Early July delights in the garden

I spent a while in the garden today and enjoyed seeing what is in flower.  Watering does give an opportunity to look at the plants closely and I find it a meditative activity, although as I have a lot of pots, I have to stagger the watering schedule.  I was also doing a bit of repotting. Above is Clematis Princess Kate.

Clematis Perle D'Azur is flowering now on the metal arch.

Here it is from the other side, with the Buddleia.

Various phloxes are flowering too and their honey scent is lovely.   They seem to prefer a bit of shade. 

Hydrangea Annabelle is flowering although she is not enjoying how dry things are.  

Always a joy every year is Hibsicus Oiseau Bleu. Exotic-looking flowers, hardy and tough, this one always makes an appearance or two on my blog. I think this is quite an early appearance.

Clematis Arabella, scrambling through the border with her purply/lilac flowers.

Bringing me so much joy has been this goldfinch, which was on a TV aerial in the next street, so I had to use my zoom.  It has been singing most of the morning and afternoon and had a beautiful song. What a lovely little bird it is!

A Clematis post

Seeing as the roses have had their turn, I now bring you my Clematis selection.  Despite the continuing hot weather (for the UK in June), the clematis are flowering and looking lovely.  May I introduce:

 

Clematis New Love - a non-clinging herbaceous variety.

Venosa Violacea which is coping with the sun by curling its petals up.

Perle D'Azur growing over the arch.

My newest one, from the smaller Boulevard series, called Poseidon.   I need to get this one into a bigger pot and given it something to climb up.

The elegant Princess Kate.

Prince Charles.

Another non-clinging herbaceous variety, Arabella.

Finally, Blue Angel.

Most are blue/purple in colour (although this wasn't an intention when I bought them) and manage to drape themselves gracefully over trellis or up obelisks. They are very obliging plants.  Of course, there are also the Spring flowering varieties, but they have been featured previously.

Clematis

My clematis are enjoying the somewhat changeable weather this month and I love to see them flowering happily.  Above is Clematis Venosa Violacea which is sprawling over the winter flowering honeysuckle.

Clematis Perle D'Azur mingled with Rose New Dawn on the arch.

It's a pretty combination.

Clematis Princess Kate is romping up a tripod. 

Whereas Clematis Prince Charles is attempting to dominate the trellis.

Herbaceous Clematis Arabella is adding the the colour in the north facing border.

Clematis Blue Angel is hidden at the back of the north facing border, but is growing alongside Rose William Shakespeare 2000.

I seem to have a collection of blue/purple clematis now (with the exception of Princess Kate).  In the past, I have had many others with redder flowers, but these are the ones which have stayed with me.  I also have some herbaceous clematis which are just starting to flower, so they will get a mention in a future post. 

My garden is getting a bit out of hand!

With the sunshine and showers we have had during July, the garden has put on a lot of growth.  In fact, it feels a bit like a jungle as we carefully try to make our way past the miscanthus.  The buddleia has matured into a bit of a monster - when I bought this, it was described as a 'dwarf', but there is nothing dwarf-like about its proportions now!  It has a honey scent which is most noticeable in the early evening when I am watering.

The phlox in a pot is also growing well and shares a honey scent.

Clematis Perle D'Azur has never looked as good as this.

Here are the miscanthus grasses which have really grown this year - this one is supposed to be a smaller variety 'Starlight' and behind it is the taller 'Kleine Fontane'.

A view to the sunny border with palms, roses , agapanthus, and hardy geraniums all jostling for space.

This is the view from the patio - bluberries, rhododendrons, hydrangeas, astrantias, a clematis and fuchshias.

Hydrangea Annabelle is making a stab at garden domination this year (but she is lovely!)

This is the north facing border with clematis, another miscanthus, roses at the back, and my hacked back (but doing well, with flower buds) hibiscus.  Again, a bit of a jungle feel here! 

Finally, a couple of photos of a bee enjoying the buddleia.

He kept moving very quickly, enjoying the nectar and pollen.

Clematis (and a penstemon)

This year, the clematis are looking wonderful.  I have some in the borders and some in pots, but the majority of them have been flowering so well.  They are looking a bit more battered as we have had several rainy days in a row this week. Above is Clematis Venosa Violacea, growing through Rosa Ferdinand Pichard.

Here it is again.

This is Clematis Perle D'Azur growing with Rose New Dawn.  The clematis has grown a lot since I took this photo.

Clematis Prince Charles, growing in a large tub.

Clematis Princess Kate also growing in a tub, but which needs to be potted on into a larger one - next Spring perhaps.  I had planned to do it this year, but lockdown and a lack of compost postponed this,

Clematis Arabella in the border.

Perle D'Azur and Rose New Dawn on the metal arch.

Penstemon Garnet was looking rather lovely too, so here it is.

September colour in the garden highlights

It's the middle of September already - where has this year gone?  We have been lucky so far as the weather has been kind to us at the moment and long may that continue. The plants are enjoying the weather, although they are starting to change with the season.  Above is Hydrangea 'Magical Revolution' which I am still not sure about. The petals are starting to take on a red tinge which I like, so I'll wait to see what else changes.

 Rosa Molineux is rewarding me with more beautiful flowers.

 Clematis 'Perle D'Azur' is also flowering again, in rather a tangle, it has to be said.  I am waiting for a new trellis arch for it to scramble up.

 Asters are flowering too and the novae-angliae varieties are my favourite.  I think this may be September Ruby.

 Another pretty aster.

 Good old stalwart Helianthus Lemon Queen.

 Another aster, this time it is Little Carlow.  It has been fabulous this year and is usually full of insects too.

I am definitely starting to embrace orange in the garden as well.  This is a recent purchase called Crocosmia Emily MacKenzie and it offers a vibrant antidote to all the delicate pastel shades.

After a lot of consideration, the award for star plant of the month has to go to Cosmos Sonata (these are supposed to be a dwarf variety).  I grew them from seed, popped five plants into a terracotta pot and waited.  Lots of frothy foliage, but the flowers took their time.  Now that they are here, all is forgiven!  I have grown them for the last three years and just love them.  I think they will always be a part of any garden I have.