I can’t believe that August is half way through. We have had quite a bit of rain followed by sunshine, on and off all month, which has meant that flowers are blooming everywhere. Quite often August is a dry month and the garden suffers, plants stop flowering, going over much faster than usual, but this year all the rain has been such a benefit, especially for the Hydrangers which have been providing colour for about 2 months now. I watched the weather forecast and quickly took my photos a couple of days ago, I’m really glad I did as we had non stop rain through the night and most of yesterday.
Hydrangea under the kitchen window.
I think this one is H. macrophylla Mdme Emile Mouillere and has been wonderful clothing the wall at the front of the house. The pink mophead hydrangea in the distance is by the front door, at the top of the drive.
Hydrangea paniculata Kyushu.
In the space between the pergola and the fence by the field at the side, are a number of hydrangeas, this one needs to be cut back each spring as it flowers on wood produced in the current year.
Lacecap Hydrangea.
At the beginning of the pergola is my favourite lacecap, a lovely blue, whose colour is becoming darker as the weeks go by.
Lacecap Hydrangea.
Next to H. paniculata Kyushu is another lacecap, this time pink sepals but with tiny blue flowers in the centre. I’m amazed at how large the shrub has grown and the flowers seem to get larger each year.
Mophead Hydrangea.
The last of the hydrangeas by the pergola is this mophead which has huge flowers, the flower at the left must be at least 10 inches across.
Under the pergola.
Mophead Hydrangeas.
These two Hydrangeas are in the corner of the back garden, I would have thought that they would be the same colour as the soil is the same as far as I know.
Lacecap Hydrangea.
In between the 2 bushes in the last photo is this lacecap hydrangea with white sepals and blue flowers in the centre. This shrub will have to grow quite a bit before it is the same size as the ones on either side of it.
Hydrangea Ayesha.
Under the dead oak in the centre of the garden, is Hydrangea Ayesha, whose petals turn up at the edge making them similar to the flowers on Lilac. I found another bush with similar flowers to the left of the pergola, how did it get there, I haven’t taken cuttings from this bush? The deadheads go into the compost, the compost was spread under the hydrangeas, has a seed sprouted and grown without me realising?
Hosta flowers.
At the moment all the hostas are flowering, some with much better flowers than others. This one is in the bog garden and when I bent down to photograph it, found it had a lovely perfume.
Rudbeckia hirta Irish Eyes..
I seem to remember last year I said I would move this plant to the bee and butterfly border where it will have more room, it is still waiting! I must move it once it has finished flowering.
Begonia Glowing Embers.
The pots by the back door are now in full flowering mode, enjoying whatever weather is thrown at them.
Lilium ?
A lily by the back door, this one has a beautiful perfume, but sorry, I can’t find the label that I’m sure was in the pot!
Bizzie Lizzie.
A large Bizzie Lizzie in a pot by the back door, there are 4 pots, is doing very well and is now quite huge.
Backdoor pots.
Pot by steps onto the lawn.
Backdoor pots.
Japanese anemone Hadspen Abundance.
In the back border, by the entrance to the woodland, is this lovely deep pink Japanese anemone, this makes me think that autumn is knocking on the door!
Japanese anemone
Further along the border, is another anemone, but much paler this time. I have bought quite a few white ones but they all seem to have vanished.
Buddleja.
All the buddlejas are flowering away, just in time for an influx of butterflies. This isn’t a very good photo of a Comma enjoying the nectar that the Buddleja produces. I’ve noticed that this bush has the most amazing perfume, far stronger than other buddlejas.
Crocosmia Solfaterre.
Crocosmia Solfaterre is now spreading, for a long time it sulked and almost didn’t look strong enough to survive. It must now have it’s roots down deep as it is obviously enjoying where it is.
Crocosmia masoniorum.
The flowers of C. masoniorum are the same large flowers as C. Lucifer. This is another Crocosmia that is only starting to spread after about 10 yrs.
Rosa Heritage.
Roses are well into their second flowering, not as many flowers as the first flowering, but still plenty to keep me happy.
Rosa Gertrude Jekyll
Covered in buds is Rosa Gertrude Jekyll, such a beautiful rose with a perfume to match.
Anthemis tinctoria E.C. Buxton.
In the bee and butterfly border, the Anthemis has been flowering non stop since May. I have to remember to keep deadheading it to keep it flowering, the bees and I love it!
Bee and butterfly border
The star of the Bee and Butterfly border at the moment, is definitely the Agapanthus. They are the first thing you see when you arrive, I wish they could flower all year! More will be added to this border and a few of the others where they are lacking in colour at this time of year.
Lythrum.
Behind the dead oak in the centre of the garden, Lythrum is making a show with its pink coloured flowers. This is really a bog plant, but it seems quite happy as this is one area where the underground stream passes through the garden. I could take a couple of pieces off though and plant them in the bog garden as the only flowers there at the moment are from the hostas, Zantedeschia and a few astilbes.
