Larvae damage.

These little critters stripped the leaves of this plant in a  matter of days. Once the adult Sawfly creates a tear in the leaves she then lays her eggs and when they turn into the larvae they smother the leaves and munch on them till they are completely eaten. This happens every year with Solomon's Seal.

Mum's garden.

I've got some catching up to do if I ever want my garden to look as nice as Mum's.

Something to aspire to.

Last word

With all the rain did I really expect the slugs not to make an appearance?

The garden fights back

I know this could be an opportunity to plant up all the things that love wet conditions but I don't want to tempt fate by succumbing to this idea. I want to think that later this year or most definitely next year we will have sunshine and dry conditions. Plus who has the money to chop and change according to the weather? So, like almost all gardeners in Britain this year, I will grin and bear it although sadly not really with good grace. As the barista in the coffee shop said, "We are all just hanging on to our sanity but another day of this weather and the British public will all turn into serial killers! I must start buying my coffee from a different place!

Anyway, we can escape indoors and bemoan our fate but the plants have to battle on. Here are the flowers in the garden, some caught on a rare sunny day this July.

 Aconitum and a rose.

 Only one of the three plants I bought last year have come up but this gives lovely long lasting Autumn colour.

 Bear's Breeches and the aconitum with a Hibiscus

 One of my favourite, longed for plants. I bought this two years ago only for it not to flower last year and this year, when it did flower the rain has knocked it to the ground. Angel's Fishing Rod is it's common name but whilst it is wet enough to keep fish alive I've sadly seen no angels using them!

 This is part of the friendship corner, looking rather bedraggled after the downpour today.

 The hydrangea is changing from blue to pink. All dependent on the type of soil it is planting in.

 A close up of the hydrangea.

 The Eryngium (sea holly) has done well but it's used to harsh conditions. The Echinops (globe thistle) isn't doing quite so well.

 The star of the show, a huge Agapanthus blowing it's many little trumpets whilst the Gypsophilia fills the space in the background.

The white clematis has done well, head in the sun, feet in the shade.

 The spotted foxglove is a personal favourite of mine.....,

 and the bee too, can you see it up the tubular flower? If you click and enlarge the photo you can see the fine hairs on the inside of the flower that brush against the  bee as it climbs in and out.

In the wild area this plant is doing it's job - attracting insects.

 Detail of the Giant Scabiosa head. A great mass of this bendy stemmed plants at the back of a border really do create a lot of movement and long term interest. I love this skinny chap.

A victim of the weather; this lupin was overcome with greenfly, another infestation has stripped my blue lupin within a day. You snooze, you lose, as they say and I caught both of them too late. What a shame.

 My very favourite, Crown Princess Margarita rose. She always gives a good show. The blue in the background is a clematis.

 Evan with the rain, my roses have done their best and as soon as the sun dries them out a little, up they come.

 My second favourite rose, Munstead Wood. This photo doesn't truly reflect the richness of this glorious rose. I moved it earlier in the season so it could climb against the shed and it's doing very well. Such a reliable rose.

Here, the water damage is quite apparent. I pulled gently on the head of this sodden rose and the entire petal structure came away in one piece. Yet the bud by the side has had the benefit of a good dry day as it unfurls so if the rain stays away it will not suffer the same fate. As I type away the rain is back for the fourth time today, heavy as always, and my hopes for the roses fades somewhat.

This bush has one head with waterlogged petals too but still makes a good show. C'mon, Blighty. Show that weather who is the boss (yes, we all know. The weather wins every time)

 My new purchases for this year; I have five or six of these beautiful Verbascums, this one has a sprinkling of rain drops on it's petals.

 So, the Salvia Patens Blue have been planted - in the monochrome border! Well, something is better than nothing and if these handsome chaps flower they will be a delight to view from the house.

 Remember the bargain annual plants we bought when we met up with Luke's dad a month or two back? For five pounds I filled this large blue pot with fuchsias and upright and trailing lobelia. At least these gives us some interest and can be moved around to fill a boring spot in the garden - if only they weren't so heavy to shift!

