No, you didn’t miss one, I skipped July as I was on holiday over the end of the month.

Come with me, take the tour.

Rear Garden

We’ll start with the overhead shot. I wanted to mow the lawn before taking this but forgot to charge the mower batteries, so you’ll have to take me as you find me.

The Patio Border. Like the rest of the garden, I’ve just let it run riot, lacking a bit of enthusiasm in the gardening department this year. I have been slack with my dead heading, and there is a lot of bindweed (not to be confused with the mostly welcome morning glory growing up the trellis). Still, mustn’t grumble, it mostly looks quite good. There remain opportunities on the right hand side of this border, still a bit of a hodge podge of plants, not altogether satisfactory. Something to think about over the autumn.

The Sunny Border. On the plus side, less and less of the fence is visible. I had to cut back the lobelia tupa as it had flopped over untidily under its own weight, inadequately supported. It had finished flowering, fortunately. There is STILL a big gap between said lobelia tupa and the echinops, I might need a shrub in there.

The Wisteria Border, incorporating the Eye of Sauron. A person really determined to have a sit-down cuppa among the flora could still fight their way through to the table and chairs, but it is becoming border line inaccessible. Bindweed is rampant in here too, I’m afraid, despite me clearing quite a lot of it two or three weeks ago. The canna have grown very tall, although there is no sign of the red one I bought last year, perhaps it didn’t make it through the winter.

The Lilac Border. Someone has been casting nasturtiums again, the usual sprawl is well under way. I definitely want to move things around in here. The white phlox needs to move to make way for the mahonia, still waiting in the wings, I might move the helenium to the left end of the border, and I think the linaria can come out, although I expect there will be more of it next year anyway.

The Shady Border. Despite my neglect this year, I’m pretty happy with how this border looks. There are a couple of places where I might want to add something, particularly under the red rose towards the far end.

The Hibiscus Border. The rose ‘William Lobb’ at the back, growing up the larger trellis, has done well this year, really putting on some height. It’ll need tying in a bit when I can get to it in the winter. The fuchsia in the planting place of doom is growing, but is only a foot high, not really threatening the narrow trellis. There’s a ghost of a gap, between and slightly in front of the rudbekia and the hypericum. Something could go in there this winter, perhaps.

The Front Garden, or as I may have to start calling it, The Jungle. Equipped with pith helmet, machete and pack animals, I made it to the fenceline to investigate. Yup, it’s all overgrown there too. The clematis tangutica in particular has gone absolutely crazy, devouring everything near it (although it does have its own devourer in the the bindweed). I think it will have to have a mid season prune although I worry that will affect flowering. To be fair, it is described thus:

“a vigorous grower”

So, I should not be surprised. Having moved it last year, I think I will completely remove the joe pye weed, identifiable by it’s fluffy seed heads dead centre of this photo. It is another vigorous grower, but the flower heads are a let down, I was expecting a vivid purple, instead they are more “dishwater” in tone. Given the rate at which it produces seeds, I may never be rid of it, but I shall try, something more deserving can go in its spot. Work to be done in here, to be sure.

That’s it for this month! I’ll be back.