July in the garden!! - Page 7

Oh lilylousie your garden is stunning I do hope you have given yourself a good pat on the back,   you inspire us all well done and keep up that excellent work. x x x x

Remind me not to ever buy a house built on clay soil! The borders are flooded again today, despite hubby and I baling out 50 full buckets from the gullys around the lawn yesterday! We just got it down to a trickle at the bottom by tea time then it started to rain and it's rained all night and still going strong. Can't walk down to the GH unless we put wellies on as the grass and patio are under 2 inches of water. Where does it all come from. I'm rather depressed as we've both got backache from all that lifting yesterday and now it looks as if we didn;t do it. All your photos are fabulous and I'm fed up that our garden is unworkable, and will be for days yet.

July in the garden ! Huh! it's July in the water meadows here!

Thanks for comment 'Gary Hobson'.  Ooooh Pam and everyone - how great it is to see your photos.  Inspiring stuff!  So very cheering during prolonged wet wet wet periods.  Gardening is a pretty new world for me and as you all know it hits the soul spot, runs the gamut of every emotion (including wonderment) known to man - is fun fun fun to the point of hilarity sometimes when things go wrong - and this forum confirms a feeling of community which seems to be quite rare these days.

A little off-topic digression here.  Took trip round the Botanics (in Edinburgh) the other day where they have undertaken massive plantings of perennials this year - I'm talking thousands.  Quite a sight.  I'd meant to visit more regularly to see how things were coming into bloom but the usual 'time' contricts means I keep missing some plants at their best.  I was pottering around an area where several plants were dying back and what remained was a fairylike area of interplanted grasses.  One of these grasses I was really taken with.  I tried to get a good photograph but the dangly bits were so small and grouped together that my little camera could not focus.  I'd love to know what this is.  It was amazingly effective planted between many types of plants, especially tall stemmed delicate flowers.  I missed the label but it has a very short name and begins with a 'B' - like Bria or something.  Anyone know what it is.  I'll put these pics in - but I couldn't isolate the detail of this little grass.

It really looked like a fountain of grasses leftover where the plants had now gone to seed.  Lovely.

 And this is as much as my camera could do to focus on this tiny grass.  For all the world it looks like little ladybirds or beasties are delicately dangling from the stalks.  It's lovely when you see it 'in focus' but I couldn't do it.

Hi Yarrow2, Could it be quaking grass (briza)?

Hi all! @ Lily Louise! your garden is absoloutly to die for! n I'm sure from pictures posted you will do well for the NGS! We all need a bit of sunshine though I must admit! n we are only begginers! but would love to say we are more than happy with our hard work, return n rewards!! 

 Sunday Lunch!

Looks very pretty, Dean--hope you are getting some sun.

Not a chance Inka!! Honked it down with rain for weeks! Had a bit of resbite today! But everything this year is so far behind! 

We are finally getting some sun here-but there has been thunder and lightning for the last 2 nights. Gardening is down to weeding watering and starting some winter veg. Have harvested garlic scapes and will be digging garlic next month. I am glad I doubled my crop this year. The scapes are delish.

Rose for today it's called Purple Tiger.

@lillylouise.. your garden still looks stunning as ever, it is a pleasure to admire, you work so hard on it, i can only ever hope to have look like that, far to windy on top of hte cliff here.

@dean.. your garden is looking great and those veg gorgeous, we had our own swede, peas and carrots last sunday roast and will do the sam today so much nicer.

@rainjustlearning.. lovely rose such a lovley mix of colour unusual.

@Penninepetal.. yes it si amazing how much space you gain after cuttingback.. was same when i did my lawn edges had anther 4ins fo fill up.. ha ha bubyb moans everything over hanging when trying to cut the lawn.. but hey it look sgreat i tell him.. he huffs of normally and carries on.

the waether has been rather good last few days.. bit of rain yesterday for hour but that all.. today is blue skies and cloudy so off out there in a min to do some more.

i so enjoy looking at your pictures i took some myself this morning, but it has taken  ages to be able to  upload them.

anyway the first one has done so i will try to do the rest after this has posted

that has taken a while but i will try the others now

 the roses and greens are doing OK

What a beautiful collection of photos and great to see some of are gardens are thriving despite the recent deluges we have had lately!

gardeningfrantic - seen your superb pix of bottlebrushes.  I know you planted yours from seed you say.  I bought one three years ago and each year since planting, it has weakened and finally died.  Do you bring yours inside during the winter months or cover the plants in some way for protection.  I would love to get one growing successfully here as they are such stunners.  We had them in our garden when we lived in Western Australia.

Thankyou so much for the kind comments about our garden 

Your Roses are beautiful Little- Ann and I love the colouring of your Rose Rain

Pam x

@little-Ann - supberb pictures love hte yellow rose... they are doing well this year.

@madeleine51.. yes hubbs Dad planted it some odd 20 years ago, (sneaked the seed bod in from Aus when visitng Daughter) no it stays out all year round, rain shine or snow, but mine was looking sick  (well hubbys) last year so took the plunge and gave it good hack back, well since then it has blossomed out with loads new branches and flowers, i think they need to be cut back each year to keep good and healthy as they are a plant for hotter climate than ours really. But maybe as we do stay warmer and drier than up country, that might make a difference,

having gone for a stroll today as gorgeous blue skies and sun i have noticed that many others in my area are flowering very very well this year.. i do not understand why because we have had lot of rain.. but then aome parts of aus cant get lots of rain at times.. so maybe it is more like home to them, i do not fully know why.

ALso i have been told it is easy to take cuttings from them.. when fresh new shoots form this year come out cut them and some rooting powerd and pot up, they do fine.. so i will try this this, t his week and let ya know, if they grow i will send you one... i give anything a go when it comes to propergating.

thank you lillylouise, the bottle brush is in a sheltered spot so misses the snow when coming in from that front.. it has just taken off this year, hubby said i would kill it if i cut it back,, but he is so happy iwth it as it reminds him of his Dad and it is the one plant i never move or mess with, except to cutit as it was looking rough.. thought it is do or die, had to be done..

A few from my little patch.

Hi pottiepam: many thanks for your response to my grass query a few posts back.  Fabulous!  Yes it is indeed Briza and I've since managed to get a couple of young plants which are labelled 'Briza Media'.  Thanks to you (and my laziness not looking it up anywhere) I was able to go get what I was looking for.

deanlovett:  I'm drooling over your spuds and cabbage. 

leggi:  love your photos and lovely plants.  Can I ask - is your Monarda  (Bergamot) 'Cambridge Scarlet'?  It's a stunning plant.  And what is the lovely smaller red behind your marigolds?   It looks lovely and a nice size but I can't see it too clearly in the photo and can't tell if it's attached to the darker foliage or growing through and around it.

lilylouise:  I'm wondering if it was in one of your past photos that I saw the cream plant in this photo below.  I know someone on this forum had a photo of this gorgeous plant (is it a poppy?) and apologies if I'm not remembering who in fact it was.  Saw this in a garden yesterday and was really taken with it and would like to know more about it.  Although it doesn't look as if it would be joyful in my clay soil but maybe someone can advise on this gorgeous little thing.

its a Californian poppy they come from very pale through to vibrant colours and are annuals