Don't knock the weather. If it didn't change once in a while, nine out of ten people couldn't start a conversation.
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| Gorgeous sunflowers from the allotment |
It's been a very busy and very hot July. The kids social calendar went crazy, the weather went crazy, and the plants went crazy.
I got my creative hat on and made tea cups for Alice in Wonderland at Peace in the Park at the global retreat in Oxfordshire. The festival was fantastic. Not only did it have the best Wonderland and happy performance of Alice, but we could make our own dream catchers, memory sticks and of course face painting! Best of all it was all free, we will definitely be making a return visit next year.
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| a glorious mad hatters teaparty |
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That's big sisters for you!
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I also made some carnival signs for the school fete then spent two hours painting many cat, dog and frozen faces in the amazingly hot and very successful fete.
While the builders transformed out 1970's bathroom into a 21st century one I got on with painting the fencing and finishing off the obelisks. Some people might find painting fences boring but for a bit of peace and quiet and to stand in the sun catching some rays, for me, its heaven.
Then to the final bits of planting, I was definitely squeezing plants in towards the end. (Though the climbers are still staked and not on wire yet, poor things!). All I can say is the garden has bloomed and is bursting with colour, shape and texture. The Verbena bonariensis is reaching for the sky and the Miscanthus is coming into flower with delicate fronds of red and gold, mixed in with umbles of Sedum matrona and the large soft silver leaves of Stacyhs byzantina Big Ears.
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Miscanthus Flamingo flower heads with Verbena bonariensis in the background
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Some of the earlier flowering plants are starting to go over and produce sculptural skeletons that will keep their shape well into the winter if the weather does not batter them too much, Alliums, aquilegia, opium poppies, they all have great seed heads and I'll leave some and collect the seeds off others.
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| Allium Purple Sensation seed heads |
Other plants I can cut back the dead flower heads and they will produce new flowers, the geraniums always benefit from cutting back and they produce new leaves and flowers.
Hemerocaulis Stafford is producing deep red stars with fabulous yellow throats. And I delight in going out every day to deadhead yesterday's flowers and see the new flowers and buds. (They're not called day lillies for nothing!)
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| Hemerocaulis Stafford |
The Agastache are going and going and going, the vibrant purple shining against the white of the Hydrangea Annabelle and the red spires of the Persicaria amplexicaulis Rosea. Spires and pom-poms, I love it!
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| Agastache, Persicaria, hydrangea |
(It's always difficult to write this while a 3yr old is crawling over you asking to play ponies !)
July saw the end of the school year and the beginning of the summer holidays. The end of term went with a bang, or rather bangers, as we organised for some of Holly's friends to go for supper in the woods with the woodland imps. A fabulous playgroup in the middle of the woods Explorers Toddler group, with all sorts of woodland play; mudpie kitchen, balancing logs and stare at the canopy hammocks. (I'm sure these were for the parents!). All followed by campfire hotdogs and marshmallow s'mores. I too home two very grubby, tire but contented children asking when the could go back to see the boggles.
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Holly the chrysalis
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This was swiftly followed by our first family camping experiment. I was expecting rain (a cloud will go 100miles out of its way just to rain on a tent I'm told), screaming childern (SPIDERS!FLIES!), and no sleep (late to bed and early to rise). I was so wrong.
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| Under the sea! Under the sea! |
The weather continued to be amazing, the kids were fascinated by the wildlife and actually asked to go to bed! The experience was made all the better by delightful company. (2 other families with kids the same age all playing like Swiss family Robinson)
With only one week away the allotment has gone nuts! Not only am I now inundated with purple beans, long beans and runner beans, lettuce, sunflowers, mooli and our first red carrot, the bindweed that I cleared two weeks ago has taken over everything. Another blast with round up is required. I also had a welcome call from newbury tools to say that my strimmer was ready to pick up! This will lead to a much better relationship with my very understanding allotment neighbours as I strim the jungle that is the back and the edges of my plot.
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| Supposedly helping but actually just eating. |
There is too much going on plant wits to fill this page so I will continue another day as the heavens are about to open and I am sat having a quite moment in the garden and I'd rather not get drenched.
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| Mooli, red carrot, purple beans, patty pan and much more! |
