On the wing

The big explosion of butterflies predicted in the last post hasn't happened.  There are plenty of whites and a few peacocks; and today there was a tortoiseshell.  But no red admirals.  I hope we get some more butterflies.  On the other hand, there are plenty of wasps - most of them eating the plums (of which there are lots, fortunately).

I came home today to find flying ants on the patio.  The sparrows and the robin were delighted.  The birds have become less insistent on being fed in the mornings, and just today I was wondering whether it was time to ease back on the food; when I put out this morning's offerings there were no takers at all, although the food does all disappear over the course of the day.  But the ants were obviously a real treat, although a brief one; a couple of hours later they were gone.

A less welcome winged visitor appeared briefly in the small apple tree one day this week - a big female sparrowhawk.  Fortunately none of the other birds were around (they probably saw her coming).  She might have been responsible for the dead vole found round the back of the garage a few days ago; there again, it could very probably have been next door's cat.  There's probably a vole residence somewhere around there, as something small and furry scooted into the undergrowth when I was poking around there at the weekend.

Rose 'Golden Showers' - in its good phase

On the plant front, the Crocosmia is tailing off, the white-flowered plant whose name I can never remember (it's somewhere in a previous post) is just starting, and the autumn flowers (Sedum, Echinacea) are not quite there yet.  All I've been able to come up with for vases are a few sweet peas ('Royal Wedding', a two-tone violet blue, is doing nicely), some calendulas and rowan berries; and I couldn't resist cutting a couple of stems of the 'Moonlight' runner bean, which has pretty ivory and cream flowers.  I'm not surprised beans used to be grown as ornamentals.  There are also still some intermittent roses on the repeat-flowering plants, especially 'Golden Showers'.  It has done its usual thing this year: the first flush of flowers, and all the leaves, succumbing to black spot and looking dreadful, but then the plant recovers and produces a second flush with lovely clean foliage and more flowers.

   On the subject of foliage, building work has necessitated a lot of my pots being moved.  Some are grouped on the patio, and are making quite a statement just from their foliage: bronze sedge, variegated hosta, grey-leaved Anthemis and the purple Heuchera.  It sounds a horrible mix, and it's not a combination I would willingly go for, but it does show how much of an impact foliage can make.

Peasant gardening

Oh dear, just realised it has been nearly a month since I posted last.  The big heat lasted about three weeks in all, followed by mostly warm weather, mostly sunny with a few showery days and a couple of big downpours; some thunderstorms too (one of which damaged our broadband access, which is my excuse for not having updated this).  There have been cool winds at times which have kept us eating mostly indoors, but we've been taking our chances when we can.

The garden is currently in its quiet mode, with the midsummer flowers gone and the late summer ones still not yet there.  The Crocosmia 'Lucifer' is out in all its glory, as is its companion Lilium henryi, and the Francoa is in bloom, but otherwise things are a bit quiet.  The next event will be the Buddleia, which is just coming into flower.  I have succumbed to a few impulse plant buys recently but not yet done anything with them; and I'm afraid I just haven't got round to summer displays in the pots this year, partly because the tulips were so late in dying back.  There's only the windowbox with its usual display of Mesembryanthemums, which have done miserably this year (too dry?? - but the reason I plant them is that they're supposed to be drought-tolerant!).

My vegetable gardening this year is best described as peasant gardening.  The veg plot has been left rather unattended this year, so most of it is out of commission; there's a couple of rows of broad beans with some dill and coriander at their feet, a little wigwam of the runner/French bean cross 'Moonlight' (in very pretty flower but not yet fruiting) and a couple of French beans; two patches of potatoes (which won't have liked the dry weather), some garlic which is ready to be dug up, some leeks which were never thinned, and two winter squash plants, one coming on nicely and one still tiny.  Most of these have been tucked into whatever relatively weed-free corner I could find.  The courgettes (one huge plant and two still quite small) are cohabiting with the sweet peas and pinks in the old herb garden. It's all rather haphazard - rather like those little plots you see in Italy where someone has put in a row of beans, a couple of tomato plants and a few cabbages in whatever bit of ground they can find.  Next year it will be better .... (as I always say ...).

