Annuals as cut flowers, and update on gardening jobs!

gilly I love your pink and purple hydrangea.

It rained! Hallelujah!! ????
All day, on and off, felt so pleased, could almost see the garden slurping it down, especially the apple trees.
Meant a day in the house, but I found a few cleaning jobs to do, finished a book, caught up with emails and watched tv.

I wish Lisagran … your postie must love delivering your letters!
Did it take long to grow that big?

Grandmafrench … Wonderful Jasmine and you say there are more?!
How often do you prune them?

I wish there was smelly vision.

The above is just one example . I have several more, all looking a bit poorly .

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202006/medium-737041-f08861b1-0833-41da-ba3d-22c793b81b85.jpeg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202006/medium-359264-66d7bc65-e28c-49d0-91e0-abfdf4cac7a4.jpeg

We’ve had the most miserable weather for almost a month now. Rain, fog , winds and cold . My poor Hydrangeas are looking quite sad and poorly compared with similar time last year .Noticed the leaves are turning red too, any ideas what could be wrong apart from the horrible weather that is ?

No rain here yet either, am so disappointed! It was supposed to hit about 4pm but never arrived, and the sky clear now, so no hint of it.
If none in the morning will have to water the entire garden, which takes ages.
Lovely pics everyone, so cheering.

Gorgeous fragranced arch Grandmafrench - how lovely!

I found a few lily beetles earlier in the year, but managed to re-house them (over the wall into the field)

We’ve had a few brief showers Wwm2, but the garden’s still pretty dry.

Oh!! Just seen your post nanny that will serve me for looking at the photos and not reading the posts as well.

Just perusing all the lovely photos.

We haven’t had a drop of rain yet.

Anyone seen any lily beetles this year? We haven’t seen 1 yet. They are so beautiful I usually just pick them off and place them outside the garden gate.

Lovely photo - here's one of my Jasmines. The perfume in the evening is wonderful. It's been flowering since mid May here in the S of France.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202006/medium-348686-ae8d9422-d1e0-4486-b5ec-660d3a77a496.jpeg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202006/medium-799673-60189d52-d2fb-441f-81dc-4b4c8bae4d07.jpeg

Star Jasmine out now - can you smell it?! Wonderful!

We have a blackbird nest in a Pyracantha, but it's high up, so no chance to see into it.

Gosh if I picked as much St. Johns Wort as you have there would be nothing left of the bush!
Ours does need cutting back a bit. To encourage branching out as it is a bit straggly.

Yes*Namsnanny*, I encountered lily beetles last year - so I was well prepared this year - examining them daily, like the nit nurse!
I think blackbirds usually have about 3-4 eggs. We sadly found one broken egg on the path.
St Johns Wort out now.

Just saw your updated photos Lisagran!
How lovely, a blackbirds nest, and you can get close to it as well.
He/she looks snug in there, and quite big too.
Beautiful!

I should know, but how many eggs do they usually lay?

I always wanted to get a camera sited somewhere in the garden.
I will get around to it one day.

I think I spot a pot of Lilies Lisagran?
Have you had any sign of the beautiful but disgusting Lily beetle? Well its grubs are disgusting, covering themselves in their own faeces for protection!
It's a crap (sorry for sinking into vulgar parlance, just to get a giggle!) job when you find them. Picking the leaves off or wiping the bugs and the excrement from the leaves.
Ive sprayed with Neem oil to help prevent them, but I've missed some plants which were completely decimated with holes from them and covered on the underside. Yuck!

Its enough to put you off gardening.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202006/medium-382359-14f1ab73-bc68-4568-847c-d9f7bce18c68.jpeg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202006/medium-618938-a2da56c8-d570-4a3f-be43-18b9ca7c9bf8.jpeg

Lilies about to flower - and a blackbird’s nest In a hedge

Love moss, but your right it's difficult to keep the co editions for it to thrive.
Thyme looks good and is tough, so is a good sub.
Having g said that, my young thyme plants took some nurturing until they got settled. They're still a bit dodgy.
Your right about the wind drying plants out and forever knocking over pots!
But is there ever any 'good' weather for gardeners?
You should feel chilled out after tending to your Zen gravel!
Enjoy

Just re raking the gravel. I like doing that making all sorts of patterns. It is supposed to represent water, so I do wavy lines.

I’ll take a photo of one of the rocks with the thyme , it really should be moss but it is far too dry for moss to survive in this part of the U.K. . We haven’t had any real rain since February.

Wwave ...I love hostas but dont have any because of the dreaded slugs and snails.
Our house was left empty before we moved in many moons ago, and when we attempted to clear the garden we found all the tree an md large shrubs had snails sitting happily up the branches!!
I'd never seen that before. I thought they just stuck onto rocks in dark places.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202006/medium-893459-20200615-201753-3.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202006/medium-466703-20200613-140909-3.jpg

Hypericum berries with Fennel and bind weed Ha, ha I cant keep up with the weeding, especially the dratted bind weed.

Yellow Hops with an out of focus rose blowing in the wind

I have a Japanese cedar in large pot in my zen garden in the front of the house. The trouble is that living on the South downs facing the sea we get a lot of wind, so I’m am going to have to find a more sheltered spot for it.

I have decided to replace it with a hosta “Empress Wu” which is supposed to be the biggest of all,
I want a statement plant and thought that as it dies down in the autumn I won’t have problem with the wind over the winter period.

Anyone got one? Am hoping the gravel and pot will keep the slugs away.

Anyone want a Japanese cedar? ? It is a lovely thing. It has to go into a pot as it won’t tolerate my soil. Blimmin’ nuisance though, I do like it.

Lisagran lovely pots! Will have a closer look at the plants when I get home

Feeding the birds is non stop now isnt it? I do supplement the seeds and nuts with meal worm this time of the year. Bit of extra protein for the chicks!
Caught cat lurking again.....he is so beautiful. Grey with green eyes, and such a character. But sadly the birds have to be protected from his admirable hunting skills.
So I've sent for a contraption to scare him off

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202006/medium-307907-8f5e06be-7c04-41bf-acad-e9602f79c3f9.jpeg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202006/medium-807073-f8ee8648-3af1-4d0f-90dc-1226a89135d5.jpeg

Drizzled here today but no ‘real’ rain

Rain here so no gardening. It’s supposed to be 18c but feels like 12c