05 June 2009 - Glorious weather, Goodbye Tom Cat

The weather is glorious and so hot that I have come in for a cool interlude before braving the greenhouse work that I have to do. England really is a green and pleasant land once the sun shines. However, some fussy plants are already showing signs of wilt and like farmers, we gardeners are never satisfied with current conditions! If it could arrange to rain overnight and back to summer loveliness in the day we would be more than happy.

The garden is filling with gorgeous colour and scents and every day brings more layers of flowers. The clematis are tumbling through the roses, which are opening in front of our eyes, and the oriental poppies are brazen in their colours but good enough to eat. Patty's plum and Honor remain my favourites but how wonderful is the black and white 'choir boy' and the pretty pink 'Prince Eugen'. I am sure that you could never wear the bright colours together but nature seems to get it right.

The tulips were a great success this year with the season apparently longer than before- just like the snowdrops that seemed to go on and on. Unfortunately, my subtle plan of pale mauve and pink in the knot garden was shattered by some mis-labelled bright yellow tulips that shocked the reverie from any observer. Never mind some enjoyed the gaiety of them all.

We have just finished digging up the tulips from the main areas and will manure ready for a changed design next year. These we will dry off and replant in the autumn if the mice leave us any. Any old leaves from bulbs in other borders have soon been covered by rapidly growing perennials.

Hardy geraniums are looking particularly good this year although we may need to cut them back earlier this time if the heat stays with us. They will soon come back to flower again at the end of the summer. We hope that these favourites will do well in France although since we have no soil to speak of yet we will have to be busy building up beds in our grand design before we can get to the exciting part of trying our selections of 'must have'.

We have made great progress at Saby and thanks to a lovely local plumbing firm are now fitted with bathrooms and radiators – no boiler yet as we cannot afford it but hot water and the place to bathe makes staying there in the summer a real proposition.

We have to sand the parquet flooring in the main room and that should be the end of really dirty jobs in this part of the house. Cannot wait to unpack boxes that have been over there for a year and more. We have some firm ideas for the outline of the garden but these will only be realised with a lot of wall and hedge work and tree planting. So much for a restful holiday!

Still in the meantime we have our best time in the garden to look forward to. The roses have started with fantastic displays from 'Banksia' both the single and double have been dripping with blooms and judging by the buds others are determined not to be outshone.

Nature is kind with its generous distribution of seeds. The aquilegia are stunning and so varied and the foxgloves and poppies are marching through the borders positioned far better than if I had planted them. We have been blessed with some of the many painted lady butterflies that have been blown our way and also the roman snails are plentiful and heading for Angus' French beans!

A lovely lady called Dorothy Pavey has been painting our garden and has an exhibition at Lower Slaughter Village Hall between 4th and 9th June. We are off to see her on Thursday. How exciting to see us on canvas.

We also have another charming lady called Caroline Sheldrick coming to meet our visitors in the herb garden where she will offer herbal teas and advice on medicinal plants on Wednesday 24th June. She is very well qualified and has a passion for her subject and will even have some plants for sale. Let us hope for sun and plenty of enthusiasts.

On a final sad note my wonderful cat Tom died quietly in his sleep after a life of affection and chocolate cake. I miss him every day but thanks to Kay I have a lovely blown up photograph of him in my bedroom. He loved the garden and enjoyed showing visitors round. He was particularly fond of those who shared their tea with him. Apologies to those who did not welcome his attentions but it was his garden after all!

posted by B Johnson @ Friday, June 05, 2009   2 comments