bernhardt’, and putting in stakes to stop her from flopping too much.  While I had my hand fork out, I paused to remove a couple of self-seeded dead-nettles in the patio bed, and took a look round.  Wait a minute – isn’t that Molly, displaying a couple of very fine leaves behind the old verbena stems?

Well, hello Molly.  It’s so nice to have you back where you belong.  Now all I have to do is to ensure that the plants round about don’t crowd her out …

Camellia williamsii 'Donation'

Molly isn’t the only plant coming on apace.  The pink Camelia williamsii ‘Donation’ in its pot in the front garden has several lovely blooms, possibly because last year was so wet that it was well watered.  The other camellia has still done nothing, though.  The late daffodils ‘Jenny’ and ‘Thalia’ are out, though ‘Elka’ is a disappointment this year; there are plenty of leaves, but only one bloom (and the Crocus angustifolia planted with it have vanished – I blame the squirrel).  The cowslips are starting, and various other primulas that probably seeded from them are well in flower.  The first tulips are also coming into flower – the white ‘Exotic Emperor’, now in their third year, have six blooms, while last year’s ‘Orange Emperor’ bulbs, left undisturbed in their pot, are blazing finely.  And the plum tree and osmanthuses are also coming into flower; with the other spring bloomers, brunnera, doronicum, bergenia and the rest, colour is coming back to the garden!

One solitary Narcissus 'Elka'

Tulipa 'Exotic Emperor'

Tulipa 'Orange Emperor'