Gardening Resumes

Published on by Catherine

My lovely family visitors have returned home. The house is quiet. We still have two grandchildren nearby to keep us on our toes (they do that with enormous ease) but it’s nice to be able to get back to my summer gardening duties. However, in just under two weeks my two teenage grandsons will arrive from the US for a visit, so I’ll possibly have to duck out again from Six on Saturday for a couple of weeks and I expect the garden will get a bit untidy, again.

It’s summer…so they say…and heading rapidly towards the final summer month, but I feel the garden is taking on that distinct feel of autumn a little bit before it’s time. Perhaps it’s because it’s so cool and there’s been so much rain or because the roses are currently taking a rest. In a few weeks though, there will be more colour back on the rose bushes, as they’re showing plenty of new growth. Meantime, colour is being provided by cosmos, clematis, hydrangeas, heleniums and rudbeckias (more about rudbeckias next week).

Six on Saturday

Helenium ‘Moerheim Beauty’. Below is the very popular Helenium ‘Moerheim Beauty’ that brightens up any border you choose to grow it in (providing it gets enough sun). I deadheaded it after it had its photoshoot; I usually do that in advance of taking the camera out, but I love fading heleniums just as much as freshly opened blooms (also there might not have been enough flowers left to photograph!).

Helenium ‘Moerheim Beauty’
Heleniums with Allium sphaerocephalon in the foreground

Rosa ‘The Pilgrim’. I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that this climber grows beside my own little seating area outside the greenhouse. It’s an attractive rose, but its outstanding feature has to be its perfume. Especially when you’re sitting next to it.

Rosa ‘The Pilgrim’

Clematis. This is a clematis with gorgeous large flowers. From a distance, the blooms look white, but up close, especially in slightly overcast conditions you can see that it’s subtly coloured with the palest of lavender hues.

Clematis, variety unknown

I do wish I knew the variety, it deserves to have a name, but like too many plants in the garden, I’ve failed to add it to my spreadsheet.

Clematis

Clematis ‘Valour’ was planted about three years ago but this is the first summer it has produced so many flowers. It must have enjoyed the heat in late May-early June, as even the lack of water during that time hasn’t deterred it. It’s getting a bit untidy and needs a good feed – that’s the job for this afternoon – if the rain stays away.

Clematis ‘Valour’

Leucanthemum. I planted this Shasta Daisy umpteen years ago. It’s been divided numerous times and put into spots where I think it will look good, only to decide, when I see it in flower that it’s in the wrong spot. I find it hard to place, but the bees and butterflies love it, and the flowers stay fresh for a long period of time, so whether it’s in the right or wrong spot, it’s assured a safe home.

Luecanthemum

Cosmos ‘Double Click Mix’. I sowed this Cosmos in early March along with Cosmos ‘Fizzy Pink’ which was featured in the previous post. They are very similar and I like both of them, there’s more colour variety with this one.

Cosmos ‘Double Click Mix’

Next week’s notes from my garden will hopefully feature rudbeckias – and also my new, homemade garden table!

Jim is hosting Six on Saturday, so be sure to visit and discover the contributions from others. You’ll be delighted by the wonderful selection of plants and flowers that are posted each week, and not only that – there are some great ideas to add vibrance to your garden – and plenty of practical advice available from other contributors when you need it.

Enjoy your weekend – and happy gardening! 😊

26 thoughts on “Gardening Resumes”

    1. The weather’s been against us this year, but plants, I think, are more resilient than humans! I’m hoping they keep blooming through autumn. (Is that too much to hope for?) 😁

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  4. Catherine, your flowers are so content! They are beautiful. What fertilizer do you use? The climbing rose looks so beautiful. Is it easy? Like you, I have grandchildren, and at times the gardens suffer. LOL. So, I would sure like an easy rose. I love that unknown clematis and the ‘double click’ cosmos!

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    1. Thank you, Mitzy. I use various fertilisers throughout the garden, but the most used is tomato feed. Roses get a liquid feed fortnightly of various brands. It’s tedious going around the garden with a heavy watering can though. In spring I use Vitax Q4.

      The climbing rose is fairly easy, perhaps because I have easy access to it, whereas the others are more difficult to get to and tend to be left very much to their own devices. That doesn’t work too well!

      If I was planting another climber I’d consider Rosa ‘Claire Austin’, but it depends on the colour, aspect, soil and height of the plant. I hope you manage to find one to suit you. 😊

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  6. Love the contrast of colour in your first photograph, the helenium is beautiful! I hadn’t realised that The Pilgrim is a climber, no wonder mine grows so tall. Your unknown clematis is such a beautiful colour, I hope you find it;s name eventually.

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    1. Thanks, Pauline. Yes, ‘The Pilgrim’ is a climber and grows to around 12 ft. I have it on a fence of just 6 ft so it needs to be kept in check and trained to each side.

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    1. Thanks, Graeme. I dug the Helenium up last autumn and kept it in a pot until spring when it was planted in a new spot where it would get more sun. I like its impact at this time of the year so I’m thinking about getting another for elsewhere. It’s not ready for division yet.

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  9. Could your mystery clematis be the ‘Countess of Wessex’? I love those photos of your Helenium with the purples around it. I have one sad Helenium ‘Moerheim Beauty’ with only two flowers this year – my ‘Sahin’s Early Flowerer’ got eaten by the slimy ones. I love them but just cannot hang onto them here.

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    1. It’s very similar, Jude, but sadly not the ‘Countess of Wessex’. I’ve googled the link Jim supplied, and gone through all the online companies that I buy from, and still can’t find it. I’ll keep trying!
      Oddly, the slugs & snails don’t seem to bother this one (I better not speak too soon). I think they maybe have enough to fill them as they’ve demolished the nearby Delphiniums and Lupins. Is your ‘Moerheim Beauty’ a young plant?
      My ‘Sahin’s Early Flowerer’ flowered much too early while we were away and it now has no flowers left on it – I think it didn’t get deadheaded early enough. I hope you’ll have more luck with yours next year.

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  11. I was going to say I had a favorite among your “six” but I really can’t. They’re all lovely and healthy. The Cosmos really caught my eye, though, with its double petals. Cosmos are such great cut flowers. Glad you’re finding more time for gardening. It’s a balance, isn’t it, with great family/friend time and gardening time. 🙂

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    1. Thank you. 😊 I thought it might have been a little more pleasant as far south as Wales – sad to hear that you’re getting the same autumnal feel in the air as we are.

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