A Quick Breather

Those days really are creeping by at the moment… Who’d have thought the last week would’ve gone so quickly?

Miscanthus sinesis ‘flamingo’ is a new addition, and once the ground is soft enough for me to work I’ll attempt to find it a home.

Gaillardia is also new, it was cheap as it’s somewhat damaged – I initially assumed it had bloomed and was dying. But actually there are buds beginning to flower.

The Geranium given to me in July (?) seems to be happy and is already expanding with some leaves growing a good distance away from the crown.

A forget-me-not has a few blooms on it… brightens up and otherwise shady area.

Chives have another flush of blooms

Gatekeepers are still out and about, although not quite in such high numbers as a few weeks ago.

Dianthus bought so long ago now it’s a hazy memory continue to bloom. Very nice!

The Gaura on the bottom appears to have too many petals… Seems like it’s two blooms in one…

The chopped Salvia is also on its second flush, sadly the other plants are not doing quite so well and I don’t think they'll put on another show for me.

I checked up on the caterpillars… One’s disappeared, I assume it’s gone off to pupate.

And this is the most exciting of the moment…

It’s the Tuberous Thistle, I had assumed I’d missed the blooms for this year as I didn’t plant it until quite late. But both plants now have buds on them… I’m hoping they’ll be out when the Commas emerge!

Copyright 2011 Liz.
All rights reserved. Content created by Liz for Gwirrel’s Garden.

Where has the year gone?

I’m deeply concerned that we’re speedily coming into August; where does the time go??

We’re into the mid-summer garden now and lots of plants are blooming, yet I still have this compulsion to buy more, more and yet more plants! Eeeek, I’m quickly running out of space, however the last batch I’ve bought is intended for the front garden; White Saliva, and a couple of types of Burnett.

I’m still yet to get some plants in the ground that I’ve bought over the past few months, I’ve been stalling so I’ll have to make a point of getting them in so they can get settled before Autumn arrives in September.

Dahlia ‘Happy Days’ and Isotama, I’m not too sure about the combination, however at least they are adding a nice splash of colour.

Bergamot is suffering somewhat from some mildew type thing, and I’ve discovered that another has survived winter and it’s just popping up now so it’ll be a few weeks before we see any blooms off it.

Dahlia Roxy is combined with Nemesia…

I can’t believe how much it actually smells of Vanilla, amazing.

This rose has popped up in the hedge near the other rose I’ve posted about previously… I’ve never seen one this colour before so I wonder why it’s just appeared.

And this is the first time I’ve had white cornflowers!

This is a darker shaded version of the mystery plant I posted about last week, I’ve no idea what they are…

I chopped these Nettles back a few weeks ago and it looks like they’re coming back with a vengeance… Oh well, they’re good for the ground and I can compost them again and add lots of nice nutrients.

This Shasta Daisy is at my parent’s, I stole some blooms that were laying on the ground… I’ve warned mum that next spring I’ll be round to steal some for the garden :D

They’re sharing a vase with Dianthus, Sweet Peas, Dahlias and some of my own Shasta Daisies.

The Hostas this year are doing very well with little to no damage on their leaves… I think it’s partially down to there being so little rain since February but also because we’ve discovered we have a little friend visiting us… A juvenile rat, I’ve caught it on camera with a slug in its mouth and then saw it carrying a Snail. It’s been seen on a number of occasions out in the open in broad daylight; twice it’s been so close to me I could’ve easily stroked it. Silly Rattie. We’ve set up a humane trap to try to catch it but it’s too small to set it off. However I haven’t seen it for a week or so now, and fear a local cat has caught it.

And here’s Rattie…

Gaura is blooming at last, although I do miss my long-stemmed type… These smaller varieties just don’t dance in the wind.

I always think they look like dolphins riding the surf… Or, and here’s a flashback to my childhood… A movie called ‘the last unicorn’ and there’s a scene at the end where the Unicorns are freed from the sea; long story short – they’ve been driven into the sea and they’re riding on the waves… Anyway, enough of the tangent!

Ladybird Larvae!

Copyright 2011 Liz.
All rights reserved. Content created by Liz for Gwirrel’s Garden.