In the garden with the hydrangeas (and a rose)

I had a quick wander round the garden with my camera on a nice sunny-ish day.  The hydrangea above (Coco) still thinks it's summer and is flowering.

Whereas the hydrangea here (Merveille Sanguine) is sure it is autumn and has turned beautiful shades of red.

 My latest hydrangea (Magical Revolution Blue) has turned green with touches of purple.  I really like this plant which is compact and pretty.

 If you part the flower heads, there are still some touches of blue.

Rosa Mundi's leaves had turned a lovely buttery yellow which is lighting up this part of the garden.  I am enjoying the autumn colour while I can as I don't know how much longer it will last.

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.