What have you done in the garden today? Part 2

[ThreeRingCircus]

A continuation of the last thread.

Do you think it's the hot weather? According to my instructions I was expecting it to be taller before it started fruiting?

I missed the discussion of ridiculous geum names. What was the consensus? Some names are off-putting, though. I’ll never buy Japanese anemone Frilly Knickers because I cringe at the name.

Geranium Blushing Turtle looks good. I’m very keen on geraniums and tend to follow Margery Fish’s advice of when in doubt, plant a geranium. I think Patricia is about to flower for the first time, which is exciting.

32C today, too hot to venture into the garden. We retreated to the basement to do some electrical work instead.
@Bideshi we really could do with some shade, I’ve been toying with planting a cedar hedge (probably “skybound”) at the end of the garden for some shelter - ugly but practical.
There aren’t many roses that will survive here really (some of the rugosas and other specially selected varieties though we get hail storms that pummel them to mush regardless) but yes you would winterise them. I’m afraid I don’t think they’re worth the effort!

Not the best photo but here is Geranium Blushing Turtle in my garden.

I love Margery! Though I am afraid Mr Fish would have been dismembered and put into the compost, or buried under a ham stone patio if he had been mine. Though we see eye to eye on watering.

When in doubt plant a geranium 😂

That is basically what I decided ystd, I prefer a flower bed with out gaps and the pretty blue one I've got (something Johnson I think?) is brilliant at the end of the garden hence trying to move it.

Need to finish tidying up today, we're away next week and I've asked a neighbour to pop in to water my pots and hanging baskets (and chuck some food down for the cat 😉😂)

Mine start fruiting small and then just carry on elongating, so by the end of the season they’re up to the roof of the greenhouse and clambering along the roof poles, fruiting all the way

That looks like yet another variety of the native Bloody Cranesbill, Geranium sanguineum - that is, if it’s a small sun loving heap.

Thank you @ThreeRingCircus it's a proper jolly geranium. And I do like the "if in doubt..." phrase

Just a couple of hours general watering bits that needed it, weeding, grass scissoring and tidying today.
Looked up as I was typing, and saw what appeared to be a slice of bread bouncing across the lawn. Realised it was the local rat dragging it to the fence. Very comedy!

Glad to see so much support for Margery Fish’s dictum, although I confess I haven’t got round to reading her book. I’m now wondering what Mr Fish’s shortcomings were …

Tied up sweetpeas,cornflowers and corncockles. The wind has battered them all.
Picked thyme to make a thyme and honey cough syrup.

Given the greenhouse a good tidy and sweep. Removed the side shoots from my tomato plants. Admired the squash, melon and wonky cucumber currently growing.
Attempted to tie/support some of the forest of raspberries which have avoided/snapped my original support. Next year I need to build something stronger I think.

I have creeping cinquefoil coming up in all my borders. I don’t care if it’s in the lawn, but I hate the look of it in the borders so I need to spend some time getting rid over the next two weeks, as we’re having a garden party mid-July.

Thanks so much for the warm welcome ladies 😊

Just a quickie as I'm exhausted after a day digging, planting and watering with DH. I'll post at greater length tomorrow.

Anyway, everything is in - including some tiny ilex plants (Jenny, I think) for evergreen interest - and, as is always the case, we've realised we need more!

Yesterday I fed the tomatoes and peppers and weeded teh beds. Put support rings on all tomatoes and a pepper against their canes. I picked rhubarb and tomatoes. I also planted 2 more (late I know but 🤞🤞) window boxes of peas. Mostly as the dwarf French beans planter had a single plant (that DDog dug up and ate last night) and the other peas I had done gave a small but nice crop.

Lots of rain overnight so that is good. Need to plant out the final broccoli plant and some leeks.

Finished (for the time being) potting up things. Moved the more spectacular flowering cacti (in case Nan is reading, mainly Echinopsis, nothing exciting) from the greenhouse into the porch, taking care to place them where the cats can’t knock them off. Picked strawberries, alpine strawberries, raspberries, tayberries, peas, and Magentaspreen

Mr Fish liked things done his way, and if it wasn’t he was perfectly happy to uproot things or rebuild things. He had a gardener who was very good at growing chrysanthemums, Walter thought he was spending too much time on them and neglecting his other duties, so he took a knife and cut them all down to ground level. Margery had to hide any poorly little plants that she was giving intensive care to because he wouldn’t have them in the garden, even if they were tucked away out of site being nurtured.

We Made a Garden is the book that tells the story. Walter died eventually ( nothing to do with Margery - I think) and she was free to implement her own ideas.

I’m pretty sure I have We Made A Garden in my teetering pile of unread gardening books which also includes some of Monty’s.

We've been away for the weekend and came back to some of the plants needing a really good water. It hasn't been especially warm but our garden is very exposed and the wind has dried out the soil.

Then I've pulled up loads of rose campion from the front bed as it was smothering everything. I've now discovered a lovely little rock rose which was completely camouflaged as well as some salvias which were hidden. I've also dead headed loads more roses.

What's everyone's weather like now? It's a cool July in Northumberland.

Windy here in Berkshire! 19 degrees and overcast today but it did rain this afternoon which was welcome.

I had to sort out the tomatoes and sunflowers in pots as they'd been blown over this afternoon. I also planted out some lettuce and some swiss chard.

I'll add We Made a Garden to my reading list. I just finished Rhapsody in Green by Charlotte Mendelsen (sp?) and really enjoyed that.

Mr Fish sounds like a tool.
I’ve been pulling out oxeye daisies and trying to return to vertical all the stuff that was underneath them. Beds at that awkward inbetween stage, savaged but still chaotic.
Picked lots of berries and made a clafoutis. Despite the wrong sort of flour and yoghurt instead of cream, it was delicious. Had 3 dogs playing mad games of tag. As I hadn’t cleared away the plant supports it turned into Hunger Games style hurdles. No animal harmed, thankfully.

It’s still quite warm here, but windy with a brief shower this afternoon (hurrah for the garden). I’m toying with the notion of going to the Hampton Court flower show later in the week. Madness, I know.

Having a nice few days away visiting NT properties and gardens. Berrington’s walled garden is lovely - we were lucky to be there last year when you could pick a bag of apples for £3. Today we’ve been to Croft castle which has a huge walled garden and sampled the raspberries. I’ve noticed that in both the planting is a lot wilder and more cottage garden than in past years - or maybe that’s me.

Beautiful evening in Yorkshire. Sunshine, blue sky, and quite a wind. Definitely a sit in and look out evening.

I know the former head gardener at Berringtons whose passion was heritage apples!

@viques they have an amazing collection.DH is fascinated by them and tried to collect an apple from each tree. Of course by the time we got home he had no idea which was which.