Garden Update – June 2014

june 1

Good morning! I fear this could be an epic garden update today, as I have so many nice pics and we have done so much to the garden this last month, that I don’t know where to start! I must mention my awesome Mum again, as she has once more been the driving force behind the garden makeover. Mrs E has been great at advising me what plants would look good/fare well in certain spots, plus sharing her general garden know-how, and this has so far enabled us to keep the plants alive for longer than 3 weeks (not mentioning the Beckenham flat plant pot massacre of 2010, ahem…).

Without further adieu, this is what we’ve been up to in the garden this last month…

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We decided to fill the gorgeous bright blue pots on the decking with beautiful, blooming Hydrangeas- lilac in the above pot…

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…and rich pink in the other one! ^^^

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^^^The redcurrant bush is now taking over the garden somewhat, but before we unleash the secateurs on it this Autumn, we have been blessed with an abundance of fruit. The children really enjoyed picking these the other weekend, and I have begun the yearly ritual of freezing some, and also making redcurrant crumbles in little foil trays to freeze, that can then be cooked straight from the oven. The two year old is like a magpie to this bush, and every now and again I catch her standing behind it, picking and eating the currants, with her little legs poking out at the bottom. Busted every time! I’m quite looking forward to cutting it back, it is a little ‘in the way’ now.

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^^^The olive tree is flowering and looking SO much healthier since it was moved into the bigger pot. I’m not sure if we’ll get any olives or not, but it would be great if we did!

june 11

^^^The playhouse arrived, and actually doesn’t look too bad in the spot where the old shed used to be. Well, as good as a whole hunk of plastic can look!

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^^^We arranged a few pots around the playhouse to add interest and to try and detract from the plastic, and in a pot either side of it we planted ‘Clematis Florida Sieboldii’, which will eventually grow up and around the house and the fence. I think this type of clematis flower is really beautiful, and I love the unusual purple and white colour.

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^^^Moving around the garden, next to the playhouse, the tomato plants are really flourishing and starting to flower. Really hoping we get a great haul of toms this year! Last year we grew them in grobags, but I think I prefer the look of the pots, plus the plants seems to be bigger, healthier, and less prone to slugs and snails.

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^^^The herbs are taking well to their pots, and we finally found a sage plant somewhere- huzzah!

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^^^In the mini fruit and veg bed, the rocket has taken me by surprise and is really flourishing. We’ve picked loads now for salads and it has a great, peppery taste. We have also picked our first few raspberries, much to the delight of Freddie and Sasha (well, Sasha really- F likes to pick them, but not actually eat any!). The runner beans have shot up their canes, and we are awaiting the arrival of flowers, and then hopefully something tasty to pick and have with Sunday lunch!

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The final and biggest change now has been to the bed on the right hand side of the garden, where the old Yukka stump has been hacked out (thanks, oh manly fiance of mine!), fresh soil bedded in and a plethora of aesthetically-pleasing plants have been added (this is where my Mum came into her own again). So now we have here…

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^^^Lavender. One of my all-time faves. I can’t get enough of the smell!

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^^^…Centaurea.

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^^^…Hosoba.

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^^^Cotinus.

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^^^Lithodora.

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^^^Primula (not the cheese spread, obvs…)

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^^^Veronica. Every time I look at this, I think of the lady whose pony I used to ride as a child, and imagine the plant to be terribly posh!

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^^^Escallonia. This will look SO good when it flowers.

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^^^Hebe Heartbreaker.

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^^^’Pony Tail’ grass.

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^^^…and how it all look together in the bed!

So that’s that for June. Here is how it looked last month, if you want a comparison. I’m really enjoying keeping a garden diary- you can really see progression and the ebb and flow of the seasons. I can’t wait to show you what July’s will look like!

Teaming up with Manneskjur and ‘How Does Your Garden Grow’!

 

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13 Comments

  1. Manneskjur
    July 3, 2014 / 10:04 am

    You have so much growing! Firstly, I love your photos. right not that snap crush is out of the way…
    I’m loving hydrangeas at the moment, the dark pink one looks smashing, my father-in-law has some that colour in his garden and I’ve been a tad mesmerized by them. The playhouse looks cracking – at least it’s a nice brown woody colour and not some bright lime affair 🙂

    Clematis always tricks me, it looks so delicate and gentle but grows like a demon! Thanks ever so much for sharing this, epics growing skills!

    • July 4, 2014 / 8:53 am

      Thanks, Annie! I’m so chuffed with hydrangeas in the pots- the colours look better than I imagined they could be, such a lovely thing to see out of the kitchen doors!

  2. July 3, 2014 / 10:05 am

    That bed looks great, be lovely to see how it all knits together. Great plant choices, I love escallonia and the grasses too. Our potted tomatoes are just flowering too. This year I am feeding them weekly to see if it improves the number of fruit. All looks lovely.

    • July 4, 2014 / 8:54 am

      Thank you Sam! Are you just using standard tomato feed on your plants, or something special? Really hoping for a big crop but they seem to be a bit slow on the uptake!

  3. July 3, 2014 / 10:48 am

    Beautiful plant choices and I like how you’ve managed to arrange pots around the playhouse.

  4. Claudia
    July 3, 2014 / 1:32 pm

    wow! how beautiful! everything is so green and colorful. how nice that you have your mum close by to help you with your garden.

    • July 4, 2014 / 8:56 am

      Thank you Claudia! Yes, I feel very lucky that Mum is around now to help, and my Mother-in-law has too- it just wouldn’t happen as quickly without them around, time is so limited with two toddlers in tow!

  5. Merlinda Little (@pixiedusk)
    July 4, 2014 / 10:06 am

    I love the color here. Everything is in its right place! Every bloom complement each other and the things around them. Your garden is very nice to look at =) #hdygg

  6. July 4, 2014 / 9:01 pm

    Ooh this is gorgeous! I used to blog about gardening a lot more, then I moved house, wrote a book, broke my leg (which meant a whole summer in the garden watching other people DOING MY JOB) and I’m just getting back to gardening and taking photos again. Love your pics, and love your hydrangea (I can’t stop taking photos of mine, either…)

    • July 8, 2014 / 2:20 pm

      Thank you Rachael! Half the battle is finding the time to do anything- without my Mum we wouldn’t be anywhere near as far along!

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