July is here. It’s a busy time in the garden as the May and June flowers need tidying. The roses have had a good year and I need to catch up on the deadheading. There hasn’t been much rain and my watering has been on the light side. I am trying to train the garden to get by with less. This does mean smaller flowers but on the whole things are managing. It’s about time I dug up some potatoes to see how they have got on. I can already see that the onions are small but the basil and chilies are flourishing. Here’s six from this morning’s walk round.
One
I was late putting in my summer pots, being late is the story of this year. This week saw the first flower on some geraniums I bought as plug plants at the beginning of June. I hope I can overwinter these.
Two
I grow a few varieties of achillea and each year seem to lose them over winter. I thought it was the weather but this year I spotted the snails munching the new shoots. With some extra vigilance I think I have managed to keep two varieties this year. This one is ‘New Vintage White’. It’s a low grower, around 35cms. It is surrounded by self seeded verbena bonariensis, which has grown very tall. It’s a very odd combination which would work much better if they intermingled.
Three
The salvia ‘Nachtvlinder’ was the only salvia that overwintered. There was plenty of brown at the beginning of the year but it was cut back to promising shoots and it did pull through. This is the third attempt to get this in focus and I give up!
Four
I inherited a clematis when I moved here. It was on its last legs then but after freeing it from bindweed and giving it some attention it gained strength. This year it is not so lush. There are some beautiful flowers but it is in need of some watering and feeding. Adds to long list of jobs to do!
Five
The very tall verbena bonariensis deserves a photo. They self seed happily here but never quite where I would like them to be.
Six
The first of the day lilies has opened. I do enjoy them but these ones are so prone to hemerocallis gall midge that I sometimes wonder about digging them up. The affected buds need to be picked off. Adds to long list of jobs to do!
The weather is kinder to weekend gardeners this week. Cooler temperatures will see me out and about working through the borders. I hope you are able to enjoy your gardening spaces this weekend. We all need to switch off and immerse ourselves in the beauty of flowers every now and then! This week Jim, our host, is down on the allotment. Stop by and take a look.
n20gardener 
I have tried Verbena, but it hasn’t thrived for me, perhaps my soil is wrong for it? Pretty Salvias!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think we inherited the same clematis when we both moved! 😂
The verbena bonariensis is still as beautiful as ever. I’ve wanted some for a long time and I planted one a little late in the spring. Then I wouldn’t have so many flowers this summer but hopefully next year.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Verbena bonariensis overwintered for me. It gives a majestic look to the garden.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lovely pictures! I especially like the salvia. Your yarrow should over winter if not too wet – after all, it grows wild in Wisconsin which has a much more punishing winter than London, at least from a temperature standpoint. Makes sense if your mollusc army is nibbling them to bits – where I see it growing wild, there are likely no molluscs as it is too dry.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful pelargonium. I’m planning to over winter mine indoors this year as I don’t have a heated greenhouse (does anyone these days?) Nachtvlinder has to be my favourite salvia.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nachtvlinder overwintered for me as well, it’s a good one. I find that Verbena bonariensis gradually moves forward in the border and have to transfer some backwards every few years
LikeLiked by 1 person
Same here with the VB. This one has jumped over the path into the next border!
LikeLike
How Californian, . . . . except, of course, for Clematis. This is the second Pelargonium X domesticum I noticed on Six on Saturday today. The Achillea looks more natural in white. Ours is all yellow. Even feran specimens might bloom yellow. (I found what seems to be feral Achillea that blooms yellow, but I suspect that it might be the remnants of a cultivar that was planted there a long time ago, since feral specimens should eventually revert to white.)
LikeLiked by 1 person
The white Achillea looks just like the wild variety and the only one I seem to be able to grow! I have tried the yellow and the orange and never even get a flower before they keel over. Yet the white and the pale pink (also wild) grow like crazy! Sometimes I think I’d be better off just planting native flowers in my garden. They get on with life without any input from me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I often have the same thoughts, you spend a fortune on a special that disappears within a year. But the self seeders just go on and on. But I may have reached peak alchemilla mollis!
LikeLike