I managed to salvage a couple of colander-fuls of gooseberries and a few raspberries, even though a fledging blackbird tried to defend the latter from me; he really didn't want to leave them when I approached.  The plum crop looks like being good this year, but the apples will be small.

A nice sit down

The birds seem to have thrived this year.  The robins and blackbirds are now moulting but the sparrows are still feeding young and even mating.  There are plenty of young starlings about, too.  Some of the woodpigeons have become quite trusting, even bathing in the patio birdbaths (which are really much too small for a woodpigeon); we came home one day and found two of them just having a nice sit down on the lawn quite near to the house.

The lavender, which is now just going over, has attracted large numbers of bees

Small Whites on the lavender

(particularly honey bees or something very like them) and, in the last couple of weeks, white butterflies (mostly small whites but the occasional large white too).  There have been one or two peacocks and one day we had a comma, but the big explosion of butterflies is still to come - should be in the next few days as the Buddleia gets going. 

Hotswolds

After such a run of dismal summers - since 2007 - we'd almost forgotten what summer weather was like.  It continues to be hot and dry, meals are still outdoor events and the watering can is in regular use.  There were a few thundery-looking clouds on Sunday afternoon but the sky then cleared again.  I've been weeding in the shade when possible and generally trying to keep everything alive.

Peony 'Sarah Bernhardt'

The roses are in full flood, and in the long grass yesterday I spotted three blooms on peony 'Sarah Bernhardt', which I had omitted to stake (and feed).  Poor Sarah has a hard life; I must do better for her next year.  The best of the blooms is now in a vase indoors: a huge pink, scented powderpuff and really impressive.  The Polemonium is seeding nicely in among all the grass and self-sown geraniums; that's another plant in need of rescuing next year.

On the edibles front, the broad beans are just coming to picking size, the gooseberries are nearly ripe and there are two big trusses of blackcurrants which I've protected as best I can - but not quite well enough, as the thrush demonstrated to me yesterday by slipping inside the mesh and plucking one to feed to its little one.  Baby thrush is very demanding and very vocal, so I couldn't be too angry.

There are still young blackbirds being fed too, and at least two dunnocks, not to mention all the sparrows.  A week ago we had a huge flock of young starlings fly into the holly tree, and another day there was an even huger flock of crows passed over.  The swifts continue to feed around here; two of them were coming very low round the house the other day.

Al fresco

The sun is shining, it's very warm and Andy Murray has won Wimbledon.  It's summer.

Hay while the sun shines

We've had unbroken summery weather since late last week; since Saturday all meals have been al fresco at the bottom of the garden (though work regime starts again tomorrow and workday breakfasts are always on the run).  Temperatures today were mid-20s in the shade, though an easterly breeze kept it bearable.  Farmers are making the proverbial hay while the sun shines (I should add that the nettles in the foreground of the photo are in the field edge on the other side of the fence, not in my garden!), attracting a fair number of seagulls and crows, and the sparrowhawk sitting on the telegraph pole, but I saw a blackbird gathering food there too, so the usual resident birds are benefitting also.  The young starlings have started to appear, and the sparrows and robins continue to feed their little ones; chaffinches are about, and there was also a family of goldfinches (including little ones wanting feeding) round the pond this afternoon.  Have I mentioned before that we've had the usual young greater spotted woodpeckers around? and we heard a green one yaffling somewhere the other day.  There have been a few swifts around too, as well as the usual house martins and swallows, and a partridge has appeared in the past few days.

Most of the roses are now in flower, the Big Yellow Thing, the Phlomis and the Stachys are coming out and I keep hoping that the peony will open soon too.  Today I noticed that the Thalictrum, half-hidden behind rose 'Mme Hardy', is fully out, complementing the Buddleia alternifolia which is just starting to bloom.  This weekend's work included thinning the apples -  not too much to do there this year - and to start pruning the cordons.  It's a bit early for that, but I discovered a lot of aphid attack and some nasty-looking blotchy leaves on them and thought that some more air in there would be helpful (not to mention getting rid of as many of the horrible bits as possible); each tree was also treated to two bucketfuls of water as the ground is starting to get really dry.  I also planted out some beans - trying 'Moonlight' and 'Ferrari' this year - and some of the ornamentals I bought the other week - Dianthus 'Devon Dove' (white) and 'Cranmere Pool' (two-tone pink) among others.  The old herb patch is turning into a scented garden, although there are a few non-scenteds (notably the courgettes!) in there this year.

