Glorious June in the garden

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So much happening in the garden at this time of year, and so little time to sit at a computer. As I write it’s too hot to go outside.. and England are playing Germany on another tab on the web browser.

The aquilegias self-seeded all over the place and came into bloom at the start of the month in colours ranging from true blue to this delicate mauve and white.

Here’s a purple one.

A friend bought me some Ixia (wand flower) bulbs back from the Scilly Isles last year. The wiry stems really are like wands. They bloomed at the start of the month and are over now.

The scent of the honeysuckle gets stronger at dusk.

The ‘Graham Thomas’ roses are the colour of golden butter and smell delicious.

While the patio roses don’t smell at all. They are sunset-coloured when they open and fade to pale pink.

It’s not just the flowers that add colour to the garden. The goldfinches perch on the feeder as if they are sitting at a bar.

I got these strawberries before the slugs did…

The campanulas are thriving on the south-facing wall and have formed a carpet of blue stars.

Every morning there are new poppies open.

I took this photo about two weeks ago. Since then the tomatoes have shot up to about twice the height and the potatoes have started to die down

Now, back in April I decided to make some changes to the south-facing border. It was largely taken up with comfrey, a useful plant for making plant food and activating the compost heap, and the bees like it too. But it was hogging the prime spot, so I moved it to the back of the garden behind the roses – in the process discovering that it has roots that look alarmingly like bones! I also thinned out the big clump of yellow loosestrife in that bed. In its place I put in some plants bought cheaply at Crews Hill nurseries in Enfield: tobacco flowers, monardas, gauras, salvias, fuchsias, and aubretia.

The resulting colour scheme wasn’t quite what I had in mind! I thought the tobacco flowers would all be white…

Germany have sealed England’s fate. I’m so glad I’m a gardener and not a football fan!

• 27 Jun, 2010
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