I like to think that by June I’m on top of the garden. That I’ll just potter around dead heading and pulling a few weeds but essentially I will be sitting back and enjoying the balmy days and sweet perfumes. Not last week. The temperature dropped, the winds blew and there was some entirely unsubstantial wet stuff that pretended to be light showers. This all amounted to enough to keep me inside but enough to turbo charge the weeds. On inspection for this week’s six I also spotted a few corners of the garden that need attention.
One
This corner looks okay from a distance but I know that the osteos are leggy, the pink geranium was planted on first arrival to suppress the weeds but actually isn’t a great favourite and the rather nice bloody cranesbill is being smothered by them both. In the background I know there’s a space where a guara didn’t overwinter and the pennisetum villosum is not springing to life fast enough to fill it.
Two
The very back of the garden is quite shady and it is here, poor fool, I attempted to start an asparagus bed. Surely the afternoon sun would be enough to entice the spears to grow. This is the second year and only three have made it, That is why this photo is of roses and not asparagus. The rose is ‘Wedding Day’ that rambles over the back fence. It is just going over so the soft apricot flowers begin to be speckled with pink. It has a lovely scent and has flowered well this year and this takes my eye away from the asparagus.
Three
Time for one of those pingy plants that just pop their socks off. Geranium psilostemon. Generously self seeds, so I may be in danger of having too much of it. For now I enjoy. I have two either side of an arch. The left hand side is almost double the size of the right hand side. A mystery.
Four
Sisyrinchium striatum. I really do enjoy this in the garden but I have yet to find the perfect planting companions for it. It gets moved around almost every year. This year it seems to be in ideal conditions and now I have just have to find some compatible neighbours.
Five
Whereas astrantia seems to be compatible with almost everything. Here is is with knautia macedonica and a little peak of alchemilla mollis. Happy fellows.
Six
Oops. I am sneaking astrantia in again, this time with foxgloves. Having accepted that one end of the long border was shadier than I had planted for I went for this combination as stop gap. In truth the foxgloves are a little wild and inclined to flop but it will do for now.
Since there has been little rain to speak of here, the morning was spent installing another section of micro-irrigation. It always takes longer than expected, involves a lot of stepping on plants and getting soaked as the minor adjustments are made but it is done and that’s one off the list for the weekend. I hope you have some happy plans for the weekend and perhaps time to call in at The Prop’s Place for all the latest news from SOSers around the world. Not to be missed.
n20gardener 
Very nice geranium: the contrast of colours of leaves and flowers is superb!
Astrantias and knautias go well together (normal they are almost twin sisters)
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Super colour to the geranium. Happily have that seeding around. The astrantia is great. A plant I am in need of. My Alchemilla mollis is growing massive this year. Swamping an area in the front garden.
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Your combinations of perennials feel like home to me! Beautiful.
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Many thanks 🙂
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As you say Astrantia goes well with everything and your combinations are lovely!
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There is nothing wrong with enjoying parts of the garden from a distance. Without the captions, I would not know that anything was out of order.
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Your geranium is a stunner. Wonderful addition to any garden. I’d not worry too much about self-seeding. They are very easy to remove if necessary. I’ve got Rozanne and very pleased I am with it too.
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lovely. i am a frustrated irrigator. waiting on some vital parts from hozelock, they are on a covid go slow. i should just get on and lay the 13mm pipe, I suppose, so i can can connect the timers when i can. i have 2 out of 7 zones hooked up, those are working pretty well.
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How I wish I could incorporate timers – it would mean hose pipe trailing across paths here. I have to use the oven timer to remind me to go out and turn the tap off!
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Your garden is so pretty, N20. A real cottage garden. We need to renew our irrigation system but I dare not mention it to the Gnome yet. Our feeder pipe is not wide enough for the legth of run and all the outlets. Sigh … we water all the veg manually at the moment and it is a pain.
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It was the pain of the manual watering that energised me to set up another micro irrigation system. I did have to wait a couple of weeks as it is much easier when there is help around but it finally came to the top of the list! I looked at the garden the other day and thought how strange it was that it was such a cottage garden when it is in such an urban location. But it is the look I wanted when I started planting and I’m very happy with it. I think I must have seen a few of those other urban gardens that are all straight lines and tidy planting!
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The only place for straight lines are in the vegetable garden. 🙂
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If I get some really leggy Osteo shoots, I just layer them. Often just poking them into the ground and addind a trowel of soil for a bit of weight. Improves the view and next year I’ll have more plants, just snipping off the stem and lifting the rooted bit. Wouldn’t complain about self-seeding Geraniums either. Easily make me look generous when it’s time for a local plant sale (when they happen again).
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