Zantedeschia aethiopica
Still looking beautiful with it’s wonderful flowers, looking very classy and elegant is Zantedeschia aethiopica. The leaves are also beautiful, it makes quite a statement in the bog garden. I have another plant of it down by the shed, but I think we must try and move it as it hardly gets seen down there.
also in the bog, an Astilbe.
Astilbes by the back door.
Echinops Taplow Blue.
Hardy Fuchsia Delta Sarah.
Iceberg rose.
Keeping company with the Iceberg rose is Lysimachia ephemerum. This is now spreading a bit too far so measures will be taken to restrain it!
I’ll finish with a few longer views.
Entrance to the pergola.
View across the pond area.
Bog garden.
Looking towards the back garden.
Outside the back door.
Normally I wouldn’t think of showing people the garden in August, it is usually looking dry and in need of rain. Not so this year though, everywhere I look, there is colour and I hate to say it, but it is thanks to the rain we have had, that all the flowers are looking so happy.
Thanks must go to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting this meme on the 15th of each month where we can all show which flowers are doing well in our gardens at the moment, please pay her a visit to see flowers in lots of other gardens round the world.
Hi Pauline, your garden is gorgeous! Next month is spring in Brazil, the most beautiful season! Wishing you a nice weekend!!
Sandra
Thank you Sandra, it’s amazing what a bit of rain can do! Spring is my favourite season, everything is so new and fresh, have a good weekend gardening!
Your garden is looking wonderful Pauline. Clever you taking photos early. It has also rained here non stop since early morning yesterday. Doesn’t look as it I will get any photos today either.
Thanks Annette. You have had more than your fair share of rain this last month, I hope it stops for you soon.
A beautiful garden. Your Begonia Glowing Embers is new to me. It’s a color blast that I will look for. Gorgeous garden.
Many thanks Patsy, I like the begonia so much, I’ll be buying more for next year!
Wow Pauline – it those photos are from BEFORE the rain, I can only dream of what your garden looks like now. Absolutely stunning!
Everything looks a lot fresher Anna, we had a fair bit of sunshine yesterday and all the plants were looking very happy, sunshine and rain, that’s what a garden wants!
Your garden is looking just beautiful. The number of hydrangeas you have is lovely – they really are one of my favourite plants. I love how you are able to get the blue and pink so close together 🙂
There is so much in flower – the long view down the garden is stunning. Enjoy the rain…I bet your garden will bloom even more when the sun returns
I do rely on Hydrangeas to give colour through the summer months Matt, and these days there is such a variety of colours and shapes in the flowers. The blue and pink ones growing together is a pure fluke, I don’t know why when they both started off pink. Each year I think the pink one is changing colour but then it never makes it!
The garden is looking so much better for the rain, we had a bit of sunshine yesterday and it made all the difference!
Gorgeous flowers. Must be nice to live in a place where things don’t fry in August’s heat. Even if something is brave enough to bloom it doesn’t last long here in Texas. Thanks for sharing your beauties! 🙂 <3
Many thanks Natalie, being on the SW corner of the UK means we don’t often get a drought thank goodness. I think your temperatures in Texas would be a bit much for me and my plants! I’m glad you enjoyed wandering round the garden with me.
Such a pleasure to see you exquisite flowers and views. Hydrangeas are especially lovely. It’s nice the rains were generous this year in your garden.
Thanks Susie, I’m glad you enjoyed it. Hydrangeas make such a splash of colour through the summer months, I wouldn’t be without them. Where would we all be without the rain, our gardens would be very different.
What a beautiful array of blooms to enjoy in the late season. I can’t get over the many weeks your hydrangeas stay fresh and colorful; what a bonus. Ours begin to fade too quickly, but I guess the heat does them in.
The flowers and foliage of the Zantedeschia are simply stunning.
There has to be a plus for all the rain we have Marian, it means we can enjoy our hydrangeas for months! The shade helps too, even though some say they need sun, I have found them fine in the shade.
The Zantedeschia wins on all counts, the foliage is fantastic, such huge leaves and the flowers are so elegant. It has been flowering for a long time now, each time I think it’s finished, up pop more flower stalks with buds.
Hi Pauline,
That’s an impressive amount of hydrangeas you have in your garden! Nice to see iceberg rose too. I love that rose and intend to have a climber in the future.
We haven’t had much rain here; just unusually cold temps. It did rain a lot on Friday and I think that’s done the grass a lot of good as it’s very yellow especially near the hedge.
There do seem to be rather a lot of Hydrangers Liz, but then I already had a few when my mother came to live with us. She had half a dozen in pots and brought them with her and they were released into the garden where they have now grown ever so big! Even so I have added a couple more as they do provide colour for months through the summer.
