Blooming July

It's hard to think that we are already at the end of July, this year seems to be flying by and the days are still full of jobs to be done. A local farmer remarked at how much hard work it was for us to maintain our land and grow all the fruit and veg we have. Funnily, it really doesn't feel like hard work when you enjoy what you are doing. Oh and we do enjoy being outside in the fresh air, digging, planting, hoeing and even the never ending grass cutting.

One of the best things is when we stop, taking a moment to look around and see how things are progressing.

 

This is the main long flowerbed in the garden which M dug last year; it's almost impossible to take a photo of the whole bed. It is still quite immature but starting to fill up nicely. It is a massive experiment this year as I have sown lots of new varieties of flowers to see what suits our conditions and more importantly what we like. On the plus side, my plant identification skills have soared and I'm now less reliant on M's vast horticultural knowledge. I may be a little obsessed but it's so interesting to see how they are coming along and deciding what we will remove or keep. Sadly a few of the big blooms we have been waiting to see have just been snapped off by the strong winds last week.

I am a huge fan of poppies and sowed some seeds last autumn, these have been continually flowering for weeks now and show no sign of ending yet. These are ladybird poppies and although most of them are pure red with black spots these ones seem to have a white edge.

This Geum was part of a cheap collection we bought last year, it has taken a long time to flower and shortly after this is collapsed in the wind. At least there are a few more buds to come.

It must be said that we are particularly rubbish at growing roses. We have 4, 2 were kept in pots and came with us when we moved house, one was a gift when we moved and the fourth one we bought last year. All four roses have suffered, they are in the main bed and having the dead bits pruned out and a dose of feed I am finally hoping they are recovering. These are the best flowers I think we have ever had on any of the roses.

Having waited for so long it is great to see some colour in the garden and there is more and more everyday to enjoy.

My poor wind battered Echinacea is still managing to flower (just) and has some Nicotianas, trailing Nasturtiums and Marigolds for company.

This is the old winter pig enclosure, it was totally dug over and fertilised by the pigs last winter and we weren't really sure what to do with it. We decided to try and grow some wildflowers in this area and gathered together all our old seeds (mainly poppies) and also bought a butterfly mix of seeds. So:

Tah-dah!! It is lovely but the photos don't quite capture the wide variety and beautiful colours; it's starting to get a bit overcrowded so perhaps we didn't sow the seed thinly enough. It also has quite a few weeds present but as it is meant to be natural we've left them in. The bees and butterflies are already having a great time.

This side is mainly the butterfly mix which has some Cornflowers, Gypsophila, Borage, Calendula, Cosmos, Red Campion, the occasional Poppy and a few others we have yet to identify. It's been interesting to see it grow as we had no idea what would appear. Hopefully I'll be able to save from seeds from here for next year.

A quick update on the cut flower bed. Well, it hasn't been a raging success, there are quite a few flowers but I'm not sure they would look great in any kind of flower arrangement. I think if I was to do it again (unlikely) I would definitely plant more plants closer together, not only to provide more blooms but also to support each other from the wind and rain. At least there is a bit of colour next to the greenhouse.

This is by far the best of our hanging baskets. Despite my early reservations as to the trailing ability of the trailing lobelia (a new variety to me and all blue) it has now drooped enough to cover the baskets and the bumble bees love it.

We found this unexpected flower growing in very poor soil/rubble next to the byre. After some investigation the closest I could get to identifying it is an Evening Primrose. However, the flowers appear during the day, not just at dusk and there is a very faint scent which although not unpleasant is not particularly appealing. If it is a weed then it one of the prettiest we have around.

It's been a busy month as the harvests have begun and M has also been keeping himself occupied with the renovation/decoration of the living room. This is only a sneak preview as it's not finished yet and I really want to do a before and after reveal when we're moved back in again - more on this soon.