Paradise found, lost and found again

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Well if paradise exists it is right here right now in our back gardens at the tail end of May and beginning of June. Our garden perennials are in full bloom, the wild flowers are still making merry wherever they can escape us and the biennials are just coming in. Who could want for more!

Well me actually.

I would quite like it if the slugs were to leave my Heleniums alone instead of polevaulting over the copper sentry post via a stray bit of grass – the Heleniums look more like rags than anything else.

Talking of slugs the beautiful dahlias – Bishops Children – lovingly raised from seed have now been lovingly razed to the ground by the aforesaid beasties. The only ones left are those I forgot to plant out which will now go in pots! But I WILL NOT resort to slug control beyond surrounding precious plants with copper. I love blackbirds and slow worms and ducks and all the multitude of things that live here. I have no idea what the impact of nematodes on the garden would be – and as for slug pellets all I can say is hrrmph!

Nevertheless I could cry and beg whoever is chewing my small yet expensive Daphne Bohlua to please stop and chew something cheaper. I could also plead with the Canna that looked so promising earlier on to try again now that the frosts have passed (it may – it may not – it has taken a severe frosting and appears to be thinking hard about whether I deserve a second chance.)

And it is no one’s fault but my own that when I lovingly watered all the new plants before taking a few days holiday I forgot about the new Ceanothus and came back to find it a miserable beastie (though I think it will recover – I am an optimistic soul).

Notice the lack of photos of the disasters. Hah! I’m not going to commit my dreadful husbandry to posterity! No the trick is to steadfastly avert ones gaze and look at something more pleasing instead.

So it was that when we returned from our holiday last night and went for a stroll in the back garden, instead of seeing a catalogue of disasters all I could see was beautiful.

This is a very sweet geranium which tumbles quite carelessly across the back of a supporting wall. I promise to look these up in a while and get technical but not yet – on such a nice day.

Now this one I think I do know – I believe it to be Geranium Himalayense Johnsons Blue – or close enough at any rate. It is my absolute favourite geranium – so casually easy to grow (hurrah) yet profligate with its flowers!

The garden has too much of this – Alchemilla Mollis – but I left it in this year to see where I wanted to keep it. It does look pretty with the droplets of water (caused by the ultra soft hairy leaves). I’m afraid its just too much of a good thing.

Finally I thought I would leave you with a success! These may look to you like rather scruffy steps that could do with a sweep (whoops they look like that to me too – where did I put that broom?) but to me they are proof that Campanulas are the worlds most forgiving plants. Snatched up in a January snow storm and stuffed into a pot for transplanting they were then shoved in the cracks at the bottom of the steps to colonise or die as they saw fit. I’m pretty happy that they decided to take the plunge and get on with life. I have supplemented them with a small pot of Arberia (hmm that may be the wrong name – must check) and have good intentions to branch out into all manner of other littlies. Will post pics if it works and remain silent otherwise.

Enough for now – the weeding calls!

• 6 Jun, 2010
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