So far, August has been a bit mixed, weatherwise. We have had lots of hot sunshine but just a small amount of gentle rain which really hasn’t been enough to keep the garden looking happy or the water butts filled. Yesterday it was raining, thank goodness, we will just have to wait and see if it makes a difference.
The daylilies from the previous post are now coming to an end, the roses are reblooming and late summer flowers are opening up ready for the bees and butterflies. I’ll start with a view of the top of the garden, Crocosmia Lucifer is passed it’s best now, but still catches the eye.
The border up the driveway, our Bee and Butterfly border, is providing plenty of nourishment for our visitors and on sunny days is non stop fluttering and buzzing.
Kniphofia provides nectar for the butterflies, it’s fascinating watching a butterfly putting it’s long proboscis down each tube on the flowerhead.
Agapanthus was planted for the bees to crawl into and the rudbeckia at the back is for the butterflies, although the bees love that too.
Sorry about my hand in the photo, it was rather windy, so I had to hold the flower still. This Buff tailed Bumble Bee is enjoying the flowers on the Verbena bonariensis.
Some hydrangeas are doing well in spite of the lack of rain. Annabelle here is in the rain shadow of the house and survives in very dry soil, others are looking very stressed, where they are planted near our huge trees which must take all the available water.
Doing quite a good job of disguising the huge water butt on the side of the house is Clematis Blue Angel. I must spread it out a bit more when it first starts to grow in the spring, then we might get better cover.
Anthemis tinctoria has been flowering for ages and will carry on until November as long as I remember to dead head it, super plant for the bees.
Pink Buddleia with a tortoiseshell butterfly, since all the buddleia bushes have been flowering, the number of butterflies in the garden has increased tenfold, it is so wonderful to see them all fluttering around.
Lilium longiflorum flowers are nearly out, another couple of days and there will be the most amazing perfume wafting around the driveway.
Rosa Geoff Hamilton is now flowering again as are most of the other roses, they had a break while we were having our heatwave, but are now back into flowering mode once more.
Rosa Charlotte on her second flowering. This was bought from David Austin Roses one year when we were passing. It was in tight bud and was bought as Charles Renee Mackintosh (pink/lilac) when the flowers opened the first time I rang them and told them it was the wrong colour. I was told it would be Charlotte, they are next to each other on the cutting and potting bench. A replacement was sent straight away with their apologies and I was told to keep Charlotte, super customer service!
Rosa Gertrude Jekyll always receives plenty of complements when we have visitors, the perfume is absolutely wonderful.
One of the last daylilies that have been filling the garden with colour through July into August.
It is wonderful to have our Cardoon back again, for the last few years it has been overshadowed by a conifer and we thought we had lost it. It is still not back to its former size yet but even so, the bees are still enjoying wallowing in the purple pollen.
The lilies are almost over now, just these Lilium speciosum rubrum, which should flower for some time and L longiflorum which are just opening on the drive.
A small tree or shrub is Hypericum prolificum, mine has been pruned as a small tree so that I can plant underneath. The flowers are very small indeed, but there are thousands of them!
Clematis Perle d’Azur is climbing up the pergola which goes through from the garden up to the fruit and vegetables. It climbs up through a white rose, but the rose is taking a rest at the moment.
Acanthus mollis is still providing an upright contrast to the arching crocosmia near it, even when the white flower parts are over, they still looks good and are enjoyed by the bees.
Filipendula rubra flowering in the bog garden, it is really the pink version of our meadowsweet and enjoys the really wet soil that we have in this area.
Astilbes have been flowering for such a long time now, they really provide a good splash of colour in the bog garden for a few months.
Lacecap Hydrangeas are just opening up and this one to the left of the pergola is such a lovely shade of blue.If you look at the flower on the top right you will see a white spider, but it seems to be lying on its back having a rest!
A surprise Campanula seedling has popped up in the alpine scree, I don’t know where it has come from as it is totally different from any other campanula that I have. I wonder if it will stay at 6 inches tall.
Perovskia is one of my favourite plants, such a lovely shade of blue and it seems happy at the back of the alpine scree. I must take some cuttings and try it in other places.
When I sit in the shade in the back garden (when we had the heatwave I was there a lot) the covering to the arbour is formed by this honeysuckle. The perfume at the moment is glorious each morning when I first go out and in the evening too.
