Our Gardens

We planted some new columbine to replace some we lost in last year's heat.
Before and After:
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(The hose is planning for a path ... of course, it's been there for like 3-5 years, so that might make it more of an edging at this point.)

And this is the path leading into that section:
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Elsewhere, we've got dwarf iris and the peony that's now in full bloom:
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More pictures of the peony:
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Princess Dustmop said:
We planted some new columbine to replace some we lost in last year's heat.
Before and After:
View attachment 225910 View attachment 225911
(The hose is planning for a path ... of course, it's been there for like 3-5 years, so that might make it more of an edging at this point.)

And this is the path leading into that section:
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Elsewhere, we've got dwarf iris and the peony that's now in full bloom:
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More pictures of the peony:
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What beautiful peonies and those irises are such a gorgeous blue
 
Qualcast&Flymo said:
I do hope Spike is okay. Really they should tuck themselves away in the bushes out of sight during the day...
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I hope your spike is ok too. This hog was very much out of sight until I came along with the scissors! Its not unusual for them to nest in long grass in the summer but I agree they shouldn't be out and about during the day.
 
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We removed a tree earlier in the year and have replaced the fence and wall which left a big space, we have these rhododendrons in pots that are not doing overly well so I thought we should try and put them in the ground, now to decide if they are in the right place, my husband thinks we should move the large one to the left and then put the small one in the middle, I know we have to do stuff to the soil as well but I think they hide the wall well!
 
Spaghetti & Noodles said:
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We removed a tree earlier in the year and have replaced the fence and wall which left a big space, we have these rhododendrons in pots that are not doing overly well so I thought we should try and put them in the ground, now to decide if they are in the right place, my husband thinks we should move the large one to the left and then put the small one in the middle, I know we have to do stuff to the soil as well but I think they hide the wall well!
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I would put the big one in the middle slightly back from the two smaller ones. We have natural acidic soil down here, so rhododendrons and azaleas grow really well. You can buy cheap testing kids to find your ph levels, then it’s sometimes worth digging a lined trench and filling it with ericaceous peat for them to thrive if your soil is alkaline. You have a lovely view of the countryside, most envious
 
Bill & Ted said:
I would put the big one in the middle slightly back from the two smaller ones. We have natural acidic soil down here, so rhododendrons and azaleas grow really well. You can buy cheap testing kids to find your ph levels, then it’s sometimes worth digging a lined trench and filling it with ericaceous peat for them to thrive if your soil is alkaline. You have a lovely view of the countryside, most envious
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Thank you for the advice, I feel they will be moved around! We have some ericaceous soil bags but will get more, at the end of the day they can't do much worse than they are in the pots! I'm not a gardener but we'll have a go! ☺️
 
Qualcast&Flymo said:
This Spotted Orchid popped up in our orchard on Sunday. I don't think it was there before, because I look out for it to make sure I don't mow over it.
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I showed my hubby, he was quite moved because his father was an orchid enthusiast and it was Fathers' Day 💞
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Wow that is so beautiful. It’s quite surprising hat comes up when you don’t mow until late spring. We have milkmaids come up in our lawn if we don’t mow
 
That's lovely @Qualcast&Flymo, I've had one for a few years now in the same place, it popped up unannounced :)
I usually leave the dead flower stalk showing until next spring so I can see where not to mow the lawn.

I had one last year the other side of the lawn appeared, but I couldn't find it this year.

This year another one sprung up right near the door & I pulled the grass short round it, I shouldn't have as it dried up in this heat & died off :(

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One of the crocuses from back in the spring.
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A little froggy friend in the pond (awaiting a new uv light)
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Little blue butterfly on the holly bush
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& a damselfly that was happy sunning itself on the forsythia bush out the front
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GPTV said:
That's lovely @Qualcast&Flymo, I've had one for a few years now in the same place, it popped up unannounced :)
I usually leave the dead flower stalk showing until next spring so I can see where not to mow the lawn.

I had one last year the other side of the lawn appeared, but I couldn't find it this year.

This year another one sprung up right near the door & I pulled the grass short round it, I shouldn't have as it dried up in this heat & died off :(

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One of the crocuses from back in the spring.
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A little froggy friend in the pond (awaiting a new uv light)
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Little blue butterfly on the holly bush
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& a damselfly that was happy sunning itself on the forsythia bush out the front
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Look at that little face :wub: Frogs and toads are my absolute favourite animals, well apart from guinea pigs 😆
 
We are being plagued by aphids this year. I dug out the broad beans today and threw them away, the plants had been sucked dry and were dying. The runner beans don't look very healthy, they are even on the tomato plants which I've never seen before. I've blasted them off with water and tried spraying with a soap mixture. I grow everything from seed, it's such a lot of work to have the crops devastated like this. We got 4 broad bean pods before the plants gave up producing. It's usually slugs and snails that are a problem but the starlings have put paid to them. I need an infestation of lady birds!
 
piggieminder said:
We are being plagued by aphids this year. I dug out the broad beans today and threw them away, the plants had been sucked dry and were dying. The runner beans don't look very healthy, they are even on the tomato plants which I've never seen before. I've blasted them off with water and tried spraying with a soap mixture. I grow everything from seed, it's such a lot of work to have the crops devastated like this. We got 4 broad bean pods before the plants gave up producing. It's usually slugs and snails that are a problem but the starlings have put paid to them. I need an infestation of lady birds!
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I had a veggie patch for 6 years or so. I gave up in the end because of all the lovely wildlife. I couldn’t kill any thing! I tried to keep off the gorgeous butterflies with nets. But they managed to always get in. And the caterpillars are so sweet obviously I couldn’t kill those either. 🤦🏻‍♀️. Urrrrrh black/greenfly. Don’t like them. Absolutely love snails 🐌. So I gave in and planted flowers instead 😀
 
weepweeps said:
I had a veggie patch for 6 years or so. I gave up in the end because of all the lovely wildlife. I couldn’t kill any thing! I tried to keep off the gorgeous butterflies with nets. But they managed to always get in. And the caterpillars are so sweet obviously I couldn’t kill those either. 🤦🏻‍♀️. Urrrrrh black/greenfly. Don’t like them. Absolutely love snails 🐌. So I gave in and planted flowers instead 😀
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I know the feeling ;)
 
Where are all the ladybirds?
I have aphids on my hellebores and camelias. Just glad I gave up my allotment now. We are still on a hosepipe ban down here so every scrap of water is being used to water the garden
 
Bill & Ted said:
Where are all the ladybirds?
I have aphids on my hellebores and camelias. Just glad I gave up my allotment now. We are still on a hosepipe ban down here so every scrap of water is being used to water the garden
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I was going to say the same thing - my broad beans are covered in blackfly too, even the autumn-sown ones which are meant to be less affected. I looked at them this morning and was thinking that as they are going brown I would have to pull them out, then I noticed that lots of them have ladybird larvae and pupae on the top leaves, so they must have been munching away lower down before.
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So I guess I'll have to leave the bean plants until the new ladybirds have all emerged ...

I suppose the winter wasn't cold for long enough to kill off overwintering blackfly and aphids resulting in a plague on our veggies 😒
 
I've only seen one lady bird this year. The balance in our garden is usually pretty good for humans and nature. We have slugs and snails but I don't need to kill them, they are bird breakfast! We have hedgehogs and slow worms, foxes in the winter but they keep out the way in the fields in summer when people are about. The weather this year has been aphid heaven I think. My daughter gave me an everlasting sweet pea for my birthday and that's got rust which is definitely weather related. On a brighter note 2 of my courgette plants have flowers and I have 4 little green marbles on one of the tomatoes so not all is lost!
 
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