Having spent the last six weeks with a serious back injury (and a holiday on the side) I have been totally off gardening duties (and blogging duties) for quite some time. Luckily the garden didn’t need too much tending thanks to nature and it’s generous rainfall this year and I still managed to capture the garden, as the blooms came and went, in photos during this period so I can look back on them now. The garden seems unaware of our complete lack of a summer in the UK this year and plants are blooming bigger, better and longer than ever before. The plants are loving the combination of the rain and the coolness and it seems the blooms are starting earlier and staying fresher for longer. The intermittent bursts of sunshine have been enough to keep the plants flowering – so they are not complaining – neither am I now come to think of it – well at least I’ve had ten days in the sunshine and my back is on the mend – things can only get better.
June was the month of……………..
The self seeding foxgloves. They love a shady spot and will set themselves down and naturalise over time giving your garden that lovely “wild and natural” look. They flower every two years so plant blooms for alternate years if you want a blooming session every year. Put in a couple of plants in early spring and nature will do the rest.
I love the serenity of the white ones but they also come in a deep velvety pink, these are the ones you normally see growing in the wild, and they give a lovely countryside feel to the garden.
Foxgloves and ferns compliment one another beautifully as they are both like shade and look happy and natural growing together as a combination in the garden
The ferns finally unfurled in full to join the party with the foxgloves
The orange lillies under the apple tree burst open with annual regularity. Annual bulbs like lillies are always a joy they usually flower for about two to three weeks depending on the conditions and never fail to bring joy with each year they bloom. Plant the bulbs in late Autumn or early spring.
What depicts a summers day more than this? Pink lupins, I grew these from some seeds collected from seed heads of fading plants, that I happened upon on one of my many walks. You can easily grow from seed or purchase some ready grown plants in Spring, they will come back year after year and you can collect the seeds each year from the heads to grow on into more plants. But be careful the slugs and snails love these! So protect the plants especially the young ones otherwise they will never reach maturity. I grew mine in big deep pots which makes pest control a bit easier.
Crown and Glory
Interspersed with the ongoing poppies and forget- me- nots that insisted on “not being forgotten”, June has been a very prolific and colourful blooming season this year. The scene has now moved on and the garden looks completely different. That’s what is so great about spring and summer a very colourful and a very different garden comes with each month. More to come……………………………..
Nice pictures!!!