Not to complain about the hot weather but...

Over the weekend the south of the country was hit by mad rain and spectacular thunderstorms. There were lightening strikes and flash floods, but in Truro we had a couple of light showers that dried almost before they had hit the ground. The garden was momentarily freshened and the rain settled beautifully adding another beautiful dimension to the plants.

 Melianthus major with strings of water beads

Alchemilla Mollis with it's frosting of droplets

Water drops magnifying the structure of Libertia leaves.

It's all gone now and the garden is dry as a bone once more. I love hot sunny weather and can't bear the idea of complaining, but my garden isn't so keen and is starting to look a little jaded. 

We are on metered water, so the hose pipe is off limits and the water butts are empty and now rigged up to the shower out pipe via a Heath Robinson masterpiece patented by my husband. 

Soap is rationed (very happy teenage boy, in fact he's selflessly offered to use no soap at all!) and the garden is clean as a whistle, including the weeds!

How about it rains steadily during the hours of darkness for a couple of nights?

Pretty please? Then I might be able to avoid contracting waterers elbow/wrist/back!

Time for an outing!

It's that time of year again, there are visitors to entertain and they are the perfect excuse to trip off to Bosvigo Gardens. One of my favourite local gardens, it has been featured in a few magazines recently and quite rightly. It was my first visit this summer (I went 5 times last year - that's how much I like it) and once again it didn't disappoint.

Clematis and Black Sambucus against the wall in the walled garden, with Phlox and spires of Lythrum in front. 

Beautiful pale pink Monarda

        Dahlia, Penstemon and Lythrum behind             Monarda with Geranium and Salvia in front

with Dahlia and Phlox in front of Lythrum.

Pelargoniums, Fuchsias and Begonias in the conservatory - a perfect place to sit!

Yellow, blue and white Vean Garden.

Spires of yellow Ligularia in the background with clipped Euonemus and Shasta Daisies and an unidentified gorgeous variegated leafed plant in front.

Lush shady corner.

Fiery Monarda with tropical orange Ligularia in the Hot Garden.

Dark, rich Sedum.

Dahlias perfectly placed in the Hot Garden.

A lovely perennial geranium in the Woodland Garden.

Yew hedge supporting a scrambling Tropaeolum.

Massed Geraniums in front of the house...

with beautiful old Roses.

So many lovely things and so inspirational.

Mum arrives next week so I can feel a return visit coming on already!

Career crossover!

Wearing my other hat as a graphic designer I spend time art directing food photography, and this week we bought in garnishes that reminded me of my Daisy! hat!

Borage flowers

Viola flowers

Perfect for garnishing salads, mousses and drinks.

A breathe of the summer flower garden in the kitchen!

Perfect Poppies

One of the loveliest and shortest lived flowers in my garden are the Poppies, both perennial and annual. So no 30  in the 'Flowering in my garden' series is the perfect Poppy!

The first to show in the spring are the perennials or Papaver Orientalis, with the vibrant orange being the first splash of colour mid spring (often before much else is out which is lucky because it clashes with or overpowers most things)

 The dusty centres are gorgeous!

Then the plummy purples and paler pinks

...with fabulous blotching and veining (this is 'Patty's Plum')

The furriest buds...

...packed with the paperiest crumpled petals (this is 'Cedric Morris').

The flowers are all gone now (each flower only lasts a day or so) and the plants flop everywhere now so they need cutting back. Then a whole new set of fresher and more manageable leaves will reappear.

Now it's the turn of the annual Opium Poppies or Papaver Sonmiferum...

which are generally more subtle and delicate...

...but just as beautiful.

The annual poppies have prettier foliage, with droopy buds...

 and stunning seed heads.

So these should not be cut back when they have finished flowering but are left to seed for next year - which they do without any need for encouragement! The only down side is that the seedlings are very popular with slugs and snails so you have to keep an eye out or you can lose your poppies overnight!
The seed heads are also lovely dried and look great as part of Christmas arrangements and wreaths (now that's thinking ahead!)

I'm waiting for my Welsh Poppies, or Meconopsis cambrica, a dainty yellow flowered annual that introduced itself to my garden and turns up every year (often in very much the wrong place!) but which should look lovely in my new bottom bed full of blue, yellow and white flowers.

The last Poppy which I had hoped to share with you are Californian Poppies or Eschscholzia canifornica, a lovely bright orange perennial poppy that I grew from seed this spring.
This is what they look like 4 months on!

Now they are indeed alive, but growing so slowly that I may well lose the will to live before they actually flower ( I added some slug pellets purely for scale obviously!). They say gardening requires patience but really..?

Oh well, perhaps they will be something to look forward to next year, if I can get them through the winter!

And then this morning this appeared, no idea where from and it really doesn't 'go' in my purples and whites bed, but isn't it gorgeous!

First Harvest!

So the white onions are ready...

the spinach is growing faster than we can eat it...

and the beans (French, Cobra) are flowering!

It's all go in the kitchen garden (all 6ft square of it)!

Mmmmmm... I can hear those slugs lurking though.