Too hot for plotting

The thunderstorm warning for Friday came to nothing and there was no rain, and there’s none forecast for at least another week.  Not only that but the temperature looks like exceeding 30 C/85 F most days this coming week.

It’s been too hot for plotting so apart from watering all I’ve been, and will be, doing is harvesting and taking some photos on my after breakfast visits.

This was the plot last Wednesday.

 

I’ve been giving cucumbers away and picked the first few climbing French and runner beans.

I’ve also been lifting potatoes as I need them, but with the ground being so hard it’s not been easy, and picking plenty of delicious blackberries.

 

 

 

The crocosmia are flowering profusely this year with the bright orange-red flowers contrasting well with the green sword-like leaves.

Several times during the past week or so I’ve caught glimpses of a bird on the plot which I thought was possibly a young robin that hadn’t yet acquired its red breast.  On Friday I got a much closer, and longer, look at what proved to be a dunnock. They are shy birds that generally stay out of sight so I was pleased to see, and identify, this one.

Have a good week!

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Not surprisingly the plot…

is generally looking rather frazzled at present.  Despite that I’m well pleased with the cosmos Sonata White I’ve grown for the first time rather than the taller Purity.  There are plenty of these lovely white flowers on bushy plants that are only a couple of feet high.

I’m equally pleased with the multi-headed sunflowers Ring of Fire, which grow to around four feet,with flowers on long, strong stems.

Further to Sunday’s post on Tuesday I saw this Small Copper butterfly, which is another plot first,  on the candytuft Spangles (note correct name!).

 

A thunderstorm warning has been issued for tomorrow but much as I want rain I really don’t want any torrential downpours which are likely to damage plants and mostly run off the ground surface rather than soak in.  The temperature looks like rising again to the high 20’s F/low 80’s C over the weekend and into next week.

Have a good weekend!

Buzzing and fluttering

It’s been good to see lots of bees and butterflies on the plot flowers over the past couple of weeks.  I think that it’s been the best year yet for butterflies both in terms of numbers seen and different types.  Yesterday morning I stood and watched common whites, small skippers, gatekeepers and common blues on the candytuft Sparkles.

Bees certainly like the cosmos and teasels as seen here, the latter one sharing with a rather tatty butterfly.

   

There have also been some day flying moths around as well including this one on a sunflower Musicbox which I’m fairly sure is a Silver Y.

There was some rain during Friday night but the forecast for the coming week is continuing dry and warm, with temperatures thankfully dropping back to the low 20s F/70’s C during the week.

Have a good week!

Tree following, July 2018

Liz – Here in Lexington, Kentucky I took these pictures a couple of weeks ago which show the black walnut in summer.  There had been several days of high winds and thunder storms hence the debris on the ground which Dulcie and Sophie are inspecting.

   

This tree provides plenty of shade but beware of standing underneath when an immature fruit falls.  It’s interesting to look up and see the nut clusters forming.

My thanks to Mike for letting me post here.

Mike –  The medlars, with branches low to the ground, now hide the rubbish that is underneath them and was visible earlier in the year. They are covered in forming fruit apart from one or two flowers that just appear to be dying.

  

New leaf growth is clearly visible being a much lighter green.

Our thanks to Pat, The Squirrelbasket, for hosting tree following.  If anyone wants to follow a tree on their own blog please click on the link over on the right for details.

Have a good weekend!

A hot weekend

The temperature has reached 30 C/ 85 F this weekend which is way too high for me and needless to say I’ve not been plotting apart from a quick look round this morning.

I’m not really in the the mood to blog either so will make do with showing you the first of the gladioli to flower with this pale yellow Cha Cha and one of the sunflowers Musicbox.

      

Thankfully it looks like the temperature will drop back to the low 20’s C/70’s F for a few days from Tuesday, but there’s still no sign of any, now much needed, rain.

Have a good week!

Into July…

and the dry, very warm weather continues, although there was some welcome steady rain for an hour or so yesterday evening.

Here are some cooler looking creamy-white California poppies (eschscholzia californica) and a pale yellow nasturtium (tropaeolum majus).

     

I picked the first cucumber Bedfordshire Prize yesterday whilst it was still small as there are plenty more to come.

At the the horticultural society trading shed on Sunday morning there was an expected visitor when this young robin flew in.  It took a bit of persuading that it would be better off outside where the dried meal worms were.

The weather looks set to continue as is into early next week at least.

Have a good weekend!

At the end of June

The lavender is flowering particularly well this year and is buzzing with bees.  It also attracts various butterflies like this Comma that was on it yesterday morning.

A handful of the knee-high sunflowers Musicbox have flowered including this dinky one which is barely six inches tall.

I’m not that keen on these orange nasturtiums but they sure do stand out.

I’m only growing six tomato plants – three each Gardener’s Delight and Golden Sunrise – and for once I’ve remembered to pinch out the side shoots so I won’t end up with a jungle of foliage.  All of them are now flowering.

I spent a couple of afternoons during the week armchair gardening looking through a new bulb catalogue.  Earlier in the year I dug up the assorted taller daffodils which were at the top of the plot near the rhubarb.  I intend buying some nacissus Sweetness and Thalia to plant there in the autumn.  Meanwhile I sowed some candytuft Sparkles (Iberis umbellata) for some summer colour.  They’ve grown well and should be flowering before too long.

It looks like it’s going to be another dry and very warm week so I won’t be doing much on the plot apart from pottering and watering.

Have a good week!