The half barrel (still smelling slightly of beer!) sits out by the front steps and has spilled over the edges to soften them up. This barrel was filled by Jack next doors' 8 year old grandson and me a few months ago and is a very cheap and cheerful welcome to the house.

 What a graceful arch to the yellow flower stem of the humble tomato. It will be such a shame after Luke's tender cultivation of these plants if they do succumb to blight. It's a miracle though if they don't - conditions (wet and warm) are ideal for it. He's going to get some resistance spray and fingers will be firmly crossed.

Here is a lovely tiny tomato with beautiful curlicue bits adorning it's 'head'.

A room with a view. From our loft you get a slightly better idea of the shape of the garden. With fruit bushes along the left, the vegetable patch behind the white bed and the chicken run and wild garden behind that we move over to the shed and the greenhouse, fronted by the herb garden and then down past the hammock to the clashing corner, the long border, the tree with the bird feeders that our chickens make a run for every time we let them out of their run and down to the friendship border which is obscured by the conservatory roof. Further on down is the monochrome corner, the deck and the wood store. Our compost bin and water butt reside in between the shed ad greenhouse and our bits and pieces, including logs to be cut, hide behind the shed.

If you think I have exaggerated about the rain we have endured this 'summer' just look what has happened to these keys in five days! I tied these to string and hung them over the peas to act as a pigeon scarer (well, really just because I wanted to hang these old curiosities up actually and I needed an excuse) and already they are rusty. Happy days!

Too wet to fret.

It's official - we are totally rained out. I can't do anything in the garden because the rain just will not abate. I've come to a decision; having so many bills right now and being disappointed in this year's show of plants I'm bowing out gracefully. It's not as if I'm not going to stop gardening, after all it's my favourite thing ever and I love buying new plants like other girls like to purchase high heels. It's just silly though to keep buying plants only to watch them struggle and not blossom. With the warm and wet weather there is a risk of blight and mould on lots of plants and my beautiful purple lupin that fought against the slugs earlier in the season to produce beautiful spires of lilac has been stripped overnight, by what I know not.
I've been enjoying, rather enviously, the beautiful blooms and conceptual planting at the Hampton Court flower show. So many clever ideas from how to attract butterflies (buddlieas and nettles are still a top favourite) to companion planting (parsley seems to help just about any sickly plants by releasing nutrients into the soil and basil is so aromatic that it can help keep white fly off tomatoes and beetles off asparagus). Last year we planted basil and marigolds next to our tomatoes to scent the area so strongly that the aphids couldn't detect the toms. not that it mattered as blight meant we lost every single one. We are having, as I once heard a condescending boss say, a crisis of confidence. Luke is threatening to give up and buy his tomatoes next year. I shall not be defeated and will continue to plant potatoes and peas and ensure we have sweetcorn and other veg next year. It's no crisis of confidence though, it's just not worth working so hard and spending money on something that is not going to thrive. The roses have been so wet that the outer petals have not allowed the buds to fully open but some of them have pushed through and look lush and abundant. So once the rain stops and allows the plants and me to enjoy the garden we can get started again. I hope you'll bear with me till the sun shines again.

Pretty faces

Although it's been wet and windy the roses have done their best and also this is the first year for many years that I have had success with my Grandpardent's lily; the original would be at least thirty years old now. We also dug our first spuds and washed, cooked and ate them within twenty minutes. That along with two fresh pods of sweet peas and I feel that at least the garden is trying it's best to provide for us.

Friend and foe.

The bees are a welcome visitor but the poor squashed beauty in the middle photo is the lily beetle and this one had taken a good chunk out of my lilies. I still feel awful though, for squidging it.

Who knew?

This ugly chap was dug up last week. His name is as shocking as his appearance. He's a Cockchafer!!
(we put him back after we photographed him)

Weeds in the garden.

