So we got there … National Garden Society sign up, tables out and cakes baked …. and suddenly life seems a little less stressful ! Lovely couple of days with some of my favourite visitors walking through the gate ! Not masses of people, but enough and a good introduction to the summer … and the garden is, well, ‘looking good’ …. you never have a year when everything excels … but , on the whole, it’s ‘o.k’ ….
My ‘Rose Garden’ is not so good – and it’s my fault! Roses don’t really like our soil, it’s too open and drains too quickly … areas where we have more clay they are fine, but I chose to place my rose garden in a section of the garden that isn’t quite so attractive to them … so they are the one thing I do actually feed … last year they feasted on ‘Pacapoo’ courtesy of good friends with Alpaccas….
This year I bought a granular feed … and have used too much … so my roses which should have been stunning in their fourth year look like small stunted cabbages …. very sad …
This should look like this …
Am cutting back all the buds and hoping for a second flush of something better as the feed leaches through the soil – it has been very dry here, so now watering a lot
The beds are actually looking great at present with Alliums and self seeded Digitalis who don’t seem to mind the excess of nutrients !
Cornflowers and Cosmos and Sweet Peas will take over when they fade … just no roses …
The Wisteria pergola is looking it’s best ever – the flowers have elongated each year … first year I was truly disappointed , it produced somewhat short dumpy blooms , now … well, just look !And you can hear it before you see it there are so many bees feasting on it …My cat loves the sun lounger here – I never have time to sit on it, and as it is now coated with a blanket of cat hair probably will never want to !!!
Poppies are good this year – lost lots a couple of years ago to a virus
This was bought as ‘Patty’s Plum” but not quite sure what it is !A strange mix of plums and reds – but I rather like it !
True ‘Patty’s Plum’ …
Crambe cordifolia is looking superb this year – hardly produced any flowers last – but as I said before there really never is a year when everything flourishes 
Paeonies just starting – wish they lasted a little longer ! So beautiful …
Cirsium is covered with bees
Just discovered a ‘branch’ of my beautiful aeonium , carefully overwintered and transported into the garden and planted for the summer, snapped off ….
Arggghhhhhhh …. still, it will be used to propagate lots of offspring !
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