Flowers lose their vibrancy after a period of drought. Although we have constantly watered and the leaves have stopped wilting, the colours remain subdued. In fact they look like we feel. We think we have had only 3 showers since March - an all time record here.

The roses have dropped their petals fast but the growth is amazing. The progress of the Rambling Rector up a tree this year is dramatic.

The wild flower meadow has given way from the ox-eye daisies, poppies, scabious and corn cockle to a sheet of wild salsify - and I only scattered a few seeds 2 years ago. It seems to have replaced most of the ladies bedstraw, although many have migrated to the borders. I shall be firm and take the seeds back to the meadow

There is also  a large patch of Vipers Bugloss by the edge of the meadow surrounded by varieties of Evening Primrose. The various yellows and peaches look stunning with the deep blue spires of the native Echium. It is fortuitous that these are all good bee plants and gives them a long honey flow when other sites may be slumping.

I am not too impressed at the moment with the bees. Because they have so much honey they become very bad tempered when you go near them and I have had many a sting this year. But I shall have the last laugh (I hope)! I am doing my first bee exam tomorrow  and will spend this evening learning about their various glands and diseases. Studying becomes much harder with age. Short term memory is definitely shot and my attention span is a few minutes only. All those years I told my children to prepare well in advance and here I am learning for my exam the night before.

Well I haven’t actually started yet! In fact I might just go and check on the Gauras on the gravel garden…..      Sian

The last of the white geese babies has gone. They are such appalling parents that they usually forget to remain on the eggs until hatching. It is as if they have attention deficit disorder and the slightest distraction makes them forget that they have any eggs. This year one goose actually hatched 5 and then led them back to the group to be trampled on. By contrast, the canada geese keep their goslings safe from the rest until they are at the gangly teenage stage and can hold their own in a crowd. There are some very pretty Canada/ grey lag goslings who have made it through even though they have lost the grey lag father somewhere along the way. I don’t know whether single parent families are common among this breed or he has met with an accident.

The roses everywhere are magnificent this year. I suspect they will be over quickly though. Some of the branches are weighted down by blossom and the lawns have circles of petals around the edges. The air is heady with their perfume but at night the philadelphus predominates. The candelabra primulas are still flowering. They really are good value and when placed against the gravel the vibrant colours are quite exotic.

One week later and already I am moaning about the heat and the constant watering. I couldn’t keep up with it by myself. Thank goodness for Sandra and Alan. They are usually to be seen with miles of hose pipe snaking behind them. Big gardening tip—–only buy the best hose pipes! The cheap ones constantly kink and then the connector explodes off the tap. I can never see out of my specs as they are splattered with water stains.

The dogs are finding the heat too much. Millie sleeps all day then gets her 2nd wind at around 11pm and disappears into the woods chasing who knows what –there is a lot of indignant yapping involved.

The lawns have not been cut as they are too dry. This is a good thing as it is the yearly migration of baby frogs at the moment. They are hopping around like the proverbial fleas on a dogs back(ours don’t have any-oh no). You have to be careful where you walk they are so numerous. It seems to be a very drawn out affair this year. Maybe they have to return to the ponds as it is so dry. There are thousands of them so perhaps it is just a very good year for them.

Will take some photos of the vipers bugloss by the meadow. The violet blue is quite startling against the lilac of the wild salsify in the meadow.

Sian

In spite of the chilly and sometimes wet weather it finally feels like summer in the garden. The colours are zinging (if that is a word) and previously hoed weeds are making a come back big time. The cold damp weather did not put off our loyal and hardy visitors for the last NGS open days and large amounts of home made cake and cream teas were consumed in aid of the Air Ambulance. Anns’ coffee and walnut was the outright winner again.

£771 was taken at the gate which meant that we had 192 and 3/4(!) visitors. Val donated 10% of the plant sales again, which came to £74 and the lunches and teas brought in £454:80 for Air Ambulance (sorry about the calories guys!) The soups went well on the chilly days but Anns’ lasgne was the most popular lunch and so will be repeated next year.

Thanks again to all our helpers without whom total chaos would reign in the kitchen. The cooks have all done their food hygiene courses but I haven’t yet taken a picture of Ann in her plastic shower cap and gloves to publish on this blog    - blackmailing possibilities have just suggested themselves. Special thanks again to Carole Marks, Ellie, Sheila, Cate and Andrew , Shirley and Malcolm, Adrian and his other half(sorry I didn’t catch your name), Alan, Sandra and Paul and of course Shen and Angela. Since we have started this we have developed quite a party atmosphere and although the hours of preparation are quite gruelling, the actual open days are good fun with much humour in the kitchens. I know that Ann enjoys all feedback on the garden and is happy to share the facilities especially with the local community.

I should let you know that Ann and I will be manning a stall at Shen and Angela’s Country fair on Sunday 5th september when you will again be able to enjoy her baking and some honey from our bees.

The bees swarmed last month while I was away forgetting my 60th birthday. Luckily I was able to make up a couple of hives from those that stayed behind.  But they may be a bit too small to produce much honey yet. I need to save some for some local people who suffer from bad hay fever/asthma as ingesting the local pollen seems to help them.The candelabra primulas have been flowering for a long time now and really glow against the gravel. They never seem to be beaten down by either rain or dogs who run straight through them to bark at the pair of ducks who are determined to make the natural swimming pool their home. We don’t mind sharing it with the hundreds of palmate and smooth newts but the debris the ducks leave behind is another matter!The sandy round border is at its best when the irises, paeonies and foxgloves are still poking their flowers above the soft mist of bronze fennel. In the next few days the lavender will edge it in blue and the foxtail lilies will wave their magic in its heart. Then I need to control the height of the fennel or it will swamp the new comers.The wild flower meadow is a sea of oxeye daisies, poppies and the last of the camassias. The extent of it is breathtaking but most of all I love the way it softens the edge of the natural swimming pool. The dogs can disappear completely in it now and and it is only when you wander through it you realise how many other wild flowers have now made their home there.

Ann has just returned from her first cycling holiday in France and although a bit dubious about it at first, had a wonderful time and is now singing the praises of the open road (think Wind in the Willows toad -parp parp) and the wonders of gel knickers. Could this be another photo opportunity? She has just unpacked and is already out weeding!

Sian