Since my last post the weather has changed, of course :-)
We have had cloudy days and many heavy showers. Today it is warm but oh so windy. Schools have broken up for summer holidays, the weather is typical for this time of year. I believe the forecast is for better weather towards the end of the week.
Anyway the garden has certainly benefited from the warm rain. Some flowers are over and cut back for this year but others have just taken off in abundance. Two of my summer favourites, the Hydrangeas and Japanese Anemones are just about to burst into full bloom.
The one new item in my garden this year is the wild flower bed. I have wanted to do this for some time and never found the time or the space for it before. This year, with the enlargement of the pond on hold, I had a bare patch of earth that badly needed filling. For quite a while it did look like an unweeded seed bed, and even now I have my suspicions and have removed some very tall dandelions! However, after the warm damp weather, I am really pleased with the effect.
Next year, I may plant an even larger area :-)
10 comments:
That is really beautiful!
K
Dear Chris, I have always thought that wild flower areas are very tricky to both establish and maintain, needing just the right balance of conditions to ensure a healthy mix of plants. Your wild flowers look positively charming so you must have the secret of success. I would agree with you that trying to increase the area next year might be good.
You mention your Japanese Anemones and these, for me, are amongst my favourite flowers, particularly at high summer.
Hello Karen, thanks :-) I am pleased with it.
Hello Edith, I have to admit that I cheated and bought packs of seeds. I used a wild flower mix and then added poppies and coreopsis :-)
Chris
Gardening is all about cheating to get the effect that you want - that's what makes for a good gardener!
Envy your rain and cooler conditions. Despite only being 2-3 hours from you, here it is still very hot and dry. The scenery and the garden are getting browner by the minute. Oh, for some rain.....
Johnson
It's beautiful Chris, really lovely.
The wild flowers are extremely pretty!
Not the easiest thing to get right as they need impovirished soil to really shime, but it looks like you have achieved remarkable results this year.
Hello Johnson, thanks for you comment :-). The weather does seem to be quite varied, hope you get some rain soon, it does make such a difference.
Wanda & Lizzie, thanks :-)
Wessex Reiver, that's interesting and does make sense. The patch that I used this year had previously been covered in a barrier fabric with gravel on the top. It was so hard to break up, I wasn't sure anything would grow this year.
I do hope for you, that next year this wildflower area will bloom in the same beauty as it does now. Yesterday I also saw a Japanese Anemone flowering...a little early, I think. Normally they are the first harbingers of autumn...and I don't hope and wish that summer is already over now.
Have a good time!
Barbara
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