Surprise! Surprise! We are in the middle of a really hot spell, which seems to be lasting. The garden is looking good for this Garden Bloggers Bloom Day on the 15th of each month.
The sun and warmth has brought out all the flowers but sadly also finished off the roses. I did find one Compassion bud tucked in the middle of the shrub, this is heartwarming because this rose doesn’t always provide a second flowering.
I am highly delighted with the flower bed at the bottom of the garden, which is tightly packed with flora. The Agapanthus and Verbena Bodnantense are just coming out also which will give height.
The Antirrhinum are amazing, considering I bought a mixed tray of them from the local hardware store, the colours are just in the right place. The pale pinks are together and next to the Astrantia, and the darker russets are growing in between the white Cosmos. I couldn’t have planned it better.
Considering I cut back the Astrantia a while ago, it seems to have done it good as it is flowering in abundance.
I was sent a personalised rose by a work colleague when I left on sick leave. It was such a wonderful surprise and very special to have a rose called Ronnie’s Rose. It has turned out to be a lovely yellow and is nicely framed sitting just in front of the pink Ballerina Rose.
The Cerinthe I bought last year has not been a prolific as I thought it would be. I was told once you have this plant you can’t get rid of it. Having initially thought I wasn’t going to have anything this year there are a few little plants coming up so I may be lucky.
Moving up to the side patio, the Olive tree is a mass of flowers. I’ve had this for many years and last year it actually produced a few olives, although I didn’t try them. Maybe this year I will have a lot, but I have read that they don’t taste like the ones you would get from a shop, so we shall see.
There is a lot of red in the garden this year, which is great because last year it was an abundance of pale pinks and whites which I felt looked slightly insipid. The Monarda ‘Squaw’ , red poppies in the wild flower patch and the Salvia ‘Hot Lips’ all look splendid.
There is still a lot in the garden yet to come out and I am hoping that the next GBBD I will be able to show all the dahlias that are just producing buds now. In the meantime it is a busy end of the day task to ensure that everything is watered and happy in this heat wave.
Thank you Carol of May Dreams Gardens who hosts this monthly meme. Please pay a visit to her blog and check out all the other GBBD posts from around the world.
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