Bugs and plants in the garden - 28 June 2025

 The year is trotting along, and I am already noting that I didn't quite plant the right things at the right time of the year, but hey ho, there is next year to plan for and I am already doing that. For all sorts of sensible gardening observations, many can be found on Jim's post and others that put links within the comments section as I am doing. 

Six things from my garden this week:

1. Origanum Emma Stanley is certainly my favourite and trickiest decorative Origanum, and once again I ought to take have taken a few cuttings well before flowering  It is a delight in the middle of the gravel garden, but I wonder if the soil there is a little too poor.  I have given it a bit of a liquid feed. I bought it five years ago from Pottertons, but he is no longer offering it for sale, so as insurance I shall be taking a few cuttings, when hopefully there is a flush of new growth after I have cut a few of the stems back in three or four weeks time.

Origanum Emma Stanley

Origanum Emma Stanley Closeup

2. Chrysanthemum Chatsworth, which was left in the ground over the winter wasn't told that Chrysanthemums usually flower towards the autumn, it has been in flower now for a few weeks, and has already featured in one of my In a Vase on Monday. I have already started also to harvest all those poppy seed heads before they start to scatter the seeds.  I left far too many, but they are over some cyclamen and I want to get into that space to spread some mulch.

Chrysanthemum Chatsworth

3. At the top end of the gravel garden well just within the border the hot dry weather hasn't phased the Pseudodictamnus acetabulosus. Beth Chatto gives an excellent description.  

This is the patch in another bed where I pushed in some stems last autumn. Already some of this clump has been promised to a neighbour.

Close of the flowering branch, here are the bracts the little purple flower is a great favourite of pollinators.

4. The clematis Clematis 'Purpurea Plena Elegans was almost overcome with blackfly a few weeks back, but thanks to a league of ladybirds they are now under control.  I was looking at the different types, and this week saw a new one amongst them:  form of Harlequin Ladybird:  Harmonia axyridis f. conspicua. 

Harmonia axyridis f. conspicua

5. Having seen 'Venus's navelwort', now hang on to that name, which is in fact Omphalodes linifolia, a few years back, and having been luckily given a little plant this year by Alison, I decided to allow it to seed, and have just harvested  and placed them in paper envelopes. I couldn't work out what exactly was the seed, and tried to look for it on the internet. Hands up who thinks the seeds look like little navels?

Omphalodes linifolia

I've read various sowing regimes, from sow in the spring after frosts etc.  I have sufficient seed to carry out my own trials, all of which will be direct sow in the ground, as I understand they do not like disturbance.  Perhaps if I stagger the sowing, I would be able to have different patches of plants flowering at different times?

6. Difficult to photograph and especially this week when we have had some usual winds is Dierama 'Snowbells'. Also called Angel's Fishing Rods...fishing for what though? Compliments perhaps? Each morning I tell it how beautiful it is and wonder at the same time whether petals will emerge from the straw like calyxes further down the stem. 

Dierama 'Snowbells'

I was just looking back on my posts from 2023 when it was the year of fasciations...non so far to report this year. If it is too hot to sleep and you wake up early, the nicest thing is to get out there early as I did this morning and do a little gardening....then come in as I did this morning to a delicious breakfast ready made,