The summer in the garden is green and inviting. It cannot get any greener than it is just now outside. The greenery is at its peak. There are still flowers that will bloom that hasn’t done so yet. But they are coming along just fine.
The weather has been good this summer. Mainly dry, sunny and warm. But of course there has been days with some rain and thunder too. Not many though. Feels like I’ve never before had to water the garden as much as this year. It is so dry.
The astrantia major (the pink flowers in the picture) are taller and more plenty than ever. The hortensia is green and coming but I doubt it will get any flowers this year. The chives unfortunately looks poorly this year. The oldest one has nearly died. The giant verbena in the black tub will get tall too after some problems with it in the beginning.
The astrantia major is much loved by both bumblebees and bees. They create a constant buzz there.
I have two hollyhocks. The one above is in the regular flowerbed around my patio. It is pink and yellow. This year it is also tall and healthy. No holes in the leaves so far. No bugs have eaten on it. Yet.
The one below is dark pink. It grows near to the anti-noise-fence, just as last year. I make sure every year to spread the seeds from them as they only live for two years. I love hollyhocks.
Above the view from the backgarden, behind the patio. At the most narrow point I’ve put a rose-bow for the two old honey-suckle plants that I cut down to almost nothing last autumn as they were sick. They’ve grown a lot this year and only just now started to flower. They’ve had lots of lice on them though, black lice. But after some thorough showering with water they now look more or less OK. I think the lice-season is over for this time.
The american blueberry-bushes that I moved last year to the back-garden are coming along fine and they have now plenty of blue-berries that just started to turn blue. Can soon be picked. Still not too many berries, but at least more than previous years. They never liked the previous location.
Lousy picture of the blueberries… but you get the idea…
A funny comparison. The veggiebox in the back-garden above in april this year. And just now in July below.
It has grown there… Lots of parsley and french tarragon and lemonbalm (though something has eaten a lot of its leafs). The chives here is fine and so is the sorrel in the frontmost corner. The sorrel and teh lemonbalm survived from last year. I had two oreganoplants between the parsley and the sorrel, but I had to move the oregano to a large pot of its own as it became too crowded in the box and I really want to get as much oregano as possible to last me until next year. I cut and dry it when large enough to be bundled.
The two kinds of thyme (regular and lemonthyme) and the mint are coming along fine in the back garden as well. The mint I also cut and dry to have in tea until next year. When it is fresh I use it in salads and drinks. The thyme I dry as well and use both dried and fresh in salads and other food.
Another fun comparison is the flowerbed along the outside of the patio. Below from 2011…
Notice the two hosta plants and the echinaceas. Notice size and spread.
The above is the same flowerbed in July 2016. Particularly the green hosta has grown a lot this year (now blooming). And the echinacea behind them have spread quite a lot. They were good last year but I think they will be even better this year.
This part of the flowerbed along and behind the patio comes late as it is less sun there. In the spring it is almost empty with only krokucuses. Then the rest come, slowly. Every year it looks like the hostas are cone for ever. Choice of plants has been difficult for it but I now have mix that works well there. Between the two hostas there is actually a japanese anemone. They are almosts hidden by the hostas this year.
I have two kinds of echinacea. One pink, one white. Neither is blooming just yet, but they are on their way. They get very tall and last long into the autumn.
In the backgarden, after my area ends, still grow these roses that spread like a pest via their roots. Plan it to dig them all up and use the area for something else. Our rhubarbs will move to their space. The flowers have a strong fragrance and the bumblebees love them, but… (click on this link to see a short movie with the working bumblebee).
Even though the echinacea flowers are not ready yet, the bugs are there… like this ladybug.
I’ll stop here. This was only the backgarden and part of the flowerbed along the patio. I’ll show you more of the garden another day.
In the foreground, two white astilbes, one pink astilbe and the pink-yellow hollyhock. In the background the back-garden and the rose-bow.
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