Well it seems the good weather did continue didn’t it - right the way through June! Though thankfully, even though I was away, no more of my plants have crisped up. The roses though have had a tough time, and after recovering from the crispiness last month came the white fly, and then the black fly - but they’re still going, so it’s no wonder that roses are quickly becoming known as one of the most tolerant and hardy plants.
When we came home it was clear they’d flowered, and I was sorry to have missed those flowers - along with the iris and the yucca in the front border, sigh! Note to self: go on holiday at a different time of year!
I’d also missed my peonies flowering, but at least I still saw some of the petals which had fallen. There’s one bud remaining, but that is steadfastly refusing to flower, no doubt sulking!
Our lavender bushes were clearly not sulking though, they were full of flower and scent, and they gave a hint of what else the garden had to offer. We knew it had been warm while we were away and so I was keen to see how my pots had fared.
But first, the borders seemed to have fared ok, even thrived. I missed seeing the yucca flowers in all its glory, this was all that remained of the fading flowers, so that will have to wait for another year, probably a few in reality.
The crab apples were plentiful and still crab apple-ing, as they do.
And the tomatoes were doing well, there was the hint of a teeny tiny fruit when we got home and over the next few days and weeks with more regular watering, and feeding both plants have produced many trusses of tomatoes. I’m particularly obsessed with the black variety, and the largest of those is currently just a bit larger than a good sized cherry tomato.
The roses were still throwing up buds, and the promise of more flowers - which have been well and truly delivered since we’ve been home. More deadheading is required right now, but I’m hopeful that these will give us enough flowers to be able to enjoy.
My quest to find the perfectly sized standard olive tree started. And in fact it concluded pretty quickly, on only the second garden centre we visited. Up to this point, I never realised how many different sized and shaped olive trees were in garden centres, but I found the size and height that I was after, and after a bit of active demonstrating with various pots and a strong dose of imagination I persuaded MOH it was the perfect one.
He didn’t seem that convinced, but we bought it anyway. Now I realised my issue is having enough soil - and not just bagged compost - for the very large pot it’s destined for. I’ve also been trying to source some of that large, chunky polystyrene to use as drainage, but I haven’t had much joy with that either… yet!
I’ve a trugful of other plants to plant up too - these are mostly herbs and succulents from our short garden centre Olive hunt and some spoils from our day at Gardeners’ World Live, I need to do these really. I even have a pot plan for which goes where, such is the short supply of proper pots right now, and I’m in that place of not knowing where to start. Of course I know the answer, which of course is just to start as that’s the best thing to do.
This is the current status of my sickest bay tree, and it too has made quite a recovery. There’s still some yellow leaves but the diluted tomato feed and some general care and attention, and probably also some sun has done wonders.
Elsewhere the Southern Globe Thistles bought at the Newark Garden Show are starting to form their globes, which I hope will turn blue during the next month or two. And in the last few days I’ve noticed that one of my succulents (bought at last year’s Gardeners’ World Show) is also starting to flower - I’m excited to see what that brings.
The berries on the Rowan tree are starting to turn towards orange from green, and there’s plenty of them too. I’m looking forward to seeing their pops of bright orange again, though I don’t want to wish the summer away.
And yes, the peony bud still hasn’t flowered - and in all honesty, it’s probably not going to now. But what’s almost as fascinating is the pattern and structure of the basal plate where the fallen bloom once was. It’s quite a piece of art, isn’t it?
