Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Davesnave

It's a hooley here too, but not much wet stuff yet, so I can only find a single blob on our rose. Think more will be coming soon.....

If I time things right, the remaining stuff might have to stay in the van another day.

phoebe1989seb

Unusually for Wales, I've no rain-kissed roses to offer here....we had some fairly heavy rain on Saturday night, but it was gone by morning and nothing since. It's sunny this morning but not exactly hot 🙄

Saturday afternoon we dropped in to our recently discovered garden centre to hunt for pink astrantias - I've left it rather late so wasn't hopeful, but surprisingly they had ten in stock. Sadly we need more like forty, as these are to add another layer of interest to the four central rose beds. We left it and I'll buy bare roots for next year.

We did come away with a Sambucus plus a few brightly coloured additions - mostly destined for the courtyard planters - now the Montana and honeysuckle are finished flowering it's needing a boost of colour till the ramblers take over!

Here's a (not great) pic of Patty's Plum, also in the rose bed....
The astrantias we do have...And The Lady of Shalott (with friend!)...

Davesnave

The rain hasn't arrived in time to save me, so all the tiles are in situ. Viewed objectively, getting 15% off for not requiring delivery wasn't a bad deal, saving over £200, diesel included + 3 Shredded Wheats. 

Might get some more seeds in now, as the deluge will surely prevent me working outdoors and the polytunnel beckons. It will be noisy though!

We lost 'Patty's Plum' some years ago having had it for donkey's years. Patty, AKA Mrs Patricia Marrow was known to us as we'd visit her chaotic nursery and garden quite frequently. It was a veritable treasure trove with nothing priced, or even labelled until you purchased it! She'd give you a good look over and then decide what to charge.

We need more characters like her. She can't still be around, but was selling well into her 80s when we left Somerset.

goldfinches

Steady and very wet rain plus cold here, I've been needing hot water bottles for the last few nights and am back in my winter clothes too. Every slug for miles around seems to have congregated on the Meadow paths so I went for a walk along the river this afternoon and spotted this gorgeous foxglove in a front garden.



My photo doesn't do it justice, the insides are a lovely shade of pale apricot in real life and really glowed against the grey drizzle today.

I'm very envious of everyone's roses and really enjoying your photos.

phoebe1989seb

Beautiful foxglove, goldfinches! I know what you mean about being chilly, I'm back to jumpers too and was tempted to light the wood burner in the snug yesterday 😮

Still dry here though. Last evening between us we got all the pots planted up....or I should say we planted the things we'd purchased but still need a couple more 😎 Plus, DH has decided to put lavenders (instead of his usual geraniums) in the pots on the deep outside window sill this year, so that's even more to buy 🙄

Here's a few more of our roses (Desdemona, Mary Rose and Royal Jubilee)....

Farway

Lovely lot of pics, summer really under way by the looks of the flowers on here

Sun was out but has since clouded over, but at least it gave me chance to clear some of my tubs & get the Saxa dwarf French beans in, enough to give me a taste, and my Hurst Green Shaft peas are nearly ready, pods swelling, maybe this weekend?

Now the grapes are starting to form I've made the first pruning just past the potential bunches, it's only just twigged with me that because Lakemont is seedless it may not have flowers like the Muscat one does, just mini grape clusters which will swell over time? Hope that's the case or I'm in for another blank year

Ta Da, trumpets please, first ripe strawberry spotted, I'm having that tomorrow, fingers crossed the slugs & birds miss it. There are others just turning colour now, in time for Wimbledon, which I don't watch

Tied in the tomatoes again now they've finally got going and more flowers opened.

Today's picture is one of my geraniums, grown from seed in 2019 and settled in now, these ones are in pots on the front steps but others are in the rough border and also in the volunteer border and all loved by bees

wort

Some beautiful pics from all of you.  That geranium is a really dark one Farway, I have 3 different pink ones, a white and two purple with darker veins on the petals. They give such a long flowering season. 

Ganga, as Dave says the Sambucus nigra/black lace elder can be pruned as needed, I let mine grow then lope off lower branches, or anything I don’t want, which is my usual pruning method😂
there are some beautiful peonies out round here, most envious ! One garden is full , three different colors a pale pink, a white and a dark cerise.
The rain has finally hit us here in the sunny nwest 🤣 the drizzle started after my walk luckily, but means I can’t do the rose planting out, I have a David Austin tranquility rose my friends gave me after hubby died that is in a pot but I have decided it will do better in the ground. I’m not sure there’s been enough rain to wet the soil too much. I’m just watching all the birds in the garden, I’m on high alert because my furry friend is outside😼😸

Davesnave

Drizzling here in Devon this morning too, wort. I saw the farmers across the valley trying to get their haylage/silage in yesterday, but they had to give up at dusk as the clouds rolled in and one whole field remains. Should be OK though by next week, when I expect ours to be cut too. I love this time around mid-summer, but it's always slightly nerve-wracking, weather-wise.

DB is heading off on a parental support mission today and DD2 is heading down the M5 in the opposite direction to sort stuff out here for her wedding in September.....err, maybe! That's another thing hanging in the balance....

Farway

Sunny & warm earlier but clouded over since

I harvested my ripe strawberry, scoffed right off the plant, had to get in quick before the wild life arrives

My poor old runners have lace curtains for leaves, but nature seems to be looking after them somehow, despite the tops having been scoffed they are now branching out sideways and could become bush style.

I dropped some surplus plants round to a friends, and the self same runners I gave her are lush and look just fine . Sods law that

Earlier on I was up at the volunteer border, just checking & buying some milk, however I think we may have an orchid in the grass, it will be self sown of course

Photo below, can anyone identify it for me? Bit like birds to me in that all birds are brown and all wild orchids are purple

If it helps, it's in short grass with poor soil, in Hampshire

phoebe1989seb

Was sunny here first thing, but cloudy - but still very warm - now with drizzle threatening. I was planning a bonfire, but really can't be bothered 🙄

The Sarah Bernhardt peonies are opening at last and some of the old roses (Ferdinand Pichard, Tuscany Superb, William Lobb and Rosa Gallica Officinalis are the ones I can think of, off the top of my head) have more buds than in previous years 😃

Our *baby* gunnera (planted in 2018, moved to a more spacious location in 2020) has become huge (3m high) with some leaves spanning 1.5m!

Gunnera in the jungley part of the garden....

One of the peonies (this plant has 36 buds/flowers 😮).....