Awful weather - typical Brits talk

Woolsery

I have a similar nasturtium, Farway, but I can't compete with that photo!

Funnily enough RAS, we attended a clematis event yesterday, having had a hand in arranging it with an old friend, who's a specialist nurseryman/breeder. The number of new clematis varieties is mind-boggling, but Nelly Moser remains your most likely candidate. We're planting our first clematis here to see how it manages with our quick to dry-out soil. There will be a lot of organic stuff under and around it.

Looks like we're in for a dry, settled period now, with scorchio on Friday. Then it might rain here enough to make the hay grow.

liberty_lily

Sunny spells here, but we too are expecting the scorchio conditions on Friday 🌞

Yesterday DH took a surprise day off and although he worked some more on the demo in the morning, in the afternoon we visited a garden centre in search for inspiration for something to replace the ilex crenata cloud trees by the gate. We already had a few ideas and tbh weren't hopeful of finding anything there, and as predicted - apart from a rather lovely (no price label 🙄), fat yew cone of some 8' high - saw nothing to get excited about. 

I'm rather wary of spending too much (again!) out there, as an acquaintance recently suggested that our not-so-nice neighbour might be guilty of poisoning our cloud trees. Apparently he has form in that department......

Anyway, we did come away with a couple of white astrantia (Star of Billion) to plug gaps in the not-quite-white bed 😉

Today's photo offering from me is the Calycanthus 'Venus' snapped up at 50% off last autumn (we paid £12 iirc)....

Woolsery

Hmmm....now you are showing me "Those you have loved," lily!  Years ago, I grew a Calycanthus from seed and DB made me dig it out because she said it was boring! Mind you, it was the standard brownish-flowered one, not something as pretty as yours. Even the beetle is pretty.

And good news, I found our Rodgersia! It isn't very happy, but that's because we planted it in the shade of the oak tree and then cut the oak down, so it's now in a drier spot. It will be moved in the autumn.

Not much to report here, but visiting my friend with the re-landscaped garden near the coast soon, so keen to find out what survived there in warm, winter-waterlogged clay.

Farway

Lovely photo of the Calycanthus LL, I’ve just looked them up because there’s dead camellia at my volunteer garden, dead because it’s wrong plant, wrong place and gets whacked [semi ring barked] by the mower, I thought of replacing it but finding easy care [neglected all year] grows in dust and rubble and won’t become a triffid shrub is not easy, no rush though

Not much gardening these past few days, trundled garden waste wheelie bin round front for Friday collection if that counts, plus nearly watered the pots at the back but dozed off instead

The lily beetles continue to turn up, but I have missed a few because I’m now removing the poo covered youngsters.

Woolsery

Revelations yesterday at my friend's clay based garden by the coast. The 2 litre pot of Alstroemeria 'Indian Summer' I gave her less than a year ago now covers a space about 5' wide and was in full flower, as it has been most of the time. The normally diminutive Verbena 'Bampton' was already in flower too and looking muscular. Many plants had obviously liked the soil, mild climate and the rain there to produce strapping versions of themselves.

On the other hand, plants like clematis had failed in the thick sticky clay, now dried to hard lumps where dug-over, so there's obviously much work to be done there. I can provide lots of manure-based compost, which will help, but I'd guess some grit would be useful too, and maybe lime? Anyway, friend has little time at present and  other things occupying her mind, so I guess it's fork in some compost for now. At least the winter waterlogging isn't the main issue, because that's unsolvable.

Back here, we've also dried-out, grass seed I sowed hasn't germinated and some flowers have gone over fast. Some do that anyway, so it's a matter of enjoy them while they last....like this Japanese Water Iris.

liberty_lily

That's interesting about what's doing well on your friend's clay soil, Woolsery. I'm tempted to get some alstromerias for the rose beds - they're something we've never grown. Otoh, I've so many packets of seeds to use up, I should perhaps work my way through that stash first!

That Japanese Water Iris is a stunner 😁

Yesterday, in the sweltering heat I finally finished weeding the last rose bed (as well as some painting etc in the courtyard outbuilding 😉) and today I'm pottering again, mostly in the shade of the jungley bed where we seem to have been overrun by strawberries that have sprung up from I don't know where....

The rose beds are a riot of colour right now...

As I touched on before, the Sarah Bernhardt peonies aren't having a good year (although two of the younger plants have a couple of decent buds for the first time), but here's a pic of the best bloom on one of the four year old plants...

twopenny

Wonderful to read what you are all doing. So different in different areas.
That photo of the nasturtium is especially stunning.. We tend to take the easy to grow stuff for granted till you see it up close.
Very little done here. So hot and dry with plants wilting. It's rock hard after months with no rain and not a breeze to be had.
So endless dead heading and thats all I can do.
I've watered but it's not going deep enough and the plants so new. It will keep them alive but that's about all.
I did go round 10 village gardens on Sunday. First open gardens since 2019! It was so good to get back to normal. Deep envy too for some.

Farway

All set for today’s baking sun, I fed & watered all the pots right after breakfast so should be fine for a day or two

I had hoped to take a pic of my white currants, but still not quite ripe, like my cherries and the one strawberry. My plum is looking even worse now, more are turning red & dropping off, and this morning I noticed some dead looking branches. My plan of leaving it just for blossom may not happen if it turns up its toes.

Only other garden news is the garden waste wheelie bin has been emptied, next use will be the summer pruning from the apples, and maybe a dead plum tree

Woolsery

Not sure what I'm doing yet; hiding from the sun probably! I watered-up last night and may move some of the sensitive subjects into the shade, but it's only a day's worth of this heat, apparently.

Wind is right for a bonfire, but I don't think I'll risk it now stuff's so dry. Friends who moved away this week left us a huge trailer load of stuff to burn, as they couldn't do it in the village. Knowing how the village treated them, I think I'd have left a parting gift, but we won't go there with local politics!  

liberty_lily

We also watered last night, although the forecast is only saying 22° max and it's actually quite breezy here too, plus we do have rather a lot of shaded areas 🙄

My plans were always for indoorsy stuff today (moving piles of timber and other building materials ahead of the weekend's work) so - apart from brief interludes when I'll be sitting under the parasol for lunch etc - I've no intention of getting myself scorched!