Hot Chocolate

Everything in your garden looks beautiful and lush green Oliveoil. My roses shed all their flowers and the whole of my garden looks like a desert. I stopped watering as I am on a meter and worry about the cost. Is it fresher up there, or I need to provide some shelter from the baking sun by inter planting with tall shrubs or small trees? Mulching only I am not sure if it's enough.

What a lovely combo Olive :o)

thank you Costas, we have had more or less the same weather as you, but we are surrounded by trees so the garden is sheltered from the strong easterly winds and the house shelters the garden from the westerlies. We had lots of rain throughout spring and we are heavy clay soil so it retains moisture well. One of the good things about clay soil. The raised border is the only part that dries out badly but I can cope with that ok.

Thanks Annie, I love the two together, I didn't think about it but now it has got going it really does go well with it. :O)

Thank you Oliveoil. I have relatives coming over from Cyprus on Friday and I want the garden to look a little fresh. So I decided to water all my plants again. I do not know if I'm just wasting my time and money as the weather on Saturday is going to turn very hot again. They come nearly every July in order to escape the blazing Cyprus sun and they love this pleasant and green land. They will also visit Edinburgh and the lake district and I hope they will see more green there.

Hope they have their sun cream then as it forecast hot hot hot again for the weekend. It will be nice and green up north and they will love the lake district, great places to visit. :O)

Fab with the Berberis!

it is lovely and lots of flowers this year, must be getting it right at last with the roses, some I gave manure to and others I didn't and they have all done good this year so do not think it has made any difference at all feeding them. Good old clay soil I knew it was good for somethings. lol just not for digging in. lol :O)

Yes, they seem to enjoy it, as long as the drainage is ok. I cut all of mine back hard last year, because blackspot was rife....and sprayed them, and the soil around them. I still have blackspot, but nothing like last year, and the roses have recovered very well and all flowering well again, so I shan't worry any more about pruning them. Some of them were much too tall anyway!

Beautiful with the Berberis Olive...Its a wonderful healthy Rose, isnt it?

it really is Moti, such a star, so pleased I have it in the garden. Hope you are getting lots of lovely sunshine like we are. :o)

fab, warm and sunny again here today...I am trying to do housework...it's not working!

.....Still at work, the sun had better shine tomoz :o)

It will :O)

And it did...'til yesterday. :-(
Love the combo, Olive.
Costas, don't forget to use your bath water, too!

thank you Mouldy, yep we got the storms yesterday, but the water it threw down on us was very welcome, hot again today but more forecast for tonight.