Six on Saturday - 10 August 2024

The garden feels to me as if it is in the doldrums, and maybe I am too.  August is not the best month in my garden, the roses are over but waiting for their next flush, I haven't grown any traditional annuals the real autumn beauties are yet to shine, but the vegetables such as they are in my tiny veg patch are doing well.  There will probably be far more positiveness over on Jim's post where others gather too to chew of the cud of what six things they want to talk about concerning their gardens.  

1. Clematis 'Purpurea Plena Elegans' is finally reaching its purpose of clothing the bay tree with it beautiful many petalled purple flowers.  

2. With the fine cobwebs which to me spells the year advancing towards autumn, the plants too don't quite know what the season is as with this Primula auricula.  It is nearly time to split them and repot.

Talking of repotting, I decided that watering and looking after the individual pots of geraniums was getting a pain, and earlier I potted similar colours together in larger pots and hope with with fresh soil around the roots, they will fare a little better in the hotter weather to come.

3. Crepis incana is looking good.  This Greek perennial plant has pink flowers borne on branched stems which rise up from soft grey green lobed leaves. I had grown this a few years ago and then lost the plant, this one was obtained and is its third year in the garden.  It is like a many branched many petalled pink dandelion.  It is quite rare as the flowers do not seem to be fertile or need many plants in order for the cross pollination to work. However, having said that, we have plenty of bumble bees around, and I may let a stem set seed and have a go, why not?

4. Astilbe Chinensis Pumila has struggled with the hot dry weather and it has not been watered.  Next year as it emerges, I shall give it a good dressing of compost in the hope of making the soil more moisture retentive.  Just about one week in flower and with the hot dry weather it is already past its peak as it was in this picture taken a couple of weeks ago.

5. Today I cut down all the ripe pods of the self sown poppies.  I like to harvest the seed to use in my baking.

6.  Catching the low evening sun the flowering dill, I don't mean it is a special flowering dill, but a dill plant that has gone to seed, the hot weather has caused the bolting. It has just the colour of green which is one of my favourites. 

To finish again on the subject of roses, I need to work out what to do to make my roses grow stronger stems rather than the thinner weaker ones.  One of my shrubs of Grace is dwindling year on year, maybe I need to up the feed regime.  Any advice would be appreciated.

That's it for now, it is getting late and instead of bouncing off the computer for breakfast as usual, it is now coming up to dinner time.