Lilies are putting on a great show!
After a couple of days of rain, the lawn turned from brown to green in a remarkably short time. As clover, dandelions and daisies seemed to tolerate the drought better than the grass, I treated the lawn with a selective weed killer. This seems to have severely weakened the ‘undesirables’ and will give the grass a chance to recover.
The hot, dry weather resulted in the yield from the early potato crop being much lighter than usual. However, the late potatoes are now growing well.
Blackcurrants, gooseberries, peas and broad beans have cropped well. The peas are later than usual this year because my first sowing failed due to the cold late-spring weather. My second sowing is now ready. Tomatoes in the cold greenhouse are now ripening quickly.
The warm weather meant that the daffodil bulbs I lifted in late June dried quickly and were easy to clean. The different varieties are now stored in the garage, ready for planting out in early September.
The sweet peas didn’t like the hot, dry weather at all. The stems were much shorter than usual, with only two or three flowers to the stem. They were layered and watered well (as the hosepipe ban was lifted) and now the stems are longer, with four flowers to the stem.
Lilies are now in full flower. I grow them in large pots so they can be relegated to the bottom of the garden when they stop flowering. My fuchsia ‘Pink Knight’ was knocked back by the late frosts but, after a severe pruning, has recovered and is in full flower. The buddlejas are also in flower and seem to be attracting more butterflies than usual. Despite the cooler weather and much higher humidity, the lavender is still flowering and attracting the bees.
The dahlias are now starting to flower and have been tied to their stakes and lightly disbudded. Hopefully, they’ll be in full flower in time for the late-summer shows.
At a wedding we attended last summer guests were given seed of nigella (love-in-a-mist). I sowed them last May. They’re fast-growing annuals and I was able to email a photograph of them to the bride on her first wedding anniversary!
I’ve a few primrose and polyanthus plants growing in pots. In early June I propagated these by dividing the crowns, cutting back the leaves and planting them in separate 10cm (4in) pots. They were placed in a shady part of the garden and all have grown well – they’re even producing a few flowers.
I was tempted to buy a couple of zantedeschia corms when I was in Holland earlier this year. These are growing in 12cm (4¼in) pots and have attractive orange-red flowers. I’ll definitely keep the corms when they die down and I hope they’ll have multiplied so I can grow more next year.