Six on Saturday: Industry

As well as what could be classed as ‘projects’, there is a tendency for minor editing at this time of year and, on the whole, I feel the borders generally have been improving in recent years because of this.  I daresay I will never be completely happy with them and inevitably there will always be changes to be made, but at least there seems to be more cohesion to them these days and I don’t have an issue with removing plants that no longer bring pleasure. The bold borders have certainly come a step closer in their boldness, although some editing is still required in the one to the left of the gate (above), where an over-exuberant geranium has been swamping the new Geum ‘Totally Tangerine ‘ in front of it (below); moving the geranium further back in the border will be a first step.

Header image: A NASA artist concept of future crews living and working on the Moon. NASA/Davidson

It has been busy in the garden recently, although perhaps it always is, juggling the less exciting seasonal maintenance with more gratifying tweaks and improvements. A number of new plants have been ordered, although where possible I have moved plants from elsewhere or used leftovers from those grown for sale. Meanwhile, the garden ticks over by itself, albeit slowing down but bringing joy with every new bloom, like a fresh flush of roses on ‘Strawberry Hill’ (above), currently awaiting a new structure to support its abundance of blooms during the season, now likely to be a winter project.

For the first time in many weeks, or so it seems, rain stopped me from getting out in the garden – no, that’s not true, it deterred me for a while but it wasn’t raining heavily so I girded my loins and went for a belated first-thing-in-the-morning ramble, ducking under drooping climbers and lifting my skirts (decorously!) as I passed overhanging borders. Taking my secateurs, I accomplished some deadheading whilst rambling, picked some tomatoes in the greenhouse, planted out some seed-sown Lychnis coronaria on the terraced beds in the rose garden and pondered what I might include in today’s Six on Saturday, the meme hosted by Jim of Garden Ruminations.

Well, I did it: after a few light showers, I took the plunge and moved the roses as planned, breaking all recognised rules about moving and replanting. The existing roses in the rose garden are now planted closely together in groups of 3 of the same variety, to give the impression of larger bushes, together with the new additions making a total of eight varieties in the enlarged bed, leaving the terraced beds either side of the bus shelter empty for some hardy perennials.

What has this rambler been brandishing her secateurs over this week, I wonder? Not these sunflowers, certainly, as they are probably over 3 metres or 10ft tall, and I would need a ladder to cut any blooms. I usually grow coppery-coloured ‘Velvet Queen’, but this year have also sown ‘Earth Walker’, another dark variety, neither of which would be expected to grow above a more manageable 2m or so, and I don’t know where the yellow blooms have come from. Perhaps I could manage to reach some blooms for a Monday vase…?

Saturday has come around again ridiculously quickly, meaning it is time for another contribution to Jim’s weekly meme at Garden Ruminations; also coming round quickly is a new month, with an end-of-month post noticeably lacking…hey ho!

Welcome to another Six on Saturday, the meme kindly hosted by Jim at Garden Ruminations.

Although June’s abundance of bloom and colour has moved on, July has brought its own striking sights throughout the garden – plants blooming for the first time, growing much taller than usual or otherwise making an impact in a way they never had before. I have already shown Clematis ‘Prince George’ a number of times this year, but it is now flowering literally from bottom to top and I can’t resist sharing it again (below). The individual blooms are delightful too, intriguingly crinkly (above).

Not new to the garden, that is, but new this year, like ‘carpet rose’ ‘Magic Carpet’ above, which has come into flower just in the last week or so at the end of the shrub border. On this raised bank, it is perhaps the ideal type of rose to loll about here, but it does seem to start flowering several weeks later than all the other roses and probably even later this year. Campanula ‘Loddon Anna’, shown below with white Sweet William and a pink flowered Stachys officianalis, possibly ‘Cotton Candy’, is certainly later as she is normally in bloom along with alliums in May/June.

I have mentioned the performance of my clematis this year several times, and thought I would do a quick reccy of them today to substantiate my feeling that it is a poor year for them here. Not including those that didn’t perform at all last year (mostly herbaceous clematis in the middle of borders, which have unaccountably been reluctant to establish), there are 15 in flower, 17 not yet flowering (many a long way off doing so) and 5 no-shows. All those not yet flowering would usually have been blooming since mid-June or so, other than ‘Duchess of Albany’ and ‘Gravetye Beauty’, who don’t start till later (strange then that ‘Princess Diana’, also a C texensis, is one of the first Group 3 clematis to flower).

This article is republished from The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting. Read the original article.