The Summer Garden

Although the past week has been damp and rainy, the plants really love this warm growing weather- far more than we do!

The garden is full of new foliage from bright red and gold to blue and all shades of green. Those rhododendrons who put on growth early suffered in the May dry spell but the majority are being rewarded with lovely lush foliage. At the moment, Hoheria lyalli is star of the show, with H sexstylosa still to follow with the Eucryphias. I can see the first flowers on Eucryphia milliganii in the rock garden. Here the thalictrums are growing tall along with the annual meconopsis which have shown some surprising colours this year and the bright pink Geranium palmatum makes a splash.

I’ve set up the new stone trough as a seaside planting- it’s filled with sand and a daisy had already seeded itself. I’ve added some sea pinks and succulents ( in hope of sunshine) and beside the trough in the gravel is sea kale.

We’re getting ready for the plant sale here on August 17 - not long now! I’ve been sorting through the nursery bed to select a wide selection of rhododendrons that we don’t need as replacements in the garden- and there will be lots of other trees, shrubs and perennials too.

Hope you can make it!