It doesn't seem possible that it was only the end of May when we installed sleepers to tidy up one section of the rear or our garden. And a lot's changed in the flower beds in that time. I planted some petunias, a French lavender, an ice grey succulent and many more around the small Christmas tree and plants I'd been accumulating.
As you can see the petunias have gone slightly wild.
This photo was taken towards the start of the month, and you'll see the changes continue with the photos throughout this post. All of a sudden we were surrounded by petunias, obviously not a bad problem to have, but at some point I will need to reclaim the sleepers for my own use!
You'll remember I wrote that this was a favourite spot of mine for a cuppa, well it still is, as long as I don't mind sharing it with the petunias!
The row of self-seeded aquilegias continue to grow, but I suspect they'll be gone before they get to flower. I'm enjoying seeing the burst of green between the paving slabs though.
The yellow flowering bush from dad - some kind of wort I think - has done flowering and taken an autumnal turn. And the strawberry plant has thrown out lots of suckers and new baby plants, so it seems it's very happy growing between paving slabs. The small plants keep getting in the way, and I keep thinking I'm going to tread on them, but I will be aiming to capture these and take them over to the plot for my new strawberry border along the path.
The small Christmas tree, which had been suffering with the heat (or I least I think it was the heat, rather than the company) is improving with the cooler temperatures and the rain, and that's good to see. There's lighter green tufts too now, which indicates new growth so I'm hopeful that it will suruve.
At the other end of the sleeper bed, next to the compost bin, the begonias have filled out almost as much as the petunias. While I'm a fan of dense planting, I must remember to space my bedding more next year.
On Sunday the shears and secateurs came out as the whole bed was looking a little overgrown. The photo below is the after shot - quite a difference from the almost bare bed a few months ago. Before the shears came out the jasmine was at least two foot above the trellis and had merged with the orange-berried pyracantha. A vine had popped over from next door and was heading for the jasmine and the pyracantha, so that was chopped too.
There's still a bit more to do, as to the right of this photo, what you can't see is the overgrown dogwood area where the vine from next door has made it to the cherry tree. It's a tight space to get into and it's the sort of space that you need to cut your way into - or at least it is right now. And so I started with the shears tackling yet more jasmine, around the back of the trellis. There were a few bitey mosquito-like things around and I was swotting those away, then suddenly something else stung my right forearm.
Ouch.
I'm not sure what exactly it was, but it looked more hornet-like than mosquito., Needless to say I dropped the shears and made a hasty retreat after first wiping it off my arm. After my biter earlier in the year I'm much more wary. And this one hurt. Straight away. Off I went for an ice pack and some vinegar, to stop the swelling and calm the sting respectively, while MOH was despatched to retrieve the shears. He did, but not without coming out swatting a few bitey-things from his legs. It seems we're both wimps this year with the insects in our garden.
The bite stopped play for me on Sunday. And thankfully although it's a little swollen I think it'll be ok, let's hope so.
