Gosh, it has been a wet week again hasn't it? Hard to get out in the garden to do much work and the lawns are soaked and can't be cut yet. Hedges need trimming too but there are still baby birds around so at the moment it seems that all is on hold until the little ones are fledged and the rain goes away again for a while.
The garden is looking lush and green from the dampness and various colours are taking over. Aquilegias are predominant right now. Each year their colour seems to change when we first came here they were pink with darker centres now they are purple and blue.
The Tamarisk tree is looking pretty at the moment with its soft pink foliage.
Don't look too closely at the fence, gate and bench they are in a bad way and certainly need painting again if nothing else although the bench can't be sat upon except by the cats as the slats in the seat are rotting away. This is an area which needs sorting including cutting back the clematis and honeysuckle which should be spreading across the fence but have all clumped together at one side of it as if in protest at our neglect and who can blame them?
When it is dry again the umbrella will go out and we can sit outside for elevenses!
The rhododendrons are looking good at the moment!
I'm not sure which colour I like best.
The Peonies are drenched with rain and the ones on the front garden have collapsed under the weight of the rain.
There are going to be lots of strawberries again this year
The herbs are looking quite healthy too! Rosemary, lavender, chives, sage and thyme.
The Clematis Montana climbs up through the trees at the top of the garden
The Clematis Montana climbs up through the trees at the top of the garden
and out into the plum tree - lots of little plums on the tree this year! Last year there were only twelve plums on the whole tree.
I love making plum jam later in the year
So
As I type this post it is still raining outside of course the rain encourages the slugs and snails which seem to like the chew on my lupins. I keep them in a pot so that I can move them around and clear out the wretched snails nearly every day. The lupins have also been sprayed with washing up liquid (Ecover) in water to rid them of little white flies but hard work has been rewarded and the plants have started to flower - at last!
I hope you've enjoyed a little peek at the garden. Don't look too closely though as there is much to do - as soon as the rain stops of course. It will, won't it?
Just to raise a smile - young starlings!
Happy Weekend.
What a super garden.I have bedding plants waiting to go out in the back garden but I think I might wait until my two grandsons have been to stay.I think stray footballs could do a lot of damage!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, busybeejay - oh yes, i would wait until after the visit before planting as balls and little feet could cause damage:)
DeleteMy didn't it rain. We've just arrived home from an afternoon out to a very wet and bedraggled garden but it is looking very lush and smells wonderful too.
ReplyDeletePatricia x
That earthy smell you get after rain is wonderful isn't it? We've only managed to mow half of the lawns - the other half near the pond is still quaking in water:)
DeleteSo far the rain has ruined all my plans for this weekend!! I wish it would stop now!! (it has actually stopped and the sun is now out, but the sky does not look promising!!) xxx
ReplyDeleteOh, no - but you always have such super plan B ideas - I hope you had a great bank holiday weekend anyway:)
DeleteThe rain has to stop soon or the West Country will become an island. It is getting ridiculous. But your garden is looking lovely in spite of it all and those young starlings are gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThe yound starlings have rather taken over the feeders at the moment much to the disgust of all the resident sparrows who seem to think they have first dibs. I hope next time we visit the West country you aren't separated from the mainland:)
DeleteWhat a cute relaxing garden!!! I love it. The rose pale rhododendrons are gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteAs I see it, the raining days are a blessing, where I live it barely rains and my flower pots must be watered almost every day.
In my opinion, the brilliant green colours of trees washed by the rain are a magnific picture.
Have a good weekend, Rosie.
Ah, you see there is always another side to the story isn't there? You long for the refreshing rain that we experience and we wish for dryer weather at times. Wouldn't it be good if we could all have equal measures? :)
DeleteNice to see pictures of your garden Rosie - it all looks very neat and tidy to me. I have had enough of this horrible weather now I have jobs to be getting on with - there is no rest for the wicked eh! :) Loving the starlings too - we haven't seen so many in our garden this year.
