Roses, Clematis and Cosmos and a visitor

 We are bracing ourselves for another heatwave.  I do not like the heat, so am not looking forward to the next week.  So far, the garden appears to be coping although I will need to be very careful with my watering.

The rest of the roses have now started to flower.  Above is Ferdinand Pichard who has a lovely perfume.

Emily Bronte, with her pink and creamy yellow flower.

Blush Noisette, with its sprays of smaller flowers.

The clematis are also doing well.  I used to have many more but over the years, they have come and gone.  Above is Venosa Violacea, whch is sprawling over the winter flowering honeysuckle.

This is Prince Charles, making his way over the trellis.

Arabella is a herbaceaous clematis who doesn't cling.  She is tied in to an obelisk.

Blue Angel is draping itself along the fence and wall.

Neptune is a smaller variety in a pot.

I have been growing different varieties of cosmos and this one is Cosmos sulphureus Polidor.  I haven't seen an orange cosmos before, but I like it!  I need to get these into larger pots.

Finally, I saw this amazing dragonfly (edited to add: a female Emperor, we think) in the garden.  These are not usual visitors and luckily, this one posed for me beautifully while I rushed to get my camera. Isn't it wonderful?

Any colour, as long as it's pink...

 In June, my garden turns pink - not intentionally so, originally, but many of the plants flowering at this time of the year seem to be pink. Above is the beautifully crumpled bloom of Rose Jacques Cartier.

 As there are so many pink tones, I collaged some together (courtesy of Picmonkey).  From top left: Hydrangea Endless Summer Pink, Rose Ferdinand Pichard, Rose New Dawn. Middle row: Dianthus (not sure which - Iced Gem, perhaps), Rose Blush Noisette, Clematis Princess Diana. Bottom row: Geranium endressii, Erigeron Karvinskianus, Rose Gertrude Jekyll (which is scenting the whole area around it).

This year, Rosa Mundi (Rosa Gallica Versicolor) is flowering its socks off.  I do like the stripes on this rose.  As the summer goes on, the colours will change again, moving to richer red and even the odd yellow, but for now, I am enjoying this plethora of pinks.

Midsummer blues - or should that be pinks?

 Here we are, at Midsummer.  Drought conditions have now been lifted in this area and parts of the North are under flood warnings - just a typical English summer.  However, I am pleased to say that my garden is doing well, despite the rain and wind and occasional sun.  Above is Poppy 'Checkers' which I grew from seed and is now in its second year.  The flowers aren't quite as big as they were last year, but still delight me.

 Clematis 'Ice Blue' with a hint of lilac on the petals...

 ...contrasted with Clematis 'Rouge Cardinal' and its deep luscious velvety tones.

 Cistus pulverentus 'Sunset', with a fiery glow.

 R. 'Rosa Mundi' which combines the pale and vibrant pinks to great effect.

 The delicate pastel pinks of R. 'Blush Noisette', which has small sprays of ruffled flowers...

 ...and R. Cottage Rose continues this pale theme, but with larger flowers.

Finally, R. 'New Dawn', with a flush of pale apricot amongst the soft pink.  Midsummer is a lovely time of year, despite the vagaries of the weather.

Final images for Late Summer/Early Autumn

 Try as we might, there is no denying that Autumn, if not here, is just around the corner, and according to the weather men, will descend in earnest from this coming Wednesday.  However, to celebrate the glorious weather we have been enjoying for the last five days, more like July than September/October,  here are a few images from plants in the garden.  Above is Salvia 'Icing Sugar' which I bought at Gardeners' World Live and which has been flowering since June, despite the difficult conditions.  It still has lots of buds, but is not hardy so I don't think it will survive over the winter.  I'll just enjoy the bright cerise flowers for as long as I can.

 Aster Ericoides, which has become one of my favourite asters.  It is smothered in tiny lilac flowers which the bees love.  There is also a scent, but I haven't yet identified it - there is a honey perfume, but something else too and I'm not sure whether it is pleasant or not!

A lovely combination of an aster with the ever reliable Helianthus Lemon Queen, which has been featured on my blog several times.  I just can't resist the happy yellow flowers.

 A new plant, bought yesterday at the last garden visit of the season for us.  It is Spiraea 'Gold Fountain', although I'm not sure it is, because that is supposed to have white flowers.  Still, whatever it is, it is very pretty and the golden/green leaves give a real splash of colour.

I couldn't leave out the roses, so here is Blush Noisette, with a self seeded verbena bonariensis (and the washing line ...oops!)  Blush Noisette is a pretty rose with a lovely fragrance and I think this is the penultimate cluster of flowers, to celebrate the very last of the summer.