Blooming into Flaming June

[Blackpuddingbertha]

Keeping the potting shed party going from the previous Rhubarb Society thread and all threads before it.

Please feel free to join in all gardeners, whether novice, professional or aspiring. Plenty of blackberry gin for all.

Oh goodness...

My happiest ever accidental gardening combination ...

Under shrubs in the flower border.

Native cornflowers thickly planted amongst small headed field poppies .

The cornflowers are not the wider leaved rougher kind but the native centaurea cyanus.

Bright Mediterranean blue and blood red.

Happily they are both uk natives and help my garden border border - full of worldwide shrubs- blend seamlessly into the local countryside landscape.

They run for two metres and a few further along.

The cornflowers flower right from now to September and the poppies have been opening for 10 days with about three weeks of buds left.

We have a good view of the countryside from the garden, and they really help it not to 'jar.'

FP and Rhubarb, how lovely.

Will look up the nuits rose

That all sounds so lovely, funnyperson. A meet-up in a garden would be fun, I think.

Hm yes, the accidental versus the contrived.
But have you ever learned a piece of drama so well that it doesn't sounds like you learned it by heart but sounds like a spontaneous thought?

It truly was the loveliest morning at Sissinghurst. Thank you funnyperson for suggesting it.I'm very glad I said sod it to all those other things I was supposed to be doing on Saturday morning; sometimes you just have to seize the day, don't you? There will always be piles of laundry waiting and lawn mowers to get fixed and and and...

onefewernow that sounds like a beautiful border.

I don't think I've ever seen a poppy I didn't like. My parents have just given me "Royal Wedding", which I'll have to squeeze in somewhere.

I've an opium poppy in my front garden that's taller than me OK, I'm only 5"4' but that's still pretty tall. I need to dead head or else I'll be overrun next year (again).

onefewer, I love the sound of the cornflowers and poppies, I'm never sure what colour to plant with red flowers but that sounds lovely.

Is anyone else growing squash and pumpkins from seed this year? Mine have only just come up. I've never grown them before so not sure if it's going to be too late to get anything from them.

onefewer, that sounds lovely indeed.

Love the Sissinghurst pics on FB and Funny's descriptions. I think we should meet in Humphrey's garden!

Like the sound of cornflowers and poppies, poppies don't seem to like my garden and the one surviving cornflower that I tried to get to colonise in the edge of the wood was picked by DD2.

I think squirrels have broken in to the veg plot and swiped my ripe strawberries . We did, however eat the first two baby courgettes tonight.

EauRouge - everything is slow this year, your squashes may get a chance to catch up and produce something. Some of mine are tiny still too.

::books charabanc::

My courgettes have only just produced a flower! I am impressed you have actual veg. Although the first cucumber is ready in the greenhouse.

Rosa Mundi is looking splendid. I love this rose. I have just watered all my scented geraniums with rainwater thanks to the new water butts we have put in. DH has been filling gaps in the borders with tobacco plants and cosmos purity. I fear we may be overdoing it a bit but I didn't get around to growing anything else. I ended up with over ninety nicotiana seedlings, I must remember to be a bit more restrained next year. Still, it is nice to be able to give plants away. DH has also chopped all the oriental poppies back and dug a load of them out. We had far too many as I had no idea how big they get and how quickly they do it! First clematis out on the rose walk, I think it is Polish Spirit but I could be wrong about that as I didn't plant any of them.

My one surviving courgette plant has loads of flowers and one tiny courgette growing.

Thanks, Blackpudding, I'm hoping to get something out of it!

I hope it rains tomorrow, both my DDs have been buggers tonight and I haven't had a chance to water. My DM has given me yet another fennel plant (I just keep killing them) and it's looking really thirsty.

I had totally forgotten Bob Flowerdew's advice that the one thing that really makes a difference to vegetable gardening is giving plenty of water. I went around last night, but that is probably why I have no courgette flowers yet...

My garden would benefit from some rain, too.

After a slow start, I did quite well at growing things from seed - cerrinthe, cosmos, ammi majus, fennel and dill - but most of the seedlings have since sunk without trace. I have reluctantly come to realise that my beds are too congested and things need more space to thrive. I must get round to creating a cutting bed on the allotment.

Maud I have the same disappearing seedlings problem, but I blame the slugs & snails...

Plant sale at pre-school today. I bought more plants than I took....

Yes, apart from some veg I have had the same problem with seedlings. I had tons of morning glory seedlings but as soon as I planted them out the slugs ravaged them and there are none left. It is very sad.

I was thinking of suggesting a plant sale as a fundraising idea for our preschool. How did yours work, Humph? Did the kids do the sowing? Or did everyone just bring their own surplus/ what they'd grown specially?

My morning glories all disappeared too and my lettuce- I planted two whole packets of seed and they are all gone :( Half of my borage disappeared too and that was a packet and a half. Bastard slugs.

I have harvested three strawberries from five plants

DS and I each had a raspberry from the plants outside the front door (south facing)

I made myself completely ache from lawn-mowing then weeding/cutting down comfrey on Saturday. I was so stiff it was even painful to lie in bed that night

I want to come to Humph's garden invasion party too...

oh and last week we went on a little holiday to Kent and I sneezed all week from the lovely but allergenic hedgerows. Yet another bit of preggy misery... (I am just having a moan, everything is ok really). Humph when are you due? I just have July and August to get through.

Rhubarb we did plants, cakes and books. People brought their own surplus plants I think, as it was short notice. It was very little effort tbh and raised about £130. I think next year we would plant in advance and do it earlier. I bought some morning glory, an orange day lilly, three cerise pink pelargoniums, a large purple lupin and a snapdragon. I also bought about ten books that I actually want to read. And some cake.

Bit rainy here today which is no bad thing.

Rake I am due at the beginning of October. So just one month after you. Are you still working full time? I bet you are tired! I find that I keep waking up at four in the morning and then not going back to sleep, stupid pg insomnia. Heartburn is so bad I can't bend over to pick stuff up

All visitors welcome

Oooh speaking of Pimms, have you tried 'Summer Punch'? It's a schweppes lemonade variant and if you shove a handful of mint in and let it steep five minutes, you can totally believe its Pimms! we throw cucumber and strawberries in too and drink it from a tall tumbler just to add to the picture...!

Yep still full time. I have a residential course to fo on at 36 weeks which has exams in it ... it's project management so it will be all rote learning and multiple choice but that's not the same as being easy. I have just been reading "Bumpology" and there is a really interesting association between high production of oxytocin and poor storage/retrieval of memory. So it will be worth getting stressed about the course to boost adrenaline (a) to counteract the 'mumnesia' from the oxytocin and (b) to keep labour at bay!!! Well it's a theory...

Sounds like a very colourful section from the plant stall... I can't trust myself to buy things when pregnant, my sense of what is tasteful goes out the window.

Speaking of pimms has anyone tried the new Blackberry & Elderflower?

I keep seeing it in the supermarket and it temps me.

The pink pelargoniums are on the front windowsill, the lupin will overwinter in a pot, god knows what I will do with an orange day lily as I don't even know what it will look like and I bought the snapdragon because it was the last thing left and I thought I might as well. I think I will put the morning glory in a tub to climb up the post on the edge of the verandah.

Drink sounds delicious. Good luck with the exam. That book sounds interesting. Does it explain the cause of inexplicable rages??? I have been rather grumpy..