THE COLOUR KEEPS COMING

It's been warm and sunny but also unusually blustery the last few days.   I felt like Juliette Binoche in 'Chocolat' with the Mistral blowing in.  I don't find it pleasant to garden (or take photos) with the plants blowing around.

1. Hot Colours in the Long Border

Despite the windy weather, it's all looking like a glorious Summer's day in this photo. The Rudbeckia and Marigolds are joined by Dahlia 'Zundert Mystery Fox' * and Tiger lily.


* Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while know I am a pushover for an interesting plant name.  Hence this purchase.  (I picture a shifty looking Reynard in dark glasses.)


2. Giant Kniphofia

These are Kniphofia uvaria 'Nobilis' which I bought a couple of years ago.  They've taken a while to get going, but I'm really pleased with them.  I wanted a Kniphofia with real impact that flowers in August and these fit the bill perfectly.





3. A Gravel Garden Experiment

So you can't move for Gravel Garden's these days.  They are terribly fashionable it seems, so ever one to jump on a passing band wagon, here is my little offering.

Basically, I wanted a little planting to soften the rather large expanse of gravel where we have our table and chairs.  The gravel overlays a good foot of that crushed stone builders use for filling in foundations (and goodness knows what else besides).  Digging it out to make borders didn't seem practical, but after watching a video by James Basson demonstrating how he plants directly into gravel, I thought I would give it a go.

I chose lavender, box, thyme and rosemary (nearly all grown from cuttings) and dug a little hole in the crushed stone which I mixed with a little soil. They've been in a couple of months now and so far so good.  The plan is that the regimented rows will soften as the plants spread and die off.


4. Pot Display

This wirework plant stand holds a few of the mini plugs I grew on, and some over wintered miniature fuchsias.  It makes a jolly display. (This is code for unsophisticated mish/mash, which I like anyway)


5. Phlox

More gorgeous colour from these Phlox.  They seem to enjoy this spot in the half shade.


6. Greenhouse Goodies

The Greenhouse is full of goodies this time of year.  The benches are full and the pots of tomatoes are ranged along the other walls.

These aubergines are coming along well.  I'm not sure how large they will want to grow (they are currently 3-4 inches), or whether to just eat them now.


I'm a bit bemused that the tomatoes have decided to stay quite short this year.  They are producing tomatoes though and that's the important thing.



That's your lot anyway, and I will hopefully have more to share with you next week.  Until then you can visit the Propagator for more garden related fun.


Comments

  1. Really impressed by the aubergines and very envious (again) of your lovely glasshouse. All is looking splendid!

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  2. Superb aubergines ! Mine have flowers but unfortunately no fruit… I don't know what's going on: maybe the weather ? bad variety ? (round eggplant, egg shape)… Concerning the tomatoes it's the opposite : mine are very tall and climb to the ceiling of the greenhouse. If you could see an identical photo of my greenhouse, you wouldn't see the garden behind like yours

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    Replies
    1. I don't know what's happened to the tomatoes this year. It's usually like a jungle in there.

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  3. That's a gorgeous greenhouse!

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  4. Lovely Phloxes, I do find that they last a bit longer and seem happier with a bit of shade.

    I very much like the selection of pots - jolly or mish/mash, it looks good!

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    Replies
    1. More phlox may be heading to the shady areas I think.

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  5. It's all so pretty. I like the idea of planting directly into the gravel. I have some nice volunteer herbs in gravel where I threw some deadheading. They do say they like gravel, and it seems it's true! We try to make them too fertile.

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    Replies
    1. I sometimes wonder whether I would be better off just scattering seeds I buy on the gravel rather than bothering with the seed trays!

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  6. That greenhouse is rather impressive as is your selection this week. Those Phlox are stunning. I treat our gravel paths as a plant nursery as self-seeded seedlings tend to do far better in it than in pots.

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    Replies
    1. I've certainly grown a lot of thyme that way. It seems to love germinating in the gravel.

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  7. I am so envious of your greenhouse and your aubergines! Mine have flowered, but no fruit so I have turfed them outdoors now to see if that works, though I suspect it won't be warm enough to grow fruit now anyway, same with my tomatoes, hardly grew and hardly produced flowers. A bad year. I like your gravel garden too. A lot of plants don't actually need much soil, especially herbs.

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    Replies
    1. Fingers crossed they will make it. It's the winter wet that will finish them off if anything, but at least most of them didn't cost me anything.

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  8. What a beautiful greenhouse! Those aubergines look very healthy. Lovely phlox too.

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  9. That is a bumper crop of aubergines. I look forward to seeing the development of your gravel area too.

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