It was the perfect week to be on holiday with nothing to do as it was too hot to do anything. The dead heading was left but there was no avoiding the need to water in the greenhouse. Tomatoes, melons, strawberries, lettuce and basil are all motoring along. Outside the green beans are being picked along with raspberries, gooseberries and blackcurrants. Here’s the view of the garden this week.
One
I have to share this view of the allotment end of the garden although it’s not to my credit. I had a few calendula plants in the garden a couple of years ago and if they are not ruthlessly controlled they run riot! Beautifully so, but I need to fight back. I’m enjoying the splash of colour for the moment but an afternoon spent pulling them out is on the agenda and next year I will be hoeing them off, immediately, no ground given. Honestly.
Two
It is now four years since the move to this house and the garden borders are transformed. Each year a new corner or two comes under scrutiny. This year it was the passion flower draped arch and trellis. I could see that a honeysuckle also entwined its way around the uprights but it never flowered. One side of the passion flower has been taken down and the honeysuckle probably got a bit of a cut back in the process. Perhaps this is why it has flowered for the first time. It’s a great addition.
Three
The scented leaf pellies are back in their summer pots and are decorating the patio. The peat free compost does dry out quickly on the surface so daily watering was necessary. This one is ‘Prince of Orange’.
Four
The cheerful Shasta daisies seem to be twice as high this year. They were started from seed about four years ago. They grow up into the wild blackberries that are another corner of the garden awaiting some attention. It looks like there will be a good crop there too.
Five
Most of the delphiniums are going to seed now and need to be cut back but this one came through a little later. It was a pot luck buy at a plant sale, just marked delphinium. I’ve had it for three years now but it always only puts up one spike. Is that a thing for certain types of delphinium ?
Six
To finish I offer this combination of blackcurrant sage and a penstemon – could it be ‘Apple Blossom’? The sage looked a little sad after the winter but it responded well to a cut back and is now threading its way around the penstemon.
Cooler temperatures for next week will see me back in the garden catching up on the dead heading. The roses need to be fed to help them produce the next wave of flowers and I think I’ll have a nose around the late crop new potatoes. If nosing around gardens is your thing then go immediately to Mr P’s he has the most divine photo of the rose ‘Generous Gardener’, it’s a must see!
n20gardener 
That mass of calendula is very pretty. Great photo of the honeysuckle – I can almost detect its fragrance.
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Great first photo L. !! The watering can does its thing on this image and improves the overall rendering.
I also really liked the delphiniums, are they self seeded for 3 years with only one spike?
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I understand that the delphiniums were grown from seed and when I bought it, it was its first year so I was hoping for a couple of stems this year. It’s something I will have to look into. Sometimes the phone camera does it stuff, but never as well as your beautiful shots.
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I love that look of the calendulas at the end of the path. I pull out a lot of volunteers too. Right now I’m letting some nicer ones go to seed, and they sure are ugly! I’ll get another generation this season, then those seeds will germinate and wait all winter. They are amazing plants. Like I said though, ugly at the end, mildewed and leggy.
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They’ve not got to that stage here! But some are going to seed now. It’s so hard to take them all out but I really should be growing carrots there 🙂
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Wow I thought we had quite a few self sown calendulas but yours are something else! We moved to our garden four years ago too but still a long way to go to get it looking perfect!
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There’s always something to get round to and some of the first things done need a re-think!
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I wouldn’t pull out all your calendulas as they are great for pollinators and therefore a must for around a fruit and veg plot the also help deter pests so doubly good for hte garden.
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That’s why I had them in the first place and they are so cheerful. But I need to keep a balance – there’s a veg bed out of shot that is full of them! There will be plenty to go round I think 🙂
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Your ‘Prince of Orange’ made me wonder — orange scented perhaps?
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It’s always made me wonder, definitely not the colour. I’ve just crushed a leaf and I think I could be persuaded that it is the scent. Yes, a citrusy orange hint!
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I do not know about delphiniums. I have not worked with them in many years. I do remember that some were certainly more reliable and resilient than others. I remember that my favorite white variety did not grow or multiply in the few years that I was acquainted with it. It just put up one spike and was done for the year. A few new delphiniums were added annually to replace those that did not regenerate. They were purchased from a nursery, budded, but prior to bloom, so that they could bloom a bit later than those that were established in the garden.
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I can’t advise about the delphinium I’m afraid. It does look great, even though there’s only one.
I’m also liking your number six mix. Beri bua!
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I’m going to do some research on the delphinium!
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Your garden is looking lovely and full of colour. That is a lot of Calendula though. I grew them last year for the first time in years, they weren’t brilliant but the self sowers this year are great. Mother Nature nearly always does it better
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picking green beans! i’ve only just planted mine. had several aborted attempts from seed, nothing doing for some reason. found some cheap plants at my local GC, priced to clear, so have loads in the ground now, climbing and dwarf. obviously that was just the encouragment mine needed, they are now sprouting…
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They are so annoying! I think the mice had one of my sowings – I watched them for weeks with not a single sign of anything. Same with nasturtiums. I’ve just put a third sowing in the ground hoping for a long season.
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