ReplyDeleteAt the moment the plants are hiding the weeds! I've just uprooted loads of willow herb from the back of one of the borders and the grass and brambles and goose grass are staking a claim all over. The starlings are cute aren't they?:)
DeleteYou have got lots of lovely things coming along in your garden! The lupins look amazing, I hope that you can keep fending the bugs off. Your peonies are amazing, I hope that they spring back up again after the rain. Ours are still to flower and I am so pleased that they are still buds as the rain already did for our poppies! Hope that it dries out soon! xx
ReplyDeleteWe put crossed sticks under the peonies at the front to hold them up and they are still in flower and look rather pretty so I'm pleased about that. the lupins too are still bug free if not snail free - I have to take them out from under the rim of the pot every day and send them on their holidays into the field beyond the hedge. I sometimes wonder if they are the same ones each time:)
DeleteIt has been a great year for Aquilegias, they have gone crazy in my garden. I have a peony which has great sentimental value, never a flower though and it's in it's tenth year now. What am I doing wrong?
ReplyDeleteI have one peony, a pink one, which doesn't flower. The red ones flower each year but this one has never flowered. I too wonder why, do you need more than one plant perhaps? Or do they take time to flower over several years? I don't know:)
DeleteI'm glad the rain held off for long enough for you to venture out to take those lovely pictures. I always refer to Aquilegias by there old name of Granny Bonnets in memory of my own grandmother who was a great fan of these flowers.
ReplyDeleteI love the name 'granny's bonnets' as they do look like those old victorian bonnets women used to wear. They are such a pretty flower but spread so much that they take over the garden at this time of year:)
DeleteHello rosie, nice to meet you! My garden also is completely sodden, yours looks so much neater though! And your young starlings are gorgeous! My colombines have also gone crazy, lots of seed to collect later on though, which is always good! Ive got my first Lupin too, despite the bugs!
ReplyDeleteLeanne x
Hello Leanne nice to meet you too and thank you for visiting my blog and leaving a comment. Glad you are holding on to your first lupin. The young starlings are cute aren't they?:)
DeleteYou have a pretty garden Rosie. It is my kind of garden! I too, have a broken bench where the slats have rotted away! Only Gizmo can make use of it! The slugs and snails have wiped out one of my courgette plants already but I keep thinking that if I just grow more of everything there will be plenty to go around for us all! Your herbs are looking particularly good. I wish I had a herb planter like yours! x
ReplyDeleteI wish you lived close enough for me to invite you to my garden to sit a while (not on the rickety seat of course) with tea and cake and lots of chatter, Simone. The herb planter is one end of a raised bed with gooseberries and raspberries behind. All the plants seem to do well there, although the borage hasn't returned this year:)
DeleteYour garden looks wonderful Rosie. Hopefully this deluge will give everything the best start to the growing season. Love the starlings! Jane x
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jane. I hope we don't have this deluge on Friday! :)
DeleteYou have a lovely garden Rosie. Your lupins are well ahead of ours and what a good idea to keep them in pots so that you can see what the slugs and snails are up to and deal with them! Our red peonies are looking rather sorry for themselves too. The heavy rain at the end of the week arrived our way just as all the large flower heads opened and they became bowed down under the weight of the water caught in each bloom.
ReplyDeleteWe've propped the peonies up on crossed sticks and now they are off the ground they have perked up and two more flowers have opened. The lupins are a worry each year but seem to keep going if I can get to them before the snails. I've never known them to have white fly before though:)
DeleteYour garden looks beautiful, so many different shades of green. I love rhododendrons and have just bought 2 more for our garden, we also have a similar garden bench which no one dare sit on for fear of falling through!
ReplyDeleteI hope you've seen a little sunshine, it's dry here today.
My mum bought us the bench when we first moved here so it has sentimental value. I'm sure she would have been pleased to see it still here but we do need a new one we can actually sit on:)
DeleteYour garden is wonderful, so lush. All flowers seem to be putting on a very special show this year, I think due to the weather! We had a cracking storm at the weekend with hail bouncing around all over. Love those Starlings! x
ReplyDeleteThanks, Suzy - the flowers are doing very well but they all seem to be coming out at the same time because of the weather being wet and warm I suppose. The starlings are cute aren't they?:)
DeleteI love your garden too. I wonder if the bench could be repaired, its a shame if it has sentimental value. Got cloudy days due....I'll settle for that and no rain!
ReplyDeleteAnything but rain - we need to dry out the lawns so they can be mowed. I think I'll always keep the bench until it drops to pieces but find a place for a new on we can sit on as well:)
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