FROM HYDRANGEA TO EUCRYPHIA

This Hydrangea grown from a cutting it is doing very well.

Evening Primrose is encouraged to self sow in these beds. It is worth growing a few just to be able to smell their lovely perfume. On the left is an artichoke which we leave for ornamental purposes. I can't be bothered with how fiddly they are to eat but they do have a lovely sort of asparagus flavour.

The hanging baskets on the door step are getting very long and the perfume is lovely in the evenings.

Yes there is a water butt under this hanging basket.

Last but not least a beautiful Eucryphia. This is a very columnar tree and so can be made room for in a sunny protected position. Ultimately it can reach about 60' but it is very slow growing. Leylandii can also reach that height and look how many people grow them. I know which I prefer.

GARDEN ORNAMENTS AND TRIMMINGS.

These metal steps were a Mother's day present and come in very useful for small pots although like most things in my garden the posts overcrowd and you don't get a good look at the stand.

I like my little table and it is a good size for the narrow terrace.

I thought Mike came up with a good idea for holding a pot and it helps disguise the water barrel.

Not easy to see but on the roof are house leeks. An old wives tale was that it protected the house from lightening.

Other house leeks on the slope near the garage.

After a good prune the first of the season these house leeks can be seen better.

Just to see how much it grows nearly as much as a Russian vine.

After a trim all looks much better.

VIDEO FUN WITH MY NEW CAMERA

I have been having such fun with my new camera. I took some video pictures but it has taken days to figure out how to load them onto blogger and which program my computer will use.

I have learnt lots such as not to turn the camera on it's side Hmm!

I have also learnt how to cut out the sideways bits! and also to cut so blogger can download.

I have needed to cut, to get rid of the motor bike noise on one section.

Such a steep learning curve now I will spend many happy hours improving my shots. Oh such fun!

Does my voice really sound like that how strange and how pronounced my northern accent is even though I moved south 40 years ago.

SILLY THINGS

Yes this is a finger post for a public footpath. One that was acquired quite legitimately as Mike retrieved it from a skip at work, along with the lovely sign on the gate.

Rather hidden by the foliage yes it is another finger post for a public footpath.

I am fond of the little water fountain and I love the sound of trickling water but actually the silly thing is the mushroom in the pot on the right. I found them at Columbia Road market when I went earlier in the year.

Another one here very realistic looking they are ceramic.

The last but not least.

I also found the little metal birds at the market and they were very cheap. The green ball was a gift and sometimes it is difficult to find the right place to put them. We will ignore the self sown lavatera in the alpine sink.

JUST FLOWERS

Just a selection of flowers in flower in the garden in July. Just in case you think I can only drool over clematis and roses.

CONCRETE OR FLOWER TROUGH?

The concrete drive is always a bit of an eyesore, but when we had a new water pipe laid recently the depth was about a foot, so a big and expensive job to replace.

We have placed pots on the drive in the past, as we don't use the car daily, but it was still a nuisance to remove them. Mike came up with the idea of a trough of plants. The plants are planted in seed trays so can be removed or replaced, most should be evergreen and the moss was an added touch.

The car clears the plants and bricks easily and even I can reverse in without damaging anything.

So what do you think? Will this become the latest garden craze?

Picture this photo contest July

Laburnum flowering spring this year from an earlier post Luxurious Laburnum.

I nearly missed the photographic competition hosted by Gardening Gone Wild. Having seen the many amazing entries I wasn't sure whether to enter and then I remembered the useful comments posted on the earlier competition on Roses and as I have a lot to learn about photography I decided to enter the above photograph.

In Rob's words 'some pump out zillions of blooms within a few days creating an eye-popping extravaganza that can make our heads spin' so aptly put.

CLEMATIS

Never too many clematis. Vit. Triternata Rubro Marginata is delightful and has the most exotic vanilla perfume that fills the air in the evenings, which is why I grow it in a pot near the front door. It is accompanied by Vit. Minuet below another sweet face that needs to be near to where you walk to really appreciate it.

Below is Vit. Polish Spirit a good vigorous clematis which should have had more of a helping hand into the Laburnum. Top right is a similar coloured petunia in a hanging basket.

Also at the back of the house is another Vit. Polish Spirit this performs even better, with all the many clematis to choose from what a pity I managed to duplicate these but lovely anyway.

Just a closer look.

Below is Vit. Alba Luxurians, it has the most unusual markings of green on the flowers. It is a very vigorous clematis and had to be moved from it's original position because it was so large. It didn't like the move Clematis rarely do, but it has settled and growing well again.

Not a particularly good photo but just an idea of how it grows.

Vit. Royal Velours was one of my favourites but I don't think I like the rounded petal shapes as much as others. It grows in the most adverse conditions against a wall facing north and because there are a lot of climbers on the wall, it does not get much rainfall to the roots, although when I remember I do give it a bit extra water.

This was a cutting from a Viticella taken some years ago and I lost the label so not sure which one but it does look very much like another Polish Spirit.

I do like it growing in the Gleditsia

This was an addition last year John Huxtable.

I am very pleased with how he has grown although he is covering my rather sad Robinia I do not think either will come to harm.

Last but not least Vit. Jackmanii my very first clematis although this was a cutting taken over twenty years ago and in fact the original which was in the front garden died last year.

For those of you who, like me adore clematis, see my earlier posts More Clematis and Clematis Lovers Only.