Still too many weeds and not enough time to get them out.

Just-in-time weeding

I practise just-in-time weeding.  Given the task of keeping on top of what has become a very weedy plot, I manage by targeting specific weeds just before they can set seed and make the problem worse.  The vetch is very nearly all out (that is to say, the flowers and most of the stems ripped up; the roots of course are another matter entirely).  The herb robert is coming out as and when I spot it, and the lesser willowherb too.  I've been tacking the creeping buttercups, and the herb bennet is next in line before its burrs can ripen.  The grasses are also in flower; in what is meant to be an open space by the hedge they are waist-high in some places, with their plumes providing a romantically summery haze around the geraniums (which are also weeds in this case).  So far I'm keeping ahead of the seeding ...

Windy spells have knocked the poppies around, but the roses continue to come out: the albas and Old Blush China are in flower, Mme Hardy is just starting and Comte de Chambord and Gallica Officinalis are showing colour on the buds.  And the honeysuckle, which I always forget to mention because it's out of sight at the bottom of the garden, is in full flower, as is the purple Verbascum under the ash tree (it has made a rather better showing this year). 

The sweet peas planted last week seem to have settled in.  To my surprise I also found two winter squash seedlings; these had failed to germinate indoors and before we went on holiday I dumped the seed tray outside out of the way.  Only noticed last week that two of them had in fact come up; so they have been put into a clear bit of ground in the veg plot.  I'm also trying to provide a better screen for the gas tank.  Some years ago we bought a Photinia (I say 'we': it wasn't actually my choice) and it has sat unloved in its pot since then for want of anywhere to put it.  A Buddleia and several ash seedlings germinated in there, and it looks as if the root competition has kept the Photinia's rootball small; this made it ideal to plant in the very shallow, stony soil in front of the tank.  I hope it's happier there.  I'm also trying a row of rosemary plants in front, which should like those conditions and help hide the tank once they grow up.

Pondlife 1: Damselflies on the iris

There were several damselflies (I counted four at one point) around at the weekend, especially near the pond.  The pond life is doing quite well; there are at least two smooth newts in there, and the iris and waterlilies are in flower.  On the bird front, there is still much feeding of little ones, with the sparrows, blackbirds and robin very active; a baby robin flew into the summerhouse at the weekend and I had to leave the door open to let it escape (which I think it did, though you can never be sure).

The weather has been on the cool side mostly, but is to warm up for the next week or so.  Dare we hope for summer?

Pondlife 2: Waterlily

Umbellifer proliferation

My rather erratic seed-sowing has been more successful this year than usual.  I tried two of the currently fashionable Umbellifers, Orlaya and Ammi, and both have given me a few plants.  Although the Ammi are still very small, I've planted out both lots in the new bed at the bottom of the garden, where I have vague notions of romantically billowing drifts of the stuff.  There's already one Umbellifer in there, Sweet Cicely, which was supposed to billow romantically under the Rugosa rose at the end of the bed; however the rose is showing more interest in suckering than in growing upwards, or flowering, and Cicely is towering over it.  A very impressive plant she is too; I've left a few seedheads on in the hope of a few more plants.  Meanwhile there's also lots of cow parsley over the fence.  Maybe I've overdone the Umbellifers.

Poppy 'Allegro'

The earlier spring flowers are now over, and the big red poppies, the Veronica, Sweet Rocket, foxgloves
and the Penstemons are coming out (also the Alchemilla mollis, of which I have far too much).  The early single roses are going and the more showy ones are starting: Gertrude Jekyll and Alba Semiplena, with buds starting to show on Felicia and Queen of Denmark.  The Wisteria is still going strong, as are the Aquilegias; a couple of new self-sown ones have come up under the hedge, a pale pink and white bicolour, and a deep purple and white which is very striking.  Need to find a better home for them.

Veronica

Clearing out and ripping up continues.  The front bed by the drive entrance has been tidied, and the 'Tutankhamun' sweet peas planted to scramble up the side of the Philadelphus (which needed a lot of dead wood cut out).  I hope that works.  The other, bigger, sweet peas have been planted on two wigwams, one down by the honeysuckle and one in what was the herb garden (for want of space anywhere else at the moment).

