Sauna in the greenhouse

In the greenhouse at 6:30 this morning, having walked the dog and let the chucks out, to get the border bed sorted before it got too hot. It was like a sauna by 7:30. Did manage to give the hens their new dust bath material (the old soil from the border), plunge the tomato pots into the new soil and plant basil and dwarf marigold plants before escaping into the cool of the rest of the garden! Tomatoes this year include 'St Pierre', a striped variety, and 'Black Russian'. The latter's stem broke as I moved it - silly me for not staking it before now - so have taken many cuttings from the top growth. The side shoots from MoneyMaker are all rooting happily so hope Black Russian ones will do so too.

Cold wind this time last week to hot hot from mid-week onwards. With April being so wet, then cold snap mid May, the plants don't know what's happening. Even well established plants are wilting by the end of the day in the current heat.

Followed the shade yesterday tackling the 'thugs' border and the bed with the Amelanchier in it. The thugs border is a narrow north facing border with dry and poor soil due to the neighbours Leylandii hedge being the other side of the fence it runs along. 'Thugs', as in plants I like but are controllable only in this inhospitable bed, include an ornamental bramble - now tied in and suckers dug up - Lysimachia 'Firecracker' and periwinkle which I have pushed back to the fence line. Honesty, lychnis and the evergreen pink geranium provide perenial colour. Bergonias and Impatiens (if I can get some) will add annual colour.

Today - after working in the greenhouse - I finished digging out as much couch grass roots as possible from the centre of the main flower bed and planted the rest of the sweet pea plants before the sun hit that bed. When I got back from church service (Pentecost today) I started on the autumn raspberry bed but, despite being in shade at 1pm, the heat has got the better of me.

Inside - in vases: (1) Alchemilla Mollis and Knautia - there will be many more vases/arrangements with at least one of these two included over the coming weeks (2) Cow Parsley 'Ravens Wing' and Aquilegia and (3) more Geranium Pheum, Cow Parsley and the flowering stems of Foxgloves that have reverted to purple (am trying to keep to white/yellow in the garden)


Knautia Macedonica

Cow Parsley 'Ravens Wing'

Ladies Mantle - Alchemilla Mollis

Aquilegia



Foxglove

New plants, new hens

Frosts in the middle of May! Well close to them for a couple of days last week. Weather has perked up and promises to be much better still next week

At the start of the week Mr B and mother-in-law went and selected three new hens - two Copper Blacks one Amber Star (not the best of photos!) - to join the two Speckeldys. At least one of the new girls is laying already.

Went to the Rowdeford School Garden Fair with a couple of friends today. Good thing we took a large car - just enough room for all the plants we bought!

A few of my purchases:
Eryngium agavifolium was thinking that I would put it at the foot of the leylandii however see that it needs sand or loam rather than rock solid. Central bed amongst cosmos and close to Mrs Buxton will provide good leaf contrast.
Salvia microphylla - not pink beauty it is a soft yellow.
Geranium pratense 'Plenum Album' a double to add to my collection.



In the vase this week will be Geranium Pheum as it will be getting the 'Chelsea Chop'. The Spirea stems from last week are still looking fine.


Geranium pheum

Under the Yew Tree

Lovely sunny day. The last few days have also been dry (finally). However the ground is still very wet. Good news for the areas in the UK that were formally in drought - no hose pipe bans for them now.

Productive day in the garden managing time in the fruit and veg patch - mainly getting the fruit canes trained - the greenhouse, and weeding a couple of areas in the main garden.

The bed under the yew tree, planted up last year after we had the tree 'topped', is looking good with colour from Honesty and Periwinkle.

Honesty

Periwinkle and Ornamental Bramble

Inside: in vases this week are the stems of Spirea 'Goldflame' that were reverting to green and Berberis - very prickly but smells wonderful.

Spirea 'Goldflame'

Berberis

The House Martins have arrived!

Finally! Four House Martins flying around late this afternoon. The swallows have been around for at least a week. I guess they have all been delayed due to the bad weather that has been hitting France and the UK in the last number of weeks.

The garden has numerous nests. At least two blackbirds - one in the summer jasmine and the other, surprisingly low down, in the clematis and purple Vitus (vine) - with frequent territory wars on the lawn. Pruning and tieing back are on hold for a few weeks! Sparrows are nesting everywhere I look (caught one taking nesting material from one of the blackbird's nests!). Not sure where the Robins are this year.

Frost and Wind damage

Bay tree - cone (in theory)

Mild winter then caught out by cold winds and frost. I lost a couple of standard trained lavenders that Mr B and I were given last year and the two bay trees have a large number of brown leaves. The photo of the cone shaped bay is the 'before' photo - the after photo is not pretty. The ball shaped bay is the after photo - slightly more hope that TLC will rescue this one.



Bay tree - ball