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.

William, Ferdinand, Perle and others

The garden plants have enjoyed all the rain we had in Spring and are flowering away happily at the moment. Above is Clematis Perle D'Azur growing on the arch... 

...and from the other side.  These were taken a few days ago.

Here it is this morning, being very floriferous!

Rose William Shakespeare 2000 is also in full flower and attempting to take over that part of the garden.

Rose Ferdinand Pichard is well behaved and produces flowers packed with scent.

Rose Blush Noisette is also having a good year.

Clematis Princess Kate has been flowering for a few weeks now and... 

is still doing well.  Clematis Prince Charles is in the background.  Things will start to change again as we go into July and August, but I'm looking forward to seeing the phlox, the agapanthus and then the perennial sunflower and asters.  Gardening always gives you something to look forward to.

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. 

A little more to enjoy in the garden

I grew some pot marigolds from seed this year but they got rather long and leggy. I have put some in a pot for now and they have rewarded me by starting to flower.  They are such happy looking flowers, looking particularly pretty with a sprinkling of raindrops.

Clematis Princess Kate is looking the best I have ever seen her.  I potted her on into a big tub and she obviously likes it.  You can spot Rose William Shakespeare 2000 in his attempt at garden domination on the trellis at the back.

She has very elegant flowers.

My own cosmos were a disaster this year and eventually were eaten by slugs and snails, so I bought this one in.  Again, such a happy looking flower.

The blueberries are staring to crop now and I have enjoyed two raspberries so far too, from my autumn fruiting raspberries. They are a bit early, but very welcome, nonetheless. Some more pot watering and feeding is on the cards as even with the heavy rain showers we have been getting, the pots don't get very much water.   

Roses, clematis and an exotic-looking visitor

The garden continues to provide delights.  The final few roses are now in flower.  Above is a climbing rose, New Dawn.

This is Susan Williams-Ellis who is my latest addition (replacing Winchester Cathedral).

Another climber, Blush Noisette.

William Shakespeare 2000, who is making an attempt at garden domination.  It has grown really tall this year.

The clematis are now joining in.  Here is Venosa Violacea, twining around rose Ferdinand Pichard.

This is the lovely flower.

Clematis Frankie.  I bought this as a young plant and then planted it out. However, on the TV,  a clematis grower said you should pot them on and leave them for a year to develop a bigger root system.  I dug it up and potted it into a bigger pot and it has rewarded me by flowering again.

This is clematis Prince Charles, putting on a lovely show.

Here is Princess Kate who was potted on into a large tub and has rewarded me by being incredibly floriferous this year.

I couldn't resist a photo of this self seeded foxglove which planted itself in a pot by the shed.

The hydrangeas are also starting to flower.  Here is Endless Summer, the Bride (I think).

A mix of rose Jacques Cartier, a foxglove, and clematis Arabella.

This hydrangea is at the front of the house, in a large tub.  It provides a much needed splash of colour there.

Here is the flower - this is Endless Summer (Pink), I think.

The final flower (for now!) is Clematis Blue Angel.  I potted this one into a large tub this Spring and it obviously likes it!

The exotic-looking visitor is the vapourer moth caterpillar. It was busily munching away on a rose leaf, when I spotted it.  I brought it inside for identification.

It is quite an amazing looking creature with the long tail and antennae hairs.

I haven't seen one before, but apparently they are reasonably common. I put it back on the rose, but woe betide it if it tries to eat too much!