When we got back from our holiday, the garden had gone into overdrive. There had been lots of rain while we were away and what a difference it made to the fruit and flowers. Everything had grown to almost twice the height and the fruit was almost bursting on the branches, the blackcurrants were as large as grapes.
Gooseberries were huge,
the red ones are colouring up nicely.
Blackcurrants weighed in at 11 1/2 lbs, this is the most we have ever had from our 4 bushes.
Bee and butterfly border by the drive is open for business and has lots of visitors.
Rosa “Bonica” has gone mad – you can hardly see the carving of the owl with his pile of gardening books.
Iris ensata now out in full glory – had hoped it would be out for our open weekend – now we can enjoy it all by ourselves.
Lots of colour in the back at the moment.
Bog area has quite a lot to offer at the moment, although I have plans for improvement ever since I saw those wonderful drifts of primulas in all the Scottish gardens that we visited.
White flowers everywhere.
Day lilies flowering in every border, making the garden very colourful at this time of year.
Geranium “Spinners” going into overdrive with Clematis “Pagoda” – this geranium will be in flower all summer.
Just a long view of all the colour out at the moment.
This poppy has popped up from nowhere, such a lovely fringed edge to it. I do love these “freebies” that arrive unexpectedly, will definitely save seed from this one.
So all that we had to do when we returned from Scotland was cut the grass, lots of deadheading and just a bit of weeding, so now I think we can just relax and enjoy the summer with a long cold drink and a good book, sitting in the shade under the oak tree on the swinging seat – I wish !!!
dear Pauline, I always feel that one of the best things about holidays is coming home and checking out the garden and how it has fared in our absence. Yours is looking fabulous, you obviously have got a good structure and healthy plants and they don’t need constant hand holding (garden tools). It’s getting closer to my open garden, and sometimes I look forward to it (mostly) but sometimes I think what have I done???? cheers, catmint
I love going away, but coming home is so lovely, neighbours are good, watering pots and the greenhouse, the growth this time was amazing with all the rain they had. Is it September when you are open ? I know the frantic feeling, but don’t worry, it will all be fine, all our visitors have been super and made us feel that it was worth doing.
What a fantastic garden you have Pauline! Isn’t it surprising how when you look at something every day you hardly notice the difference but to come back after being away for a while, everything has shot up and out. Your fruit look wonderful
Thank you so much Ronnie for your kind comments. Coming home from holiday always brings lots of surprises in the garden – most of them good !
Thanks for visit and comment….I love your gardens. It’s especially nice when people post pictures of their gardens, as opposed to strictly just photos of individual plants. I love the garden by the patio stones you have.
About the red twig dogwood: it’s the only shrub I have that gets eaten pretty badly by insects. I found the little culprits and they were small white caterpillars. We tried picking them off, but they got away from us, so I resorted to one spray with some insecticide. (I really hated to use it on my garden, but it did the trick.)
Do you have the same problem?
Thanks Diane for your lovely comments about our garden – I too like to see long shots to see the garden as a whole – close ups are beautiful, but don’t show how people put plants together.
No, we don’t have a problem with anything eating the dogwood – thank goodness !!
Your garden is lovely and seems to have done fine while you were away. Your combinations are so perfectly complemented!
Lots of rain while we were away brought the garden on amazingly. Some combinations,dear Sage Butterfly, are down to nature, with just a bit of editing from me, lots of plants just seed themselves about and put themselves in the most unexpected places, if I like it, then they stay !
What a wonderful garden! My grandmother had gooseberries and I so miss them! Your black currants look spectacular. And the flowers are gorgeous!
Thank you Cathy, it’s wonderful how smells and tastes bring back childhood memories isn’t it.
It’s october, thanks for asking, and I am just starting to feel frantic. The weeds are starting to grow, and suddenly there is just so much to do. Just under 3 months away, my priority is to put new plants in or move plants so they have a chance to get established and grow a bit.
Thanks for getting back to me, I feel for you Catmint, we are all the same, wanting everything to be perfect for our visitors, especially as they are paying. I now know from experience, that everything will be fine, the public are very supportive and I think they are all glad that its not them doing all the hard work !!!