Feast of flowers
It’s all systems go in the garden as we prepare for our open weekend on June 27 and 28. Our teenage son, who takes the photographs for me each month, enjoys mowing, so he’s been helping my husband out with this and other jobs. I’m taking responsibility for weeding, although at the moment it seems that the more weeds I pull out, the more they seem to grow! I’ve sorted out the greenhouse, planting tomatoes down one side with my scented-leaf pelargoniums displayed on the staging on the other side. This year we’re also growing tomatoes in a small polytunnel. We always choose ‘Gardener’s Delight’ and are also trying a Heritage variety called ‘Bloody Butcher’, together with ‘Marmande’ and ‘Tigrella’ – both gifts from friends. We’re looking forward to a good harvest of strawberries because the plants are absolutely laden with fruit, which should ripen quickly once we have a bit more sunshine. I’ve ‘harvested’ the first blooms from the cut flower patch. Both anemone ‘De Caen Group’ and alliums are flowering and have lasted well inside our house in vases. Roses around the garden are starting to come into flower, particularly ‘Gertrude Jekyll’ which is always first to bloom. I’m pleased to see masses of buds on the rambling roses growing on the pergola. These were cut hard back earlier in the year and I was concerned that they wouldn’t flower well this summer. Luckily it looks as though they will be better than ever! The first of the peonies is in flower, a lovely old double red variety – sadly, I haven’t a clue what it’s called. Another plant I love is Hesperis matronalis or sweet rocket. I’ve been encouraging it to grow all over the garden and this year it has done me proud, forming a lovely big clump underneath a pear tree.
Tales from a Country Garden 