Slinky Summer
Summer slinks on. Funny how some abandoned areas of the garden look great, while others look - well, abandoned! A lot depends on a garden being in reach of the irrigation. Take Lychnis, for example, a grey leafed short lived perennial which I love. If it gets enough water it looks magnificent - a frothy sea of waist-high white and magenta flowers, stalks strong enough to support everything.
Sea of White Lychnis
But below the water threshold (for example, in the Allotment Garden, which only gets watered by the rain) Lychnis doesn't get going at all.
Evening Primrose
Thank you NGP...
Non-Gardening Partner said the nicest thing yesterday - that my garden was looking really tidy and cared for, much more that usual for this time of the year. So nice!
This morning I weeded the far edges of the Hump Garden, where my big pile of mulch still sits, waiting to be spread around. Pulled out lots of yellow dandelion weeds from within the Lychnis sea.
Gave thanks that everything looked so beautiful. Gave thanks for the recent rain - sat down in the dirt, got very wet, didn't care.
Saturday 28th December
The year draws to a close as the summer sun beats down. All the lettuces are bolting, all at once. When one grows exactly the same variety and the pots are all lined up in one place, this is inevitable. But today the last of the courgettes and a pumpkin were finally planted in the sunny part of the Pergola Garden. No more feelings of guilt as they desperately try to flower in their tiny pots.
Peachy Daylilies
Had lots of water fun with my house visitors today, so no other gardening was possible. Wetsuits are wonderful summer accessories to wear when swimming in country ponds or floating with boards down the water race. Sun is warm, water is not!