My gardening Diary
MONDAY
Blue geraniums along the beds in front of the co age have flowered prolifically and reached giant proportions. Some are ‘Brookside’ and some self-seeded G. pratense. We’re shearing them back, shaking out the seed and collecting it.
TUESDAY
Filming at Ta on Park. I love this show. It’s the height of summer and everything’s at its peak. A plethora of prairie daisies abound; from the hot side of the spectrum there are heleniums and helianthus and on the gentler side echinacea in pinks and whites.
WEDNESDAY
More filming. Hoping to see some of the back-to-back gardens that are a feature at the Ta on Show. They give less experienced designers and those just doing it because they love it, an opportunity to turn their ideas into reality. There are ‘bus stop’ gardens, too!
THURSDAY
In the shady beds under the trees, the last of the bulb foliage has died down. Removing any ta y remnants and weeding smartens up the beds and allows the few things here that flower in the summer – martagon lilies, Corydalis flflflexuosa and several campanulas – to look their best.
FRIDAY
At Ta on Park again. There are always so many keen gardeners there and everyone always seems to have their bags and trolleys packed with crocosmias, kniphofias and other summer goodies.
SATURDAY
In Annie’s garden there are several veronicastrum that have reached gigantic proportions. The only stakes strong and long enough are some stout willow sticks but we’ll have to wrap tape around their bases to prevent them taking root.
SUNDAY
Just a couple of short rows of peas (‘Hurst Greenshaft’) have given us plenty of peas for weeks. They’re delicious. The last of them will be frozen so we can enjoy them even later. We’ll cut offff the haulms and dig in the roots to help the cosmos and rudbeckia we’re growing on the same site for cut flowers.