Summer in the garden, everything flowering all at the same time...

 

A quick update on some of the flowers in the garden this summer. A few might seem to be weeds to some, but I find them to be useful as pollinator foods and very pretty as well. (A lawn with white clover smells gorgeous and is good for common blue butterflies and bees.) I admit, due to the very wet spring, the bindweed is ferocious this year but autumn pulling and digging will get it back under control for next year and for now, the white flowers are appealing. The very wet Spring seems to have triggered a profusion of flowers with everything flowering all at the same time... these are some that caught my eye today.

Self-Heal (butterflies and bees)

Snapdragon (bumblebees)

Crocosmia (pollinating insects)

Valerian (all insects plus moths like the hummingbird hawkmoth)

Bindweed (pollinating insects)

Buddleia (pollinating insects, in particular moths and butterflies)

white clover (bumble bees, common blue butterfly)

lawn flowers!

roses (good for this human!)

fox and cubs (bees)

Love in a mist seed heads (for next years' garden!)

Buddleia 

Chicory (bees)

Sweet William (bees)

Cornflower (pollinating insects)

Calendula (pollinating insects)

 

Fresh for Spring, find art cards, small gifts and household decor in my Etsy shop now.

New pack of four handcrafted cards based on my pastel sketches of tulips.
Blank inside for your own personal messages. 

The Gardener's Pocket - A great way to say thank you or send your love to your
garden-loving friends, family.

Pretty mini flower mandala, hand-stitched onto paper, perfect for brightening up desks
or bedrooms for a moment of mindfulness in your busy day.

In the garden today...

 This was meant to be a post about what is flowering now in the garden but I was completely side-tracked by birdwatching...

Bluetits hunting for insects...

Jackdaws feeding. One bird drops the seed to the others waiting below.

Sometimes it feels like it isn't me doing the watching!
(sparrow, jackdaw, blackbird)

Flowering in the garden now are lilac, Californian lilac, knapweed, early climbing roses, clematis, Mexican orange blossom, bluebells, forget-me-knot, strawberries, snow-in-summer, heather, daisies, dandelions and white clover.

Signs of Spring in the Garden

 A few days of bright, sunny weather has allowed the ground to dry out enough to mow. Lovely to see some signs of Spring emerging, bulbs, buds, heathers and herbs all beginning to grow away. A chance to finish clearing up sticks and branches from the storms last week, luckily no major damage. 

Some Spring colour, heather and miniature daffs.

Rhubarb starting to emerge!

Beautiful June

Everything seems to be flowering at once this month in the garden. The warm wet weather has bought lots of buds and growth but not so many butterflies this year. The prolonged wet weather was not good for the outdoor vegetable seeds, I'm on my second lot of bean sowings as the first were lost to slugs and pigeons but have managed to get some shallots and rhubarb going. 

I have begun another lawn spiral, this time in the front, they start off pretty unruly but after few mows settle down. If you are tempted to try one & have an electric mower, please make sure you remember where the cable is at all times. 

Lawn spiral

Nigella, tiarella & green alkanet

bearded iris, knautia and lavender

tea rose

Trees, Seeds and Crochet

As lockdown eases and the temperature rises it has been lovely to get out & about over the Easter holidays. It is that moment in the year when the trees burst into leaf and bird song and I have spotted my first swallows of the year.

As usual, several windowsills have been full of seed trays, mainly flowers this year and now the days are warm but the nights cold, it is that seasonal dance of bringing trays in and outdoors as they start to harden off and grow on. 

The pasque flowers have survived the frosts  and I'm delighted to find lots of self seeding flowers in the garden, feverfew, ox eye daisies, pansies and a few foxgloves, natures own patchwork. What we need now are milder nights with some rain to help with the outdoor seed planting.

Pasque flowers

Quantock Hills, mini tree and sheep.

Beautiful tree shadows at Glastonbury Abbey in the Spring sunshine.

Mini Granny Squares patchwork crochet in cotton.

Now it has stopped raining...

After so much rain this winter it was beginning to feel like the ground might never be dry enough to start working in the garden. But finally, some sunshine, some dry days and some spare time.
Getting the grass cut to a sensible length has taken several sessions of mowing, a week or so apart, using the highest blade setting to take off the top and allow the grass to dry out underneath.
The lovely soft ground has meant weeding is easy and so is digging. Unfortunately the dog has found the digging good too and we now have a few extra holes in the lawn to fill and seed...

The old shed/summerhouse, with its rotten roof, finally succumbed to the winter storms and so dismantling and clearing out has left us with a big new area to use. The new, smaller shed has arrived, flat packed, so a good project for the rest of this week (holiday! Not coronavirus... ). This will give us much more patio area up at the far end of garden where the leaf-free views in winter are an extra bonus. A little seating area might well be called for. Certainly the water butts will be better positioned and less intrusive this time.

Spring feels in full flight now it has stopped raining. Bees, birdsong, the daffodils almost over, a chance to sit and sketch. To top up pots with compost and split up the pot bound hosta. To check what vegetable seeds are still in date and sow some spinach and lettuce in the raised patio planters after meticulously picking out the weevil grubs and rejuventaing the compost...
Flower seeds need sowing, cosmos, wallflower, calendula and little drifts of seedlings need identifying in flower beds.

At least two butterflies have visited the garden today and a beetle flew past. The whirring wings and unwieldly shape awkward in the air. Washing down garden furniture and clearing away the old moss and dead leaves from paths, weeding out the worst of the winter brambles and self-seeders from walls and decking, the list of jobs is long but now, at this time of year, the light is pushing on past the afternoon and into the evening. Soon there'll be plenty of time to get it all done.

Rosemary in full flower.

Raised planters ready.

Spring colour.

New growth and plant pots to sort out.

Plant identification....