garden shots

I'm posting this phot a bit late as this show of flowers has been over for a couple of weeks. It's my Clematis Montana and it brightened the view out of my kitchen window.

One of the Alium Christophii in my front garden which my friend named the lollipop garden what with the aliums and the valerian.

I don't know what this butterfly is called or even if it's a moth. It seemed to like my lemon balm.

This climbing rose was already in my garden when I moved in and it smells heavenly. I followed the advice on gardeners world and bent the shoots horizontally as it encourages loads of new shoots all fighting for lateral dominance and therefore loads more roses. I wanted the white roses to weave through more with the Potato climber(Solanum) but I think I should have done it earlier as they seem to have minds of their own.

sunshine and rain

It's so exciting going to the allotment this time of year as things grow so quickly. Spring you spend time waiting for seeds to germinate then protecting the seedlings- everything seems slow then bam in the summer it all takes off. The courgettes are growing on the tails of their flowers, coming quicker than you can eat them. I have lovely cucumbers -variety Passandra that my friend recommended - they never go bitter. I picked some of the beetroot as they are growing too close together. I will boil them in their skins for an hour or two till soft and then eat them. Dug up some more potatoes and garlic too. I need to sow some more carrot as half a row did not germinate. The other row of carrots looks great but not big enough to harvest yet. I started to dig up my broad beans as between the black fly and the squirrels there's nothing left. I am going to put in some more dwarf french beans instead as I love them and that means I'll be able to harvest some later. There's loads of black fly this year (dry weather) but on the plus side less slugs. The ladybird larvae are starting to eat their way through the flies. So nice to see so many ladybirds. The rain held out while I was at the allotment then drenched me completely on the way home. Me and the plants were well watered. (I like the rain)
My friend T came over on Monday and let me take some photos on her camera and emailed them to me. What a treat! After she's gone I realised I'd taken pics of the plants but none of my child but she'd taken some.

Chilean potato climber still flowering months later along with second flush of roses.

Tomatoes yipee!!!

Cosmos

Clematis has turned into wonderful fluffy seed heads

White lavender.

A new day

Hello I will paint my garden with words as no photos for now. The penstemon is full of deep pink flowers. They are deep throated flowers like foxgloves but they have a frill at the end of each flower. Their throats have speckled run ways for bees to follow to the nectar. The leaves are narrow and pointed. The white roses have finished their first glorious display and prepare for their next performance. Bending their climbing limbs horizontal has been a great success as it sent off many new shoots along its length each bearing triple blooms.
I went to the allotment yesterday.It really helped to steady my mind. I love weeding - isn't that handy. My lettuces were big enough to do my first salad. Took some baby leaves off the beetroot to add to flavour to the salad. The dwarf french beans are growing well as are the runner beans. The courgettes have started to look better after their shock of being moved from a pot into the ground. I grew them from seed so am glad they are looking happier. Leeks look ok and onions may be ready soon.