The first raspberries have been picked, just a handful and I found two ripe strawberries so for me Summer has begun. It’s been rather wet but my garden did need some rain so I’m not complaining. I even spotted the first cucumbers ready for picking. My walk round the garden this morning revealed plenty more jobs to do but here’s six things to enjoy.
One
The hydrangeas suffered so much in the dry spell but this one in particular has responded to the recent downpours. It’s ‘Runaway Bride’. It is really filling out a big space now and makes quite a statement.
Two
I mentioned a while back that I hadn’t tied in the clematis quickly enough and that they had found their own way to spread out. Upwards of course! I like to train these along the fence to hide it away for the summer. But without a few early ties this ‘Etoile Violette’ has managed to romp upwards into my neighbours shrubs. It does make quite a nice waterfall of flowers though.
Three
It was time to mow the grass this morning and the non-gardener was not impressed by the sprawl of geranium ‘Brookside’ that was obstructing the lawnmower’s journey to the lawn. Fortunately I was on hand to sweep it gently to the sides – for a moment.
Four
I have three pots along this border sitting on three concrete slabs that were put in when a soakaway was installed. I’ve tried various things in the pots over the years, one of which was stipa tenuissima. They didn’t do well and so the following year I replaced them with plantings of Hakonechloa macra. They seemed quite happy but this year a remnant of the stipa has made a come-back and is looking much better than it ever did. I think is has bullied out the hak mac!
Five
I get excited at this time of year. The agapanthus stems start to appear. The pot on the left has a miraculous ten stems. The pot on the right looks very sad and is currently producing only one stem. I hope it can come with a few more as the weather warms up.
Six
Another come-back. Thank you to Fred who sent some poppy seeds a year ago. They seeded themselves and this year have really achieved a good height.
There’s a great crowd of people posting their Six On Saturday blogs in the comments section of Jim’s Garden Rumination site. Join in, stop by for a look around, have fun gardening.
n20gardener 
‘Runaway Bride’ certainly looks to run away! It’s massive! I am envious of both yours and Jim’s clematis. So many flowers whereas mine are barely showing any so far this year. My aggies are looking quite good this year too, some with multiple flower stems others with none or only one, but much better than last year.
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What a fabulous upbeat six. Loving the lot, but especially the clematis waterfall looks stunning. Well done for saving the geranium from the non-gardener!
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How fun! I also have a single poppy that popped up this year, growing where I put Nigella seeds last fall. The poppy seeds I scattered two years ago and this year one came up. finally. White? Double dark red? Only time will tell, but it is growing over my thyme, so today I will remove a couple lower leaves so the thyme gets a bit more sun. Excited to have finally garbbed Nigella seeds from Centennial Garden – I used to have them in Seattle, and they grew in my garden path like a blue/green river. I had single red poppies there too, and they were great aphid traps, the undersides of the leaves would be thick with black aphids.
What is a soakaway?
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The soak away is a drainage channel to help drain damp areas. I’ve inherited it so don’t really understand why it was put in.
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I think we have the same poppies (as well as the same geraniums) as you! Ours are in the front garden, likely self-seeded from the ones surrounding the lamp post opposite our house. A very welcome surprise!
That Clematis is lovely!
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I’ve never had much luck with poppies amazingly so these are welcome.
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Hi, first time sixer 🙂 That runaway bride is so dreamy, such a lovely colour and the flower heads seem to be floating. The cascading clematis is gorgeous too, what a sight!
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Hello! Thank you. Runaway bride is a good one. Lovely colour and very floriferous.
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It is nice that you appreciate agapanthus. They are too common here for us to get too excited, but I happen to be fond of them because they are so easy to divide and grow. I would be much more excited about the clematis, since they do not perform like that here.
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‘Runaway Bride’ is a show. I don’t hold out much hope for my Hydrangea, despite the recent rain.
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Yes. Mine are all a bit frazzled now. And much smaller flowers.
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The Clematis has put on such a beautiful display and the Poppy is a lovely colour. The one I have is a bit of a muddy colour by comparison but I love how it pops up all over the place.
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I’m loving your SoS this week and the first time I’ve seen agapanthus appear on any posts apart from my own some time ago. Clematis is a beauty and something I am planning on adding to my garden this coming spring.
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I love agapanthus. Such a sign of summer for me.
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