June Catch-up

I've been busy doing other things, such as bird watching and going on holiday, and now I find that I haven't posted for most of June, when the garden has been at its peak, with all the roses having their first flush, and many other perennials coming into flower too.

The irises in pots came out very shortly after I potted them up, and looked very pretty:

The roses were equally beautiful:

I am particularly pleased that the last rose pictured - Corvedale - flowered well this year. It was planted two years ago, but has been slow to establish itself.

I was also pleased that the dwarf hemerocallis, which I divided and planted in March, has produced some flowers - not many, but at least all three pants are thriving, and hopefully there will be more flowers next year.

Also in March, I planted two oriental poppies "Beauty of Livermere" and these are now producing buds. One has fully opened and is stunning:

Also new this year, the anthemis tinctoria "E.C. Buxton" has flowered, and is supporting the sweet pea "Matucana" which is growing forward. This wasn't planned, but is an interesting combination. I have added some support to stop the two plants falling too far.

Some old favourites come up every year, and are always welcome. This pink geranium is a little too enthusiastic for the available space and I may move it in the autumn.

This penstemon "Sour Grapes" is also enthusiastic, but is very pretty and long-flowering, so worth the space.

This alchemilla mollis edging was originally one plant, which failed to thrive in the front garden. I moved it, split it into small sections and planted it at the edge of the paving, in front of the slightly raised bed containing the ponds. It covers the unattractive edging and looks fantastic for most of the summer.

The stipa gigantea is at its best and looks fantastic as it catches the evening sunlight

And finally, here is a view of the whole garden, through the rose arch:

Wildflowers and some Chelsea Inspiration

I've been planting weeds over the bank holiday weekend. I was inspired by a day bird watching at the Wetland Centre in Barnes which celebrated its 10th anniversary last week. The Wetland Centre is an artificial, managed landscape, created from a disused reservoir. It is the ultimate wildlife garden, containing a wide variety of native trees, shrubs and flowers supporting a variety of birds, mammals and insects. I couldn't resist buying some of these wild flowers from the gift shop on my way out.

I have two small ponds in my garden, made from plastic bowls 2ft in diameter, placed next to each other. The surrounding area is rather poor sandy soil and I haven't established any long-term planting there. Last summer, I planted some grasses - pieces of Panicum Virgatum "Hanse Herms" - which I had divided from a larger clump. These have survived, but need time to thicken up. The other perennials I planted there last summer have failed to thrive and been eaten by slugs, leaving gaps. I have placed my wild flowers in these gaps, since they should thrive in the poorer soil, and will look good among the grasses. I have planted Leucanthemum Vulgare (Oxeye Daisy), Achillea Millefolium (Yarrow) Centaurea Scabiosa (Greater Knapweed) and Tanacetum Vulgare (Tansy). I'm looking forward to seeing how they grow. They join the self-seeded poppies and campanula to make a very natural corner.

 

Last Tuesday I went to the Chelsea Flower Show. I go every year and always come back with lots of ideas to try. This year it was the three large bowls of irises on Andy Sturgeon's "Best in Show" garden which caught my eye. His irises looked like this:

 

I went to the garden centre and bought some irises and put them in pots. Mine look like this:

I think they will look better when the buds open.