My white buddleia is just starting to flower, this one and the one on the other side of the path, have such a powerful perfume, no wonder then, when fully out, they are covered in butterflies.
I feel autumn isn’t far away when the cyclamen start flowering, so far it is only the pink variety of Cyclamen hederifolium that I have found, no white ones yet.
The little mexican daisy, Erigeron karvinskianus, is going from strength to strength, we have so much of it now popping up between the flagstones where they are laid on sand, the conditions must suit them.
Fennel by the back door is coming to the end of its flowering, it never seems to be without an insect of some variety.
The climber Teachelospermum asiaticum was bought as T.jasminoides, but I think mine may be T. asiaticum, as it is more cream than white, maybe someone who knows the difference can tell me please? This is on the pergola up near the top of the garden and the fantastic perfume stops you in your tracks each time you pass.
That is a roundup of what is flowering in the garden here at the moment. Thanks must go to Carol at Maydreams Garden for hosting Garden Bloggers Bloom Day once more, do pay her a visit to see what is blooming round the rest of the world.
Looks great, lots of different colours which always makes me smile.
Thanks Jenny, nice of you to leave a message. Colour in a garden always makes me smile too!
Wow, your garden is really impressing! I like it very much. And the picture with the bee is so good – it looks like the bumble bee is as big as a bird 🙂
I have to ask you a question: Can you leave the agapanthus outside all the year? I have to put it in the garage in winter.
Best wishes
Elis from Austria
Thank you Elis, for leaving a message, nice to meet you!
My agapanthus stay out all year, I think our winters aren’t as cold as yours, you have much more snow than we do in the SW corner of the UK. I think the coldest we get here is -7or-8C but only for a few days, not for long and the agapanthus can survive that.
Glorious Pauline!
The Geoff Hamilton rose is just such a perfect shape and good service from David Austin too.
Interesting point about the hydrangea being water starved under trees. I think that has happened to one of mine.
Jessica, I too like Geoff Hamilton, I think his only problem is that he doesn’t like to open up in the rain and the petals all stick together!
I’m assuming that the big old trees that we have are sucking up all the water, we have a few hydrangeas under a massive ash tree and they always need extra water and then some more under 2 apple trees, one is a massive Bramley, and they too need extra water
August here is also a mixed affair. My Crocosmia Lucifer har come with a small branch of flowers for the first time. Wonderful colour. Geoff Hamilton has a perfect shape. The Cardoon also looks great. My perovskia has to have some support from other plants, but they are lovely. I wish I had a honeysuckle like yours to spread its nice perfume.
Wonderful Gitte, that your C. Lucifer is now flowering for you, be prepared though, he does spread! I thought we had lost the honeysuckle last year when we were inundated with rain, it was sitting in a puddle for such a long time, then all the leaves fell off. I was so relieved when I saw all the leaves and flower buds this year, thank goodness.
Your garden is a delight–wonderful Rosa Geoff Hamilton. I like your header picture too.
Thank you Susie for your kind comments, I think Agapanthus are such a wonderful shade of blue and the bees love them!
Oh Pauline, there is so much to delight in your garden just now! And your Annabelle looks very different from mine, almost pink in your photo too. I think your trachelospermum is definitely asiaticum – my birthday present one was incorrectly labelled too. The flowers on jasminoides are a definite white and the leaves are smaller and less pointed – we saw a huge asiaticum growing up the main old building at Wisley, covered in flowers. Geoff Hamilton is very handsome indeed, so it’s a shame about the petals when they get wet. I bought an erigeron like yours from Wisley and am hoping it will establish as well as yours. Thanks for sharing.
Cathy, the new flowers on Annabelle are a lovely pristine white, they then age to white with pink dots and finally pink. Thank you for sorting out my Trachelospermum, I will have to look at the one at Wisley next time we are there. The erigeron that I originally bought died in the first winter, obviously too wet, but not before it had set seed into the paving by the house, it has been so happy there, so there it can stay!
It really is so interesting to see what is flowering for you, when I compare with my garden. I am so envious of your Agapanthus – we would have to bring it in over winter here and I just don’t have the space. My fennel is at the same stage as yours, but my roses flowered non-stop, even in the upper 30s we had. It all looks so lovely Pauline, with lots of colour.
