Garden update – early June

We have, as you can see, fully embraced ‘no mow May’ and are now well into ‘no mow June’. The decision was not hard as the two mowers I have are both electric and have both sat out in the rain for the last three years so were highly unlikely to have worked. However, I have today bought myself a lawn shears which will hopefully allow me to tame at least the most unruly bits before they overwhelm my pot of raspberry canes.

The after-thought pond patio with the bench and the mirrors has been a rave success. An after thought as it was only during last summer’s heatwave that I realised that in the heat of the day, the only cool place in the garden was underneath the wall by the pond. So I moved the bench in, used up the random bits of York stone that were lying around to make a second small patio and installed the reject trellis and the mirrors from the upstairs bathrooms to ‘clothe’ the wall.

You can also just see the remains of the glorious flame azalea which did itself proud this year tucked away in the corner of the patio.

The herbaceous/shrub bed that surronds the bigger patio is also filling out well. The bigger plants that went in last year, the roses, buddleia, macleaya and heuchera, now joined by some rather lovely geums, all seem to like their new home.

Meanwhile the two cotinus (smoke bushes) have gone mad – I have never seen so many tiny flowers, all of which should turn into the feathery seedheads which give it its nickname.

They are now over but until a week or so ago the bed was also dotted with the craziest tulips I have ever seen. I really only like curly, parrot type tulips but I got more than I bargained for with these!  What wonderful blending of the pink and pale avocado green in the petals – and how did they curl themselves into those shapes! I think they are fabulous and hope that they will come back next year – although I doubt it as crazy tulips rarely do.

Further round from the patio the wild strawberries are going great guns on the holly tree mound. I have popped a few geranium rozannes and erigerons in there as well and rather to my surprise they all appear to quite like it. So I am hoping that not only will the coir matting soon all be covered but that I will be picking strawberries for breakfast.

The bank outside my study is also filling out well although there is, I fear, still plenty of coir space in which errant grass seeds can take up residence.

Not, mind you, if the ajuga has a say in the matter. The variegated pink and grey one is growing fast, and its violet flower spikes were just lovely…..

…while the purple one is definitely on a mission – as, to be honest, are the erigeron.

The standard fuschias (carefully placed around a protruding bit of girder which otherwise trips anyone who passes its way) are glorious. The huge dancing pink one that I bought in Columbia Road about a month ago…

… has now been joined by equally abundant white ones with pink veining and the classic purple and dark red ones which are still amongt the finest.

Currently the only other bright slash of colour is the deep pink bougainvillea that I bought to sit on the balcony – not realising that although it loves sun (it is a Mediterranan rambler) what it likes is the heat that sun brings, not being actually in the sun. (Do your homework….) You can see here that a couple of the bracts have already started to bleach.

So this weekend I moved it into a pot at the back of the garden under the mimosa tree and replaced it with a vibrant pink hibiscus which, so the gardener the lovely Sunshine Garden Centre told me, cannot get enough sun.

Someone else who cannot get enough sun, even if in relatively short bursts, is Boris – stretched somewhat inelegantly here at the bottom of the steps down to the garden….

Meanwhile, the roses are just starting to come out….. More on them next time.