Not much new

There's not much new to talk about, things still in bloom are doing well, some things are dying off and the veggies are still growing well. I've taken a few pictures but more close ups this time as things haven't really changed.

The veggie balcony. Potato leaves are dying off now so it wont be long before we can start to harvest some. These carrots were the last two tubs to be sown and are coming along nicely, they'll keep us going when the other two tubs have finished. The onions are doing so well.

As I've not grown onions before I really didn't know what to expect. I bought a bag of 50 red onion sets for £1 from a local cheapie shop, filled the tubs up and the left-overs were dotted around the garden. The ones in the tubs are definitely doing better than the ones in the garden. I think I've possibly put too many in but I'm not aiming for massive onions, I've found that smaller veggies usually have more taste.


The runner beans have really recovered now after a bit of a shaky start. They grew so much in the sun room before we could get them outside, delayed because of the bad weather. We thought we wouldn't do very well as the bees couldn't get to the flowers. Well, here we are a few weeks down the line and they've gone crazy. If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you will see the plants we've bought recently which are waiting to go into the garden when we have a bit of a move around later in the year. Right at the front in the smallest pot is the latest one, Primula Viallii. We saw this in a garden near Bala earlier this week and it is stunning. Like a little red hot poker flower but lilac at the bottom and red at the top. We've never seen it before and as I like anything unusual and different I just had to have it.


We've already had a couple of pickings off the beans and this is what I've found today, enough to go with the salmon and roasted tomatoes for tea. I think I might go for dwarf runner beans next year as the tub has been blown over so many times this last couple of weeks with the winds we've had.


The African marigolds are now behaving nicely, probably not quite as good as they would have been if we'd not tried to kill them off by putting them out too early. We're hoping to get some seeds off them later and try again next year. The seeds for these are quite expensive to buy.


This gorgeous little plant is very common around here and looks lovely when it's in a nice tight compact mound. We've just got some in a pot for now, waiting to find the right place in the garden later on. Not sure what it's called but I think it mainly grows in coastal areas. Anyone know?


The Sedum Spurium Ruby Mantle in the alpine bed is almost at it's best, still quite a lot of little buds to open so it might look even better in a week or so. It's a glorious colour and has increased massively in size in just one year.


We never had a proper name for this plant which is next to the Ruby Mantle. We just call it the Ice Plant and have been amazed at the flower stems that have come this year.





The Thyme Doone Valley is still in full flower.







The Dianthus is doing really well.








The Lobelia Scarlet & Cinnabar Rose have masses of buds which are just beginning to open.







This corner of the garden has really filled out.








The gladioli have now started to flower, this one in particular is a lovely colour.






I'm so pleased with my dwarf sunflowers, pity the little gooseberry bush underneath - we'll sort that out for next year!




A long shot of this border. We're hoping whoever buys the little cottage to the back of the photo likes gardening. If we could get a mortgage we'd love to buy it but not yet found anyone who lends to seniors with only pensions coming in!


The Salvia Hot Lips has red and white flowers. We got quite worried that something was going wrong when they first appeared as they were just red. When in full flower they were red and white and now it's finishing it's flowering period they've all turned white! I can't remember that happening last year.





The Veronica Blue Dwarf is in full flower now, I love this little plant, and behind it the pink Sidalcea Little Princess (Prairie Mallow) is just starting to flower.







Paul's gorgeous Blue Moon rose.




That's about it for this time, thanks for stopping by. Oh, and if you've any spare sunshine please consider sending some our way, we've had heavy rain and winds the last few days while most of the rest of the country has been basking in 30C heat!