Hello Friends!
A few days before the Summer Solstice, and after days of such changeable weather, from hot to mild, with sea fog followed by blue, sunny skies, one morning we woke up to an unexpected rainfall overnight which carried on well into the day before finally moving on. So, we had raindrops on roses to bring Spring to an end for this year.
By mid afternoon the rain had passed over and, once again, the sky was blue. It doesn't take long for everything to look refreshed and restored.
My climbing clematis {which never seems to thrive as a plant, but does put out lovely blooms} became twisted and bent over in one of our earlier storms. It never straightened up, now all the flowers are opening up from underneath, so I have to route around to find them.
Do you remember the incident of the badly damaged dwarf clematis a few weeks ago? It looked like this
Here's how it should look in photos taken in previous years.
This has got to be my favourite spot in the garden right now
Mind, on the first official day of Summer, I think it has decided to have a lie in, just like Spring did! Should we give them their cards? You're Fired! So, this little baby Blackbird was confused, didn't know whether or not you can sit on the sun lounger if the sun isn't shining.
Flowers continue to delight, and I was delighted to find this wild Field Poppy sprung up in a wild corner. One of the joys of wilding your garden spaces!
The Orientals continue to delight
This wasn't easy, the Verbena Bonariensis is a whippy, bouncy stem in the wind!
The yellow roses just go from strength to strength this time of year. This plant was from B&Q and is now fourteen years old. All the expensive David Austin yellow roses given for the same occasion didn't last a year. It just goes to show that cost and name don't always equal the best value.
Personally, I'm not a fan of all these celebratory roses. Mum and Dad got given six ruby wedding ones followed by eight golden wedding ones and where do you find room for them all? Everyone thinks they've given you a great gift, when all you have is a headache finding room!
Until next time
Stay safe, stay well
Your garden is looking good, love all the close ups! Hope your dwarf clematis recovers well. The roses with rain drops look like they are sparkling with diamonds, so beautiful! The term is great, too. My herbs got totally flattened by the heavy rain, but they are perking up again. Have a great day, hugs, Valerie
ReplyDeleteThank you, Valerie. It's the macro photography I love best of all. That rose is very special and dear to me. Sorry about your herbs, but they'll bounce back, already perking up!
DeleteHa! I love your comment about the celebratory roses! So true! Our summer came in like -- well, not like summer. Our temperature at night went down into the 30s. (in F, 32 is freezing). But we did get loads of rain and more to come, which is sorely needed. Your raindrop rose photo is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jeanie. Yes, plants for the garden can be like White Elephants. Shouldn't be allowed! Sorry it's so cold, that's not funny for June at all. Glad you got some much needed rain.
DeleteSo much beauty in every nook and cranny! So glad you had some beautiful weather after the rain. Take care! (And thanks for commenting on my blog about the crockpot bags. I don't use the crockpot very often, so that's good. After I use them up I might just go back to scrubbing. It's creepy that they can take so much heat and not melt. But it sure is nice not having to deal with the scrubbing.)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kim. I agree about the scrubbing, and the food seems to weld itself to the pot. I worry after a recent article I read about yet another health hazard with plastic.
DeleteBeautiful photos especially the rose at the start cloaked in raindrops :) We only have dog roses here and sadly the cuttings we took from the rose in mum's front garden before the house was sold failed to thrive. Interesting about B and Q doing better than David Austen! Dad always used to have a dedicated rose garden in a round bed which looked good. glad to see the storm damaged plant has survived even if the flowers look a tad different.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I am sorry your cuttings didn't take. Dad always got everything to take, me not so! Small, fleece hoodies are in process for plants to wear during future storms, although it's weird how some really bad storms don't affect any plants, then along comes one that singles out one or two plants.
DeleteDeb, the raindrops on Betty's Smile are exquisite! How very lovely. It's so nice when our gardens give us gifts that we enjoy such as your red poppy. Much better than some of the weeds that have been pulled lately. I've found it best not to move a fern once it is happy with its footing. Plants usually tell me where they are happy and where they are not. Sometimes I listen and sometimes I'm sad when I don't. Everything looks so lush and lovely. And your macro shots are the best. xoxo
ReplyDeleteThank you, my friend. At some point, I think I will have to move one fern, or have two "ferneries". I do look at what does well in the garden, there's no point throwing good money after bad if your garden isn't the right spot. xoxo
DeleteBeautiful photos again.
ReplyDeleteI found a label on one rose here it's called "Happy Retirement" but it's quite small and puny so perhaps they didn't have a good retirement!
Thank you, Sue. I know your retirement is not as you'd planned, but I'm sure you can do something to turn that rose around!
DeleteOh your poor little clematis I hope it recovers next year.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sue. It's already on the mend. My bad, as they say, it's not the first time it's happened, so I am making a protective hoodie for it to wear during future storms. Odd, though, how that storm picked out one or two plants to decimate in all the neighbouring gardens, from clematis and rose shrubs to apple, rowan, sycamore, and laburnum trees!
DeleteDespite our yard being basically stones, a couple of wildflowers (I'm not sure what kinds) have managed to find some way of growing near the shed in our yard, and there were some bees enjoying them the other day.
ReplyDeleteWhat marvelous photos and a beautiful garden!
ReplyDelete