In the garden - warning: photo heavy!

Today's blog post is all abut my garden. I think it's looking pretty good, although there are a couple of faces missing from the line up - stuff which didn't survive our bad winter. The Agapanthus didn't survive in their big tub, so I have now planted that up with Violas for a bit of colour down by what was mum's little patio garden.

This is one of two Clematis I have planted against a length of wall beside the house. There's a Dorothy Perkins rose at the far side of them.


This is my Albertine climber which has just come into flower in the last couple of days.


Johnson's Blue hardy Geranium. I must relieve it of a few more young plants and transplant them about the place.


The beautiful pink cupped flowers of Constance Spry scramble up into another apple tree.


This is Graham Thomas, a pretty pink rose with a sun tan!


I have several Troillius around the garden and love the splash of sulphur yellow they give.


An eye-wateringly bright Peony starts to unfold. Probably Sarah Bernhart . . . A friend was telling me about a friend of hers who haad come across people wheeling out trolley-fulls of gorgeous peonies from a garden show. Oh those look lovely, she thought, I'll get a few. Then she saw the price - £90 or so apiece!!! Must have been very rare specimens indeed . . .


Alchemilla mollis (Lady's Mantle) - I have acres of this which looks wonderful in flower and then takes a LOT of cutting back to make it managable. It looks lovely right now though.


A battered old Victorian jam pan now houses some bruise-coloured Violas. I know - it could do with a polish!


It's June, so of course my blog pictures are going to be heavy with our absolutely amazing Paul's Himalayan Musk, which goes from strength to strength.


A lovely yellow Scabious which has fortunately survived two bitter winters in our garden. The morning light didn't do justice to its colour, as it is more primrose yellow than shows here.


Isn't this Clematis a gorgeous colour? I have it growing up the fallen Bramley apple tree.


Above and below, some of the Violas I have along the top of the wall beside the path. Makes a change from Nasturtiums, which is what I usually plant there.

I was planning to take this Black Elder (Sambucus nigra) with me, and I had it planted in a tub, but it didn't look to be thriving, so I thought I would plant it up and get myself another one once we've finally moved. It's happily flowering now and gives a nice contrast in leaf-colour in that intake area.


You are probably thinking, what on earth is THIS doing in her garden? Well, this is the sacrificial Mullein plant - the Mullein Moths have laid their eggs on it and it's now swarming with stripey caterpillars. However, there is a method in my madness as whilst I won't have a lovely statuesque Great Mullein this year with its rod of yellow flowers, my Mulleins in the main garden hopefully won't succomb to the Mullein moth caterpillars as they're a long way away by caterpillar march, and there's a wall in the way . . .


A corner of the intake plot, which is now an established garden and taking shape nicely.


This is Fantin-Latour,a centifolia rose which has the most amazing perfume and beautiful rosette-type flowers.


Early morning in the garden. I need to have a little revamp of this area and inject some colour. I've transplanted some Borage plants, but they have yet to flower.


This is Common Fumitory (snap, Dartford Warbler!) which grows in the top of the wall by the path. I tolerate it because it is such a pretty little flower - far too pretty to be called a "weed" . . .


After all the hours I have put in on the house and garden in recent weeks, I thought I had earned a little treat. I spent ages browsing the magazines - this sort of genre - before chosing this one.