maddergenealogist

AKA The Garden in June plus The Garden in July.

I didn’t spend much time in the garden in June. For one week I was away on holiday and the final week was spent glued to the TV by a certain Andy Murray!

Highlight of the month in the garden was the Wisteria. In line with the rest of this year it was several weeks late and waited until the start of June to flower. It is debatable whether it is worth the work (pruning in the winter and then the continual battle with growth in the summer) but when it flowers, it seems to be worth it.

The Wisteria at its peak

It was planted at the back of the garage to climb along the top of the pergola, but we fight a losing battle to stop it going along the top of the garage. It is also trained across the garden and over an arch – we have stopped it here as it won’t grow down the other side of the arch.

By the end of June the roses were in flower. Here are some of them.

A Selection of roses from around the garden

As July started, so did a hot spell that lasted most of the month. For some reason this inspired me to do more work in the garden – I think it was the pressure to get things done while it was cool, with the reward that I could then sit in the shade and relax.

First up was a large bush of Choisya Ternata. It had grown a bit too big and I had promised it a hair cut when it finished. Once I started I discovered that it consisted of long stems with leaves only on the end. After approval I was allowed to make a more close pruning.

Overgrown Choisya

Inside the Choisya

Did I go too far?

It looked drastic once I had finished. Would it survive? I’ll let you know in a later post.

While we’ve been in the garden we have been entertained by a couple of young blackbirds. I think the nest was somewhere in the hedge as we saw the parents flying in and out earlier. The youngsters spent a lot of time performing acrobatics in the Amelencher trying to reach the berries it had produced.

“Mum said there was a nice bush somewhere round here – wonder where it went?”

We have also had a pigeon nesting in the garden. We should have got rid of it – we have enough of them already!

Pigeon on the nest

July is the time for Lilies, however I think this year was too hot for them. They came and went very quickly.

Lily Regale in full flower

The main border at the end of July

This is the border at the end of July. A few plants are flowering: a new orange red-hot-poker and a Monkshood towards the left hand end. The marigolds at the front have been flowering for ages. I’m afraid I can’t take the credit for these – I found a clump of weeds seedlings and I nearly pulled them up but thought I’d see what appeared. A seed head must have escaped from a nearby garden. It pays not to be too tidy.

Dominating this border is the Echinops Ritro – it is practically the only thing that I left in the border when I dug it up last autumn. The bees and butterflies love it.

No room left on the Echinops Ritro

I had replanted several Hemerocallis (Day Lily) in the border, hoping I had separated different ones. So far, judging by the flowers, they all seem to be the same variety.

Orange Hemerocallis – popping up everywhere

Because of the hot weather we have been having a lot of meals outside. This is the view from the pergola during a summer lunch.

View from the Pergola – note the Wisteria over the arch, with a blue clematis through it.

Something to remember during the winter!