This morning I was tidying up the border and pulling up weeds when I got to thinking about how to spot a weed. There is no hard or fast rule. You can't say, if it is bright green it is a weed or anything that easy. The absolute truth is that really, as the old adage goes, there is no such thing as a weed. It's just a wrong plant in the wrong place. Unfortunate for the plant but it's YOUR garden so you should have what you want in it.
I remember about fifteen years ago walking around the docks trying to find teasels because I wanted their seed heads to provide some interest in the garden during the winter. They are also fantastic sources of food for certain birds but I wasn't bothered about that benefit back then. My Auntie was horrified at my suggestion. "What do you want those for? You'll never get rid of them once you have them; the seeds will spread and you'll be stuck with them" is what she said to me. I never did successfully pull them up out of the dock yard cracks and replant them in my garden but that's not to say I wouldn't still have them. IN fact the trend for natural gardens encourages nettles and teasels.
I wanted to find out which plants are 'official' weeds in Britain. However, when I Googled  'offical weed Britain' all I found was cannabis sites. Not exactly what I was looking for.
By changing 'weed' to plural, I did find this general information,

"Weeds are simply plants which are growing in the wrong place or behaving badly, but when they trespass in our flowerbeds or vegetable patch, they cause no end of annoyance. They are usually the native plants which are best adapted to the environment where they grow, so can easily out-compete our more delicate ornamental plants. The seeds they produce can lie dormant in the soil for many years, germinating when it is cultivated, or imported with 'new' topsoil. Even in a "wild" garden the native plants must be controlled to give the more pleasing effect we seek. "

and then I chanced upon this,

Identifying common invasive non-native plants

Three of the most invasive non-native plants are Japanese Knotweed, Giant Hogweed and Himalayan Balsam.

Japanese Knotweed

Japanese Knotweed appears to have no natural enemies in Britain and is difficult to control, tiny fragments (as little as 0.7g of its rhizome, or root) can produce a viable plant. This plant can grow as much as two centimetres per day, will grow in any type of soil, no matter how poor, and can grow through walls and concrete.
The plant forms dense clumps up to three metres in height. It has large, triangular green leaves and a hollow stem, similar to bamboo but often flecked with dark red. Japanese Knotweed produces fleshy red-tinged shoots that can reach a height of 1.5 metres by May and 3 metres by June.

Giant Hogweed

Giant Hogweed has a green stem with dark red or purple blotches and spiky dark green leaves. The plant can grow up to 5m tall and grows mainly in areas of damp soils, such as river banks.
Each flowerhead can produce up to 50,000 seeds, which are easily dispersed by water. Seeds can remain viable for up to 15 years so disposal has to be carried out very carefully.
Giant Hogweed can have adverse effects on skin following contact. Symptoms are usually noticeable within 24 hours including blisters and swelling on the skin, which may be made worse by exposure to the sun. If you feel unwell after contact with Giant Hogweed speak to your doctor.
Japanese Knotweed and Giant Hogweed are listed in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. This means that it is illegal to plant it in the wild. Waste from some non-native plants is controlled by law and so certain regulations have to be complied with when disposing of such material.

Himalayan Balsam

Himalayan Balsam was introduced into Britain in the 19th century. It has pinky red stems with dark green leaves. It grows fast and can reach 2 to 3m in height. The plant can produce large quantities of seed in exploding capsules that can throw seed several metres.

Five particular plants are classified as 'injurious', or harmful weeds under the Weeds Act 1959. These five plants are:

• Common Ragwort
• Spear Thistle
• Creeping or Field Thistle
• Curled Dock
• Broad-Leaved Dock"

Chicken poo!

If you're a keeper of chickens you will know that it's imperative to keep their surroundings clean and pest-free. Good hen-husbandry or housekeeping helps the chickens fight off red spider mite and other parasites which can kill vulnerable hens. On a day to day basis you need to clean off their droppings board (hens do most of their expelling of waster matter overnight hence a board that sits underneath their perch that you can easily slide out to clean is better than letting it drop onto the floor) but in this weather it's proved slightly problematic. I can slide out the droppings board from under the hens' perch but the droppings have all frozen onto the board itself. I've been out there trying to chip off a mound of chicken poo with a trowel to no avail. Sigh!