A short stroll on a windy August day

You'd have got sticky fingers too Snoop - but worth it!

Are they sweet?

They are sweet Karen - and juicy - and delicious! Supermarkets rarely sell them as they can't get enough to make it worth their while, so we're very lucky.

Super! I've always assumed they are sour, being green.

If you get the chance, Karen, do try one: they're even sweeter than plums :)

Oh yes they're lovely - haven't had one for years, the Hakonechloa is beautiful - never heard of that one before. I think your geranium is Rozanne.

Oh,what a lovely display,Sheila,,I love the way you have lined the grasses up.I wouldn't have thought of that..tip for next year,maybe :o) and the Loropetalum is just gorgeous...Is it hardy please? I have never had a Greengage either,as you say,they aren't easy to find.I remember my mum saying she had a passion for them when she was having me,and my poor dad had to go searching for some :o)..Maybe I was heartily sick of them ! Lol

Many thanks Stera - yes, you're right about the Geranium - Rozanne sounds much better. The Hakonechloa is definitely a favourite and Tom Stuart-Smith likes it too!

Many thanks Bloomer, you're very kind! Sadly, the Loropetalum is not hardy (I lost the first one I had), so it lives in the greenhouse during the colder months.

Thanks Sheila,that's a shame..I'll have to pass on that one then..:o(

All looking very nice... love your bonsai...

all looking good, love neighbours like that, how nice of them to make you plant display stands. Great pictures too :O)

Thank you Holly and Olive! Yes, the neighbour's wife told me that he likes making things with old bits of wood, so I drew a sketch to show him what I'd like, and he made a perfect copy and only charged me £10 :)

Sheila, don't play yourself down with the photos ... they're lovely. I have never eaten Greengages ... just don't see them around in the greengrocers at all. I love the white Phlox and those Imperata ... nice pots too!

Oh, you're so kind Shirley - thank you :)) (What you need is a kind neighbour with greengages . . . feel free to pop up here and I'll pick you a bagful!)

Lol, Sheila ... you may recall that the folk in the garden behind ours have a huge Plum tree, we have been saddened to see very little fruit on it this year, no Plum cakes for a while methinks. :o(

What a shame, Shirley - fruit is bountiful here, plums, blackberries, damsons, plus apples on the way. A friend takes whatever we can give her, then she gives us her jam: result!

Hi Sheila... thanks for the tour :o) x

Sounds lovely Sheila ...

Hi Terra . . . thanks!

It is Shirley, and yesterday our lovely next door chaps gave us a bowl of tomatoes, so they got a bagful of greengages in return - happy arrangement :))

Bartering at its best Sheila ... I have so many Tomatoes from the Greenhouse ... may have planted too many this year!

Oh Shirley - it's that pesky law - if you grow tomatoes you have to grow more than you need!

Sheila, I have 3 Growbags with 3 plants in each ... varieties are Moneymaker, Shirley and Gardener's Delight.

Lovely photo's Sheila, you do have a smashing selection, I too wish I had a woodworking neighbour its handy when you know someone who can make stands like that.....I'm also inundated with tomato's, lol....

Thanks Lincs!

Lovely blog - I'm not sure how/why I missed it.

I have an abiding memory of greengages. I was on a school trip to Whipsnade Zoo (in 1953) and Mum had given me a brown paper bag with greengages in it. The teachers didn't know what they were (!) but they got squashed (the greengages, that is) and I had to be persuaded that it didn't really matter. And I think of that whenever greengages are mentioned. I also always associated them with Anne of Green Gables, because I confused the names. (In my own defence I must point out I was only 5!) And I've never had any since!

Lovely memory Susanne, but what a shame you haven't had a greengage since. I'm told that not enough are grown in this country for supermarkets to stock them, but this year is a very good year for them . . . I've been able to give a friend 3 lbs and she's promised me some jam! We do have a pop-up stall in town that has been selling a few . . . I hope you can find something similar.

I shall keep an eye out for some!

Just realised I confused the captions - it was the loropetalum I was admiring. is it a dwarf variety? I thought they could reach 12 feet tall?

Ah . . . you could well be right, Sue. The first loropetalum I had was lost to frost, so this year's is in a pot and likely to stay there so that it can spend the winter in the greenhouse. Maybe in a sheltered spot (with acid soil?) they grow to a great height? I think Spritzhenry may know more about them . . .