Wednesday, August 01, 2012

In the Pink.....I think!

On the first day of August I thought I would have a walk around the garden, camera in hand to see what I could find. 

There is always a squirrel about pinching the bird food.  There are bees about too,  but I've hardly seen any butterflies this year.  I seem to remember saying that this time last year so that is quite worrying.

I was glad to see the sweetpeas flowering at last of all the seeds we potted up only six little plants survived and those were planted around a support which we had to tie to the outside tap so the fragile plants that came out wouldn't blow over in the wind.  I'd given up hope of them flowering but in last week's sunshine out they came.  They were supposed to be a mixed variety but only the pink ones grown have flowered

 
At the moment  the garden is in  what I call its 'pink' season as most of the flowers and plants are variations of that colour.

Japanese Anemones

I don't know what variety this rose is, it was in the garden when we came here  fifteen years ago.
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New hydrangeas for the front garden


Poppies - self-seeded!  Poppy is an apt name as they pop up anywhere and everywhere in the garden.

Spiraea Billiardii - the pink fluffy plant.  We put this shrub in the garden about 10 years ago and it has grown and overtaken a large area of garden.  It is going to get a serious pruning this year.


The news of the arrival of - Legionnaires Disease - in our area of the city has been quite worrying this last couple of weeks.  We waited quite a while to see if the source of the infection could be found.  It was reported just a couple of days ago that it was probably from a hot tub at the Fenton branch of  JTF Warehouse.   The report also said that the tub was closed down and taken out of the store on Tuesday 24th July which was the very day we went in there to buy some gardening gloves!  We hadn't been in there since before Christmas but decided on a whim to just pop in to have a look.  What I would like to know is at what time on the 24th of July was the tub switched off ?  Was it before or after noon which was about the time we went in there?  I would also like to know how long the bacteria stays in the atmosphere after the source has been disinfected/removed?  I must admit that I didn't see a hot tub as we went straight to the gardening section, then the pet section and then to the checkout so it probably had already been taken away.  The lady in the report I've linked to actually sat near it and it sounds as if she was very ill indeed.  I do hope all those affected by this dreadful disease get well soon.

16 comments:

  1. Love the photo of the squirrel and the cat. Legionnaires disease how horrid for you to have been there.
    June

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  2. Perfect Pinks Rosie! Please try not to worry too much about the threat of Legionnaires Disease. At least they have (hopefully) found the correct source for it. x

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  3. I'm so envious of your squirrel photo. We have two that come into our garden nearly every day, but do you think I can get photos of them! Your flower photos are lovely too.
    I'm sure you don't have to worry about the Legionnaires.
    Patricia x

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  4. oh dear hope you stay healthy.
    I have not seen one single butterfly in our garden this summer and this is unusual. We have lots of red poppies popping up all over the front garden this year!
    I love the colour of your poppies though.
    xxx

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  5. I haven't seen many butterflies this year either. All that rain has had a big effect on the wildlife :( I read an article about it last week in the news and this week I read I've read that many bats are starving to a lack of insects to eat during the rainy months.

    Some lovely flowers in your garden, even though I'm not a fan of pink! The legionnaires outbreak is a little worrying. Hopefully they have identified the correct source and there won't be any further outbreaks.

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  6. You certainly have a lot of different pink flowers. Love the one of the cat walking away.

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  7. Beautiful garden! I think its such a shame for the person who died, a trip to a shop and then that happens....

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  8. That is so scary, here we do all we can to keep ourselves healthy, but we can't control things outside of our homes. Makes you want to be a hermit at times.

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  9. It's such a mysterious disease, and rather frightening as well. Hope it's gone from your area now.
    Lovely, lovely pink in your August garden. An excellent place to hide from all the world's weirdness!
    xo,
    p

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  10. You can't beat a garden full of pink flowers - and yours are lovely.

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  11. Gosh Rosie, I hope you are ok. I am sure you will be fine but it is very worrying.

    We have not had many butterflies, I think it has been too wet but yesterday I noticed lots of insect life in the fields and swallows everywhere.

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  12. I hope you are OK, I heard on the radio it takes 2 weeks. I hope the worry is unfounded, and that your beautiful pink Japanese Anemones are still giving you pleasure.

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  13. I'm sure the outbreak of the Legionnaires has been contained Rosie but how awful for those poor people affected. I have always disliked the idea of hot tubs and this story just compounds it.

    Love all the pretty pinkness of your August garden.

    Jeanne
    x

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  14. Our Japanese Anemones just started to come into bloom. They are such pretty flowers. I love the photo of the squirrel. We only have red squirrels here and only see them up at the cottage in the woods, not in the city. They are very shy and photos are from far away.

    I hope the outbreak of Legionnaires is controlled quickly. Keep well!

    Hugs from Holland ~
    Heidi

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  15. pink to make the girls wink . Love Helen, Darcy and Bingley xxx

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