25th July 2019. Officially the hottest day since records began. At the weather station in our South Yorkshire city, the mercury reached 35.1c - beating the previous record of 34.3c in August 1990. The highest temperature reached on this day in the UK was 38.7 in Cambridge breaking the record too.
Thankfully a couple of nights before had seen a good deluge with some spectacular lightning. The only plant to suffer from the extraordinary heat that followed was the hydrangea in the Terrace Border which needed a good drenching as it had wilted in the considerably hotter conditions (it reached a fraction over 40c in our back garden). The patio also had to be dampened down as it was too hot for the dogs' paws...it was certainly far too hot for my bare feet!
The hydrangea, after 3 full cans gas rehydrated. Due to an overhanging acer, rain doesn't really reach the plants in this area, so they need a little extra help even after a downpour.
The dianthus has been filling the air with its sweet clove scent. There is a clump in each of the planters, one beside the pond and another in the left side of the patio border. I'm particularly fond of the perfume from the petunias too.
Along with the dianthus, r. Special Anniversary is still blooming and just a single deep inhale never fails to brighten my spirit. It's addictive.
There have been a few additions to the garden in July. The first is two pots of scabious "Kudo" which are a magnet to bees.
Both have been planted in the Terrace Border, along with a large tuft of veronica "Moody Blues - Pink" (below) and a Salvia "East Friesland" which is yet to flower.
In the left patio border, the "skip find" hydrangea is becoming a really shapely specimen, with dusky pink daylilies to the left, a large lavender to the right on the verge of flowering and at its feet, the dianthus I mentioned earlier.
In the same border are two of my daylilies, a dark red with yellow stripe was given to me many years ago by the neighbour of a lady who had donated a boot-full of veg plants to a school I volunteered at. He asked what all the plants were for and was extremely happy to share a large shopping bag rammed full of a plant I hadn't heard of before.
I was able to split the huge clump into many smaller ones for the school, and kept just one for myself. This has been divided and shared many times since then for friends and family as it is so vigorous.
This is the dusky pink daylily. It's not nearly as vigorous as the red one and even disappeared for a year with not so much as a leaf. I'm glad to see it has returned.
These two hydrangeas are Blueberry Cheesecake and stand sentry either side of the gated arch. The one below is a fair bit paler and I've no idea why. They have the same, ericaceous compost, the same ericaceous feed and are both watered with rain water. Regardless, I love them.
Another new addition is this Rhodochiton. It's a tender climber with purple bell flowers that look lovely against the pinky-peach rose Shropshire Lad growing up the left hand side of the patio arch.
To the right of the arch grows r. Gertrude Jeykll which has temporarily halted flowering due to the heat. It did that last year also. Beyond the rose is a deep pink hydrangea that once upon a time was almost red. It's certainly darker than last year so maybe the weather played a part last summer when we had very little rain. Right at the back here is a golden yellow daylily with dark red markings. This has the complete opposite colours of the red daylily in the previous photo. It had been growing in our friend's old garden and we exchanged a clump of each so we could both have the distinctive blooms.
Through the gate and under the arch, we descend the steps to Mugwort's Retreat. R. Mum in a Million is flowering again. I had an issue last month with her being unable to hold her blooms aloft so cut her back by about half. The same thing has happened so I may have to give her some support. On close inspection today, I spotted she also has some caterpillars munching away at her leaves which appear to be sawfly. I've picked off what I could find in the rain today. I'll return tomorrow and have a better review of the situation.
This handsome chap was a chance find. TMTC had been on the lookout for a green man but was struggling to find "the one" until now. He will go well on what is currently a bare fence overlooking the mini patio here in the Retreat.
Another hydrangea, with feathery pink astilbe, pink astrantia, ferns of many shapes, and climbing r. New Dawn.
Moving now under a Wisteria clothed arch, beside the purple cotinus bejewelled with raindrops...
...and into the Yen.
A wasp is drinking from a red crocosmia.
Two of the three cannas came through the winter outside and are about to bloom, leaves a little nibbled but I'm impressed nonetheless.
Our bargain of the year now. This seat was meant for the Yen Garden. The black metal matches the pergola nicely but it was the Yorkshire Rose that filled my heart with glee. The Yen, if you recall, is named such because it's a Zen Garden with a Yorkshire twist. We spotted it in a nearby garden centre but it didn't have a price tag. The shop assistant went off to look up the price and came back with a figure that we were happy with because he couldn't find the price. We discovered later with a little online browsing that we had paid £40 less!
And finally....enstete Ventricosum.
I've been after a dark leaved banana for some time. It'll have to spend winter in the porch but will enjoy summer in the Yen.
