Rushing into August

Published on by Catherine

This is a very quickie post today. Too much to do, too much happening! Why is retirement so busy?!!

It’s been another dry week here, a mix of sun and cloud, not too cold, not too warm, with light winds. That’s suited me, but even so, I couldn’t get into the garden until late on Thursday.

But on with Six on Saturday!

Helenium ‘Short and Sassy’. In need of deadheading and that’s why there is only one close up photo! Otherwise it’s a lovely helenium.

Helenium ‘Short n Sassy’

Hydrangea paniculata “Limelight’ and Hydrangea arborescens Pink Annabelle. Both have grown large over the last few years and are now very close companions! The second shot shows some heleniums – wrong plant combination. They’ll get moved in autumn – if I get time!

  • Hydrangea paniculata “Limelight’…
  • …with H. ‘Pink Annabelle’

Hydrangea arborescens ‘Strong Annabelle’. New this year, it’s still young and has a lot of growing to do. The stems should be thicker & stronger next year and the heads should form large balls. The surrounding Alchemilla mollis is (over)due to be cut back.

Hydrangea arborescens ‘Strong Annabelle’.

Phlox. I was surprised to find this perennial phlox growing below and through H. ‘Pink Annabelle’. I dug it out a year or two ago, but I must have left some of the root in. The hydrangea has spread over the top of the plant – but I think the phlox really wants to stay, so it will be carefully excavated in late autumn and moved elsewhere.

Phlox – pretty in pink

Tomato ‘Sungold’. My favourite tomato. I’m cutting back on garden work, so I think this will be the last year that I grow them. We’ve had a few lovely, sweet and juicy fruits, but they’ve struggled with fluctuating temperatures and, dare I say it, too much sun beating down on them in the greenhouse. I’m not sure the effort is worth the quantity of tomatoes they have produced. Sigh – you can’t get that taste from the supermarket though!

Sweet & juicy

Mixed Border. I posted a very similar shot last week – then the focus was on the salvia, this week there we have a slightly wider view of the border from a different angle, with the focus on Verbena ‘Santos Purple’. In the background you can see part of a border beyond the small lawn. There’s quite a crazy mix of colours in the background planting, but that border looks quite nice on its own.

Verbena ‘Santos Purple’ & friends

There I have to leave you for today. Husband has gone off to some nearby Highland Games and I have some tech issues I need to deal with, in the hope that I’ll get into the garden for an hour or so this afternoon.

Six on Saturday is hosted by Jim at Garden Ruminations. Follow the link to find out more and see many more summer garden planting!

Have a lovely weekend, and if you’re in the area that Storm Floris is going to hit on Monday, stay safe, stay indoors if you can. That’s where I’ll be.

Catherine x

24 thoughts on “Rushing into August”

  1. A fabulous helenium shot, I never have much success with them. I already love Hydrangea ‘Annabelle’ but now I have fallen for ‘Pink Annabelle’. Oh, for more garden space.

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    1. H. ‘Pink Annabelle’ is lovely, Chloris, but it’s also now quite large and if you look at the second image you might see the foliage of my Baptisia Australis that it has overwhelmed.

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  2. Love the long shot of your border, beautifully co-ordinated! I can see that I’ll have to get more hydrangeas, yours are looking so lovely and I like the look of your verbena too!

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    1. The border isn’t perfect, but it’s growing well and I’d say I’m happier with it than the other borders! Oh, I think I might have just issued myself a challenge to make changes to them! 🤔 The short verbena is a favourite of mine – I first saw it in my sister’s garden.

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  5. I love your border shot. So colourful. Sadly Heleniums don’t last here, Short ‘n’ Sassy was very short lasting… Pink Annabelle looks rather nice, but I have a fancy for a deep blue one. If I can find room of course. I’m growing tomatoes for the first time in a few years, nothing like the smell when you walk into the conservatory in the morning. I bought bush ones, thinking they’d be easier to look after, none of that having to tie them in etc. But per usual wrong plants – only one bush. Just starting to ripen now and yes, the taste…

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    1. Heleniums seem to do ok here, but I have to confess that last autumn they were lifted and divided, but the weather was so awful that I potted them up in the greenhouse and just let them sit outside until spring. Then they went back in the borders. I didn’t quite get their locations right, so they’ll have to be moved again this year. 🙄 You realise you’re telling me that I’m going to miss my tomatoes if I don’t grow any next year! You might win. 🤣

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    1. Thanks Graeme. We’re on an amber alert for wind, but the highest windspeed that’s showing here is 57 mph, and that’s not much higher than we often get. Perhaps the gusts will be stronger. I won’t be going out – planning a lazy at-home day. 😁

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  9. Hydrangeas are amazing at all stages, aren’t they? Your photo of the mixed border is stunning! I love the purples and pinks and yellows, and all the shapes and heights of the mix. ❤ And your Tomatoes look yummy! We’re starting to harvest them here, too. I think I’ll always have a couple of Tomato plants each summer–not more than that, but just enough to have a few tastes of garden-fresh ones. Have a great week!

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    1. The hydrangeas have done well this year, despite not getting a lot of water. You and Jude are beginning to make me think that I’d be wrong not to grow any next year! 🤔 Perhaps…

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  10. Your hydrangeas look rather nice together. I always had problems with weak stems, particularly with a plant of ‘Vanille Fraise’. In the end, I decided that lack of light was the problem, which proved to be the case. Your border is showing so much colour, I think it is a fine example of how it should be done.

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  11. Beautiful photos – don’t your hydrangeas look good! They have had the right mixture of sunshine and rain it seems. 😃 I love that photo of the verbena and salvia combination with all that colour in the background too.

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    1. I’ve been surprised at the vigour of the hydrangeas, Cathy, (although there’s one that hasn’t flowered) as they’ve had far less water than they normally would have, due to the dry spring and summer. Strange for water-loving plants. Perhaps they’re adapting? 🤔

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  12. It’s been a good few years since I grew tomato ‘Sungold’ Catherine but they’re most delicious 😋 I’m wavering about planting tomatoes next year even though the ‘Romello’ outdoor bush tomatoes that I’ve grown for a few years are most yummy. It just involves so much watering especially this year and I’m sure that watering cans become heavier with the passing of the years. I hope that storm ‘Floris’ doesn’t do any damage to your garden tomorrow. It’s looking bad enough in north west England and sadly worst over the border.

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    1. I’ve had some of the greenhouse (Sungold) tomatoes tonight with my dinner – and they really are so sweet and juicy. I might have to relent and at least grow one plant! Floris didn’t do a lot of damage, a few plants were left a bit bedraggled, but it wasn’t as bad as the weather people said it would be. Just another day of strong west-coast winds!

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