Rose 'Gertrude Jekyll'

Left to my own devices the other weekend, I went plant-shopping :)).  Some scented pinks, a couple of old favourites, Geranium renardii and Allium karataviense, which I used to have but lost, and some Perovskia which I fancy will withstand the cold east winds down at the bottom of the garden.  (It occurs to me that Angelica might be good here too, since it grows wild in Norway - but it might be too big, and anyway it's yet another Umbellifer ...).  I also came away with a few other impulse buys to brighten things up a bit.  We'll see how they do.

The weather went cool and windy - very windy at times - again, with a lot of showers, but the last couple of days have been warmer and bright.

Bee on the vetch

The birds are still feeding little ones and greatly enjoying their breakfast on the patio.  There seem to be more bees (and bee mimics - can't tell the difference) this year; I'm gradually working through the vetch, pulling it up before it can seed, although the bees are still very keen on it.  They do have the comfrey, though, and the cotoneasters which they also like; and there are now plenty of other flowers for them to feed on.  A couple of butterflies have appeared from time to time - whites, or perhaps female orange-tips (I've seen a male a few times) - and there was an electric blue damselfly in the garden today.  And this evening a hedgehog was snuffling around under the plum tree - the first I've seen this year.  Good to know we've got one around.

Was that summer?

The rain finally went away, followed by mostly bright and sunny weather with some pleasant temperatures, at least when the sun was shining and the wind not blowing.  The sunshine is still tempered by cool winds, though it did feel reasonably summery for a few days.  Back to mizzly rain and bright spells, and a rather fresher feel.  Was that summer?

One of the 'posh' Aquilegias

The Wisteria

Tulip 'Orange Princess'

Work in the garden has mostly been trying to keep on top of the weeds as they come into flower; there have been clear-up campaigns against the cow parsley (pretty, but lots and lots of it clearly visible in the field beyond the bottom of the garden, so I don't need to grow it myself), the nettles, the herb robert and the herb bennet.  I also need to tackle the vetch that is flowering rampantly under the dining room window, but the bees have been enjoying it so much that I've left it for them for the moment.  The bees are also flocking to the comfrey which is in full flower.  Other colour is coming from the last of the spring flowers - Doronicums and honesty, and the Brunnera (which also needs to be cut down before it seeds too much).  Coming out now are the Aquilegias, Sweet Rocket, Wisteria and the first roses - 'Mary Queen of Scots' and Rosa altaica (in spite of the hard pruning I gave it).  The last of the tulips are also still here.  Those in the big pot have taken a bit of a battering from the wind, but 'Black Hero' is continuing to stand up well; it's rapidly becoming a favourite with its nearly black, shiny, dark flowers.  On the patio, 'Professor Roentgen' was already past its best when we got back from holiday, but I've been impressed by 'Orange Princess', which has lovely glaucous leaves and has also stood up well to the weather.  'Super Parrot' hasn't been a big success; the leaves have gone over very fast, and the flower stems are too short for the flowers to show properly (perhaps lack of water?).

Another big 'tidying up' job has been cutting back the big Osmanthus, which was getting to 10ft tall and in need of bringing down to size (and into shape).  In the event I took out rather more growth than I had intended, but at least lots of light will get in there now and give it a better chance of a healthy future. 

The big Osmanthus, before pruning

I'm starting to think that this is likely to be a year of cutting back and digging out - there's a lot that needs renovation.  I would like to get some more colour in the garden too, though.

The birds are still feeding little ones; there are two baby blackbirds around, and probably more in a nest in the ivy on the neighbours' garage wall, facing the kitchen window - a hen blackbird has been taking food in there.  She doesn't seem put off by the large skip that is sitting on our drive in front of her nest (part of indoor renovations going on!), and the associated activity around it.  The sparrows' broods are also coming on well and, while we haven't seen any young starlings yet, they are being very vocal in their nest high up on the gable end.  A thrush has appeared from time to time, and a jay visited briefly the other morning, to the great concern of the blackbird, which fought it off.

We have a self-sown Shining Cranesbill in the path under the dining room window.  I wonder if I can get it out and transplant it?