Fridays rain has done the garden a lot of good, we have had showers mainly with sunny bits in between for a while now, so everything is growing madly!
Pauline, your garden does indeed look happy! I am amazed that your hydrangeas are blooming in August, while here they bloom in late May and June. Yours are gorgeous. The wealth of color in your garden is impressive, a testament to your garden design skills.
The rain we have had lately Deb, has kept the garden looking fresh. Hydrangeas start flowering here in June and carry on until about October, the flowers fade beautifully, taking on lots of other colours and are then quite often used as dried flowers.
The garden here used to be very dry and empty of colour in August, but I’m now getting more plants that flower at this time of year, it improves hopefully, year on year.
Hooray for summer rain! We also had a most unusual day of rain last week, which left things refreshed, but probably can’t undo the long, hot, dry weeks that went before it. You have some beautiful blooms. Love that shot of the bee and butterfly border.
What would we do without our rain Alison, it would be a very different garden! Thankfully, we don’t have your high temperatures to contend with, so as long as we have rain now and then, there isn’t a problem. The bee and butterfly border has flowers for bees from January to October and flowers for butterflies from April to October, so as long as they’re not hibernating, there should be flowers with nectar for them.
Gosh, so many gorgeous plants and blooms! I’m always amazed at how wonderful everything looks in your garden. I love your lacecap hydrangeas and how lovely those roses are!xxx
Thank you Dina, the rain has kept the blooms coming! The lacecap hydrangeas are a favourite of mine, some of them are quite huge now, they have grown so much bigger than I thought they would!
We also had rain and the garden is starting to turn green again slowly. As much as I love the heat, it definitely was a bit of a struggle to keep things alive! Your hydrangeas look stunning, Pauline, and I know how thirsty they are. The yellow crocosmia is very pretty too and is new to me. Happy summer days and keep enjoying your fab garden 🙂
It’s wonderful the way plants recover when they have a spell of rain Annette, it doesn’t take long for everything to be looking healthy once again. We were lucky here where the temperatures didn’t rise too high, so that was one less problem for us. So far this year we haven’t had to water the Hydrangers so we must have had enough rain, even though it didn’t seem so at the time!
What a wonderful array of Hydrangeas you have Pauline. Some of them pretty special too.
Good to read that your garden benefited from some welcome rain. I love the spread of the Agapanthus, it must be some sight. Glad you were able to share with us some wide shots this month, your garden is an inspiration each time I visit your blog.
Thanks Angie, I feel at the moment the Hydrangers are the stars of the garden, along with the Agapanthus. The rain has made such a difference after the few dry spells we had with just light showers in between. I’m going to repeat the Agapanthus/ Kniphofia combo at the other end of the border in the front which just has rather messy michaelmas daisies. I can add a few Rudbeckias too to contrast with the blue of the agapanthus.
What a difference a few rain showers make in the summer. The flowers can tell the difference between a thunderstorm and a hose is what I always say!
As usual your hydrangeas are putting on a show, I particularly like the under the pergola plantings. Also I’m always happy to see the longer views. I almost feel like I’m taking a little stroll around as we talk about the plants 🙂
Thanks Frank, it was good of you to come with me as I strolled around the garden!
In the spring, the area to the left of the pergola is full of spring flowers, in the summer there is no room for anything except the hydrangeas! The garden has to cope with the amount of rain that we get, as we are on a water meter, only the veggies get the hose pipe treatment. Obviously if something looks as if it is really struggling, the buckets come out, but we try to save as much rainwater as possible in water butts.
Pauline, I can’t believe that it is possible to have a garden looking so fabulous in August; I don’t know where to start with my comments about the individual plants but I think your Hydrangeas are wonderful! Some plants do take an age to get going, don’t they and then there’s no stopping them, I wish my Crocosmia would grow, I have them in the cuttings bed but it still isn’t enough water for them. The long views prove that your whole garden is looking perfect not just one or two blooms.
Thank you so much Christina, this is the result of lots of little showers in between lots of sunshine! Today though it is pouring down but the garden still needs it, yesterday I removed a large clump of grass and the soil was bone dry underneath.
I am so pleased with the hydrangeas this year, everyone is saying that it has been a fantastic year for them and I think they’re right. I’ve even been and bought another one, a paniculata variety with large white cones for flowers, so many new varieties are coming onto the market, soon I won’t have room for any more!
Your garden looks great, especially for a dry early August. Wonderful to see so many hydrangeas coming into their own, I love them, I think ‘Ayesha’ has the most incedibly waxy flowers.
Thanks Kate, but we’ve had a fair amount of rain during August, that’s what is keeping the hydrangeas happy. Ayesha is certainly different from the other mopheads, I agree the petals are very waxy, so different in texture.