Cathy, my Agapanthus are the deciduous varieties, if they were evergreen they would have to come in for protection, and I have enough already that has to be brought in when the frost starts. How wonderful that your roses flowered non stop, I wish mine would!
Up here, agapanthus is definitely a greenhouse plant. But they have flowered magnificently under glass. I truly loathe that pink astilbe…spent a lot of time rooting out its endless seedlings, but now, thank God, it’s gone.
Kininvie, how can you loathe any plant! I have never had any seedlings, probably because I deadhead them when they’ve finished flowering!
So many gorgeous blooms – your garden is spectacular! 🙂 The cardoon is otherworldly and stunning, and I am fascinated by the kniphofia (it’s too bad it’s not hardy enough for me to grow in western Canada!).
Lovely to hear from you Sheryl, thanks for leaving a message! The cardoon had been so overgrown by a conifer, when we cut it back last year, the cardoon was such a tiny, puny little plant and I thought that maybe I would lose it. Thank goodness it has come back fighting and hopefully it will reach its proper height next year. Such a shame you can’t grow kniphofia, I always assumed they were really hardy, they do give a nice vertical in the border that contrasts with everything else.
I’m having problems with WordPress, they don’t want me to leave a message on your post. I’ve tried a few times, but no joy so far, I will keep trying!
Well I love astilbes! I’m interested to see that yours is thriving in your bog garden; I read that they don’t mind shade so planted one in the shade of a viburnum x bodnantense – it’s okay but needs regular watering. It may do better next year once a bit more established. Lovely perovskia, I have this in a pot but am going to plant out next year and watch it grow away! Shocked to see your cyclamen already!! I can’t bear that summer is on it’s way out, really feels like it today (wet, windy and rather gloomy) and hoping for a glorious autumn (as most of us are!) Lovely post, Pauline, super to see your garden.
Caro, the astilbes in the bog garden are fine but the ones planted elsewhere are only about half the size this year due to lack of rain, although it is trying to make up for it now! I couldn’t believe it either when I saw the cyclamen, I feel it is a real autumn plant and shouldn’t be here until September. The forecast is for better weather next week, so hopefully it will bring out more late summer flowers for the bees and butterflies to enjoy, I’m not ready for my garden to finish yet!
Beautiful Pauline, so many lovely blooms and all looks so fresh and healthy. You’re right about the Erigeron liking sandy conditions, it is one plant I can rely on to flower almost non stop all year, tolerating the drought periods well and seeding itself about delightfully. Love seeing your Devon garden where everything grows so well for you.
We’re getting quite a bit of rain now Christina, in between the sunshine, to make the plants happy once more. I think I’m going to move some of my erigeron to 2 containers which were cemented onto the balcony by the previous people. I can’t plant anything in them that would need watering while I’m on holiday, so I think erigeron is the answer!
You do have some lovely flowers blooming in your garden at the moment. I’m fascinated (as always!) by what the bees and butterflies are enjoying. The roses are beautiful and I love Clematis Perle d’Azur; I have it here and would like to plant something with it – so I was interested that you have it growing with a white rose.
The white rose Wendy, that has Perle d’Azur climbing up it is Mdme Alfred Carriere, when they are both in flower at the same time, they look lovely together. The butterflies favourite at the moment is the white buddleia, yesterday it was covered in Peacocks and Red Admirals, then suddenly I saw a new one which I hadn’t seen before, a Small Copper!
Your garden is glorious! I really like the photo of the pink astilbe; great composition! When the butterflies and bees are happy, you know you have a wonderful garden. That fuzzy little bee is precious.
Deb, the bees and butterflies are everywhere now, clouds of them rise when I go near the various buddleias and other plants that they are feeding on. It makes me very happy to see them all, I must be doing something right!
What a pretty pale pink hydrangea early in your post Pauline. I tend to like bright colors, but my eye lingered on the soft mauve Clematis Blue Angel. I have never tried to grow Agapanthus, but I am thinking I might give it a go. The winter climate here is a bit harsh for it, but I noticed it in another local garden so maybe it won’t be as difficult to grow as I imagine it will be.
The Hydrangea Jennifer, starts out as white, but assumes a pale pink hue when the flowers have been pollinated. The Clematis Blue Angel was bred by a monk at his monastry in Poland, its name then was Blekitny Aniol but obviously the trade found Blue Angel easier to say! Coming from Poland, which has very cold winters indeed, you should be all right with it, I hope so.