The Garden in June and July

 

Dear friends.  This is the time my garden is at its height. It's fairly small and I focus my attention on spring and summer planting. 

It's now July and 1 of my 4 dahlias is flowering; the phlox are out, in very splashy colours, and "shed corner " has returned to its former glory, with brightly coloured containers. 

The Garden in May

 

Dear friends.  May is an exciting time in the garden. Everything is growing, the gaps are filling, and our magnificent clematis montanas burst into bloom. 

I didn't think there was much in flower yet but I managed to get #SixOnSaturday.

The March Garden

 A Year in the Garden, #sixonsaturday

Dear friends. Welcome to March in my "year of a garden."  By March the garden is officially waking up and buds are bursting forth.

The picture at the top was taken this week, shortly before we set off for a bike ride.  The daffodils and tulips are starting to come out.  I like to stagger both of them by planting varieties that flower at different times.  

I get very excited when I see the growth starting on favourite perennials like this phlox,  I will trim last year's dead wood down. 

I always order my spring bulbs from Peter Nyssen in August. It gives me something to look forward to. I used to have purple and yellow bulbs to go with the early flowering forsythia hedge.  It's the only time I have yellow in the garden. Bu the hedge is very old, it was there when we moved in (2005) and it's quite woody and doesn't flower much now. 

Outside the front door, where it's south facing, I have two pots of Negrita, a perfect purple tulip that's a true perennial.  I will replant them in the border for next year. 

The front rose bed is also host to a lot of hyacinths planted over the years.  They were particularly good this year. 

In the back garden, Apricot Delight is the first tulip to flower. 

I have some different varieties of daffodils in pots.  Monty Don introduced me to Narcissus Thalia, a very classy white.  

This is Narcissus Accent. 

And narcissus Early Flame. 

Finally the auriculas have good leaf growth. I bought a plant theatre a few years ago with the idea of growing several types of auricula.  However, I read they were very temperamental, and I was afraid it would become an obsession. 

Every year I sow nigella seeds (love in a mist) once they've flowered, and it's thrilling to see them now as healthy little plants.  I have lots of violets which have seeded themselves, somewhat too generously. I am forever pulling them up. 

I found these three at the local garden centre (bottom shelf) and they seem to flower reliably in their pots every year.  The plants above them are from last summer's pots. I can't remember what they are, and didn't know if they would survive the winter. 

As soon as it warms up a bit with a few continuous sunny days, I have a few jobs to do:  cleaning the shed and washing its window;  sweeping up;  the usual weeding;  dead heading. Not to mention cleaning and varnishing the garden furniture, which is hidden under the black cover. 

I'll be sharing this post with these fantastic sites, and also on X (formerly Twitter) today, #saturdaysix. Come over and join us. 

FOR FASHION, BOOK AND GARDEN FUN, SUBSCRIBE!

Subscribe to receive 1 email a week with the latest Mutton posts on books, fashion, beauty and gardening.  Join Is This Mutton on Facebook, Instagram, X

A Year in the Garden: February

 

Dear friends. This is the first in a series of monthly posts where I share what's going on in the garden, my latest tasks, learnings and plans.  I'll be sharing this with #6onSaturday at Garden Ruminations, to give you even more gardening goodness.

Background on how we transformed our small garden in 2012.  

February in London, UK, is still very much winter. And yet. There are many signs of spring. The monster clematis montanas -3 of them - have tiny buds.  The forsythia hedge has even bigger buds. Bulbs are making strong progress.