Too darn hot

We Brits love complaining about the weather, but it’s not often that the complaint is about heat. 

Around the middle of the month, it started to warm up, and for a couple of days we had record-breaking temperatures; 41C (104F) in certain parts of the east of the country, two degrees above the previous record, and 35C here. It’s not likely to impress readers in some countries, but we’re not geared up for that sort of heat; the trains stopped running, for example. Here, we just closed the curtains and stayed indoors, drinking plenty of water. Since then things have cooled down to the low twenties C, which is a lot more manageable. 

Still, the garden is very dry and there is talk of the dreaded hosepipe ban (not that it will be dreaded by us, as we don’t use a hosepipe); there has been a little rain today, some of it quite heavy, but it’s not likely to make much impression on already parched earth. We have taken to walking down the garden by a different route so as not to wear away the usual path to the summerhouse. My over-large collection of pots has been moved into the shade by the back door and I’m collecting waste water in the kitchen to use on the tomatoes (which are doing quite nicely in the greenhouse, and even the two ‘Harzfeuer’ plants in pots on the patio are fruiting well). 

The parched path to the summerhouse

Some plants in the garden are suffering; the violets and Lysimachia clethroides are wilting, but the sedum ‘Herbstfreude’ behind, being a succulent, is still doing fine. I expect the violets will recover (they are spreading too much anyway), and the lysimachia is a bit of a thug and drought is one of the things that keeps it under control; it usually grows back. 

Wilting violets and lysimachia, but upright sedums behind

We’ve been ensuring that there is water available on the patio so that the wildlife can drink and bathe. A squirrel has been coming for an occasional drink and to try to dig up allium bulbs from my pots (without success); it came to the windows to look inside, even though it could see me watching, almost as though it was asking for more food, please! It should be able to tackle the hazelnuts soon; the nuthatches are helping themselves to them, so even though they’re still unripe they ought to be edible. 

Hello there!

Allium bulbs, yum yum

On the subject of edibles: although the veg garden doesn’t have much to offer, we do have lettuces, broad beans, the first French beans and courgettes; and the shallots and garlic have been dug up for storing. The raspberries are nearly all over, but the plums are ripening fast in the warmth – more than we can keep up with so I think jam will be in order!

Alas, poor Peter

Sadly, Peter Rabbit is no more.  He had been a most entertaining fixture in the garden for a few weeks, hanging out around the veg plot and occasionally venturing out onto the lawn (and into next-door’s garden, to the annoyance of their dog, who wasn’t allowed out to chase him).  He nibbled some of the veg plants, which had to be protected, but seemed happy with clover and grasses on the lawn; and from time to time he would chase the pigeons, apparently just for fun (the pigeons mostly ignored him).  Then, on Sunday morning he was found stretched out on one of the veg plot paths near the rhubarb, quite dead; there was no sign of him having been attacked in any way, and we assume that he had just died.

The difficulty of finding a suitable spot to bury deceased wildlife in this garden has already been mentioned.  A place under one of the osmanthuses was selected, where the vegetation needed clearing in any case; a lot of the Buddleja alternifolia had to be cut out (and about time too), and a quick decision taken on the self-sown hypericum (dig out!).  A suitably deep-ish hole was dug and Peter was laid to rest, with a Geranium nodosum (little pale pink flowers, likes shade) on top.  We had got used to looking out for him and now miss him.

Meanwhile, the garden marches on.  June had a couple of warm spells – the usual ‘two hot days and a thunderstorm’ – but overall was rather chilly and windy, with some showery rain; July is shaping up to be quite a lot warmer.  We’ve just had a few days of heat, followed by a drizzly day today, with more heat from tomorrow.  Real rain has been in short supply, and it is once more an uphill battle to keep all the little pots watered; I shall have to bed the plants out temporarily into one of the empty veg beds, though I know only too well how easy it is to leave them there and let them become fixtures that are not easily removed!  The bottom end of the veg plot has already morphed into a sort of ‘cutting garden’, with antirrhinums, foxgloves and sweet William making a bright corner in sweet-shop colours and providing vasefuls of flowers.  Should I leave them there?  Might not be a bad idea!

A colourful corner

The unmown area under the plum tree is full of orchids (pyramidal orchids); I reckon there are over 60.  The photo gives a poor impression and only shows a few of them, as the shade and the long grass makes it difficult to get a good view, but it’s a splendid show. 

Orchids under the plum tree

The roses are a little past their peak, but still blooming freely.  I always forget to celebrate Rosa dupontii up the side of the house; it has little scent, but it’s a lovely flower (and the bees think so too, nb one in the photo!).  The sweet peas have also provided a few posies for the house: red, white and blue (pity they weren’t in bloom for the Jubilee!).

Red, white and blue sweet peas

Rosa dupontii

I have done one job that has been put off for too long: repotting the azalea  (A. ‘Rosebud’) in fresh compost.  It might be too late, as the top growth is quite sparse, but it’s an old plant (from our last garden, so over 30 years old) and it has done well.  I hope to do the camellias as well, once they’re past their flowering time.

Fine double rainbow this evening - pot of gold down in the field ....