It’s moan time. I have given up shrugging at the munching of the thalia and now I’m pretty cross. Number one pesky blighter is of course the slug. I collected seed from the delphiniums, sowed them, saw them through to germination, nurtured them over winter, watered them through dry April and set them off into the world last week. Within a night they had been grazed to the ground. This season’s sunflower sowings have had their leaves turned to filigree lace. The one hosta I have in the ground, surrounded by 5cms of Strulch but has suffered similar munching. But I was truly enraged when I saw a squirrel about to eat a rosebud. The lilies are up so I am also on vigilant watch for a second wave of lily beetle. I am going to making up a garlic solution today and will be spraying it liberally. I can only try to make a stand. Fortunately there are six good things in the garden to cheer the mood.
One
The roses are beginning to open, which is always a joy. This one is Gertrude Jekyll. Truth told this did not seem to have settled well into the garden but this year, four or five years on, it looks full of buds.
Two
These are the white flowers of Libertia grandiflora valiantly standing up against the euphorbia melifera. I planted four libertias just as the melifera seedling arrived in the garden. The melifera has dominated the spot and the libertias are fighting for the sunshine. Only one has made it to flowering so I am going to live dangerously and move at least two of the libertias to a sunnier spot. Now. This weekend. They have no flower spikes showing so I am going to risk the upheaval. Fingers crossed, as usual. The foliage is evergreen and the white flowers are a beautiful strong white.
Three
The clematis on the arch is in flower. It’s a montana wilsonii, which has made it to the top of the arch and is now gracefully twining its way down the other side. There it will meet the climbing rose Madame Alfred Carrière. Let the battle commence!
Four
The second batch of camassias are in flower. I think this variety is cusickii. A delicate paler blue than my other camassias which are now almost over.
Five
And next to the camassias, the siberian irises are just opening. I think these are my favourite irises, which is a good thing because they do clump up very vigorously for me.
Six
The very reliable geum ‘Totally Tangerine’ is in flower which gave me the excuse to leave this corner of forget-me-nots for another week.
It’s in and out time for the trays of seedlings in the greenhouse. I have two more pot grown mange tout germinations which means I can claim to have been successful with successional sowing! The first strawberry has been picked so summer must be very close. Enjoy your gardening this weekend and if you can tear yourself away stop by at The Prop’s garden gate for a chat with the other SOSers.
n20gardener 
Sorry, but I had to laugh at “the munching of the thalia” – it sounds like a song title from a very old opera, or perhaps some other classical music composition. I do share your pain though, with my number one muncher this past winter being rabbits, and the number two culprit chipmunks. Thankfully it gets too dry here to support a large S&S population.
The last photo is so fabulous – the colour combination of blue and orange is great – so glad you left the forget me nots!
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I really can’t complain if you are dealing with rabbits and chipmunks. That sounds far worse. 😱
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Despite all your foes, things are looking good. Love that geum/forget-me-not combo!
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Sometimes it’s the simplest things that work.
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Oh, so sorry to hear about all the garden munchers, especially after you spent hours tending your plants. The geum is new to me but looks fantastic.
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The geum is a really reliable one, not so tall that it sprawls and so far comes back without any problem.
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The clematis is lovely. I can relate to your frustration with having tenderly nurtured seedlings mowed to the ground their first day out.
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It’s a challenge isn’t it.
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Hope my new clematis montana will grow with vigor like yours! Nice combo of colors in the tangerine geum next to the blue forget-me-nots!
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My first Montana clematis but vigour seems to be their strong point!
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I share your pain! Though I don’t raise many plants by seed anymore, but I noticed that my two lovely Heleniums have been noshed so that’s the end of them. I am now resigned to having them in pots to see if I can get them to last more than one season. If I can be bothered. My camassias are only just beginning to come through! Somewhat later than last year, but there do appear to be quite a few more so hopefully they have decided they like where they are.
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I had helenium ‘Moorhead Beauty’ last year that were demolished overnight. I crossed them off the plants to grow list. But didn’t give a second thought to the sunflowers!! Glad the camassias have found a happy spot. I seem to have lost most of mine on the other side of the same border – perhaps a little drier there.
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The last photo with forget-me-nots and geums is really successful. You chose a nice mix with these two colours. What a pity for all your plants nibbled by slugs , and yet it’s dry this spring?! Here the slugs and snails are hidden waiting for the rain but they will soon reappear: I have to get ready!
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Those s&s just grab the moment. Lily beetles were on the marathon lilies yesterday. Be ready!!
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Moan away – we all have our pesky blighters to deal with. I’m getting much less squeamish about squishing lily beetle because the organic ‘will not harm them’ spray is doing nothing to deter them as far as I can tell. The Siberian iris are lovely.
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I used Grazers last year and it seemed to keep them away but if I missed a week they were back in numbers, so vigilance and squishing is my go to now. The marathon lilies were under attack yesterday.
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What a nice Clematis montana! It is one of the few clematis that performs well here. It actually performs a bit too well, and can climb rather aggressively. Fortunately, since white is my favorite color, I do not miss the brighter colors of the fancier Clematis.
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I think it will do a little too well here. The thought of it’s smaller white flowers flowers was just too appealing though!
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Yes, it looks sort of . . . woodsy.
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Libertia grandiflora is a new plant for me and I think its flower is delightful. I may have mentioned it before, but I have found beer traps for SnS to be very successful.
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The Liberia is new for me too. I really like the white flowers above the green foliage. A neighbour who resents giving bear to the slugs is trying a yeast and sugar mix!
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I love the fragrance of Euphorbia mellifera though I dislike the taste of honey!
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