Hello! How can it possibly be July already? We have been very busy with our club work, and then I had a bit of a weird midsummer birthday after inadvertently taking too much aspirin (in an effort to deal with an immovable migraine) and giving myself salicylate poisoning. Definitely not recommended! It has taken me a while to get better, and I’m still not quite myself, to be honest, but I have really been enjoying working on the essays for our Summer of Mystery club, as well as planning our final pattern photoshoots. I’m also continuing to be uplifted by our beautiful garden here at the mill which despite the sometimes less than optimal “summer” weather, continues to delight.
There are just so many roses!
We have a south facing, rose scented bower, and a north facing rose-covered wall . . .
. . . the north-facing climber has been the last to bloom, and it is just gorgeous.
This coral pink rose sits next to a bushy St John’s Wort, which is now full of yellow flowers. I find their Battenberg effect together extremely pleasing!
The edges of all the beds now spill over with glorious geraniums.
The stems of salvias and anemones, lavender, iris, and dianthus wave gaily in the breeze . .
. . and at the back of the big beds, as well as top of the garden, there are some wonderful, large shrubby plants that are now flowering.
Hydrangeas are one of those flowers that always remind me of my grandma, and her garden. The mill’s previous owners have planted several gorgeous varieties . . .
. . and there are many other plants here that remind me of my grandma too.
Such as this variety of campion (hurrah), with its hot pink flowers and lovely silver foliage . . .
. . . and the very locale-appropriate dusty miller.
The garden keeps on presenting me with completely unexpected surprises, such as this lily. . .
. . . and this crazy thing, with a very satisfying branching structure, which is apparently New Zealand flax? It is now more than two metres high and is just starting to flower.
I planted a few things with which I’m very happy indeed. This geum “blazing sunset” works so nicely in a bed that is full of hot pinks and reds.
. . . and I just love this “balerina” thrift, which has been flowering for several weeks now, and which loves being with the other maritime plants that are already in the garden. . . .
. . . like this sea campion. I’ve also added a few small saxifrages and alpines (of which I am very fond) to the wee rockery . . .
. . . and am really enjoying my POTS, which are now starting to come into their own.
What a joy to live somewhere where I can grow the big blousy, ornamental, high-summer flowers I really love, like cosmos and dahlias!
There are several dahlias now in bud about which I am unreasonably excited, and even my delphiniums are beginning to develop spikes!
My sweet peas have sadly not done well (I got them in far too late, I think – next year I’m going to get them properly going in March), but I am very happy with other things I’ve potted up and planted out especially brunera (which flowered from March to June), the lovely white phlox and especially the erigeron.
Much more erigeron next year, I think, to take over all the gravel edges.
Next year I know I’ll have a better sense of what is coming, and what works well in this garden and will be able to plan ahead. And maybe there will be a few more edibles, which will definitely make Tom happy.
How is your garden growing this year?
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