My garden update this week is a little scatty. But life feels a bit all over the place so perhaps that’s why. Scatty life = scatty garden. Anyway, I’ve found some nice things so hopefully you’ll see something you like!
These geraniums were all leaves when I bought them last year. A tag marked ‘geraniums’ was poked into the soil – that was all I needed to know. I don’t think I’ve ever come across a geranium I didn’t like. Now it’s flowering I can tell you it’s a variety called ‘Endressii’.
Our front garden is full of Oxeye daisies at the moment. Each stem has grown to about a metre tall and they’ve filled out so thickly I’m going to need to thin them later this year. Thankfully these daisies don’t have the horrible ‘cheese stink’ most daisies seem to have!
The Clematis has been absolutely full of flowers this year. I took this photo last week and since then, the wind has blown nearly all the petals off.
This is the worlds wobbliest sweet pea support. I don’t know how I ended up doing such a bad job! The string is slack and the canes are a bit wobbly. Oh well. The sweet peas seem happy enough; buds are appearing.
Marigolds are one of my favourite things to grow from seed. They’re very easy to grow and they really brighten up the garden. I sowed quite a few this year – we have some in our raised beds, in pots round the back, in pots at the front and we’ve given some away to family.
Our herb patch has come alive over the last couple of weeks. Everything is looking strong, healthy, full of colour and is very fragrant. We have thyme, golden oregano, marjoram, sage, common thyme, chives, lemon thyme, rosemary, parsley and parcel (parsley with a celery flavour). I kept cutting the thyme to near death so in the end I just kept buying more plants until we had enough to sustain us – which is 5. We get through a lot of fresh herbs.
Did anyone else send off for free Grow Wild seeds this year? I only know about it thanks to a friend. 250,000 packets of seed were posted out so that people can help create colourful, wild flower spaces. Great project!
We spent Sunday afternoon jet washing our garden paths and patio. Both were covered in algae and lichen and generally looking really mucky. They scrubbed up good! It was a really hot day and I hadn’t realised the top of my bum had been on show for most of the afternoon – until later that night. It was the one place I didn’t put suncream!
Flower sowings were the last big thing on my to-do list for this month. I’ve sown Zinnia, cosmos and the pansy seeds I received from my seed swap buddy earlier in the year. They are growing fast so it won’t be long before they’ll need planting out.
The good news that we have one apple on our miniature tree!! We are 200% more successful than last year; when all the leaves went crusty and dropped off and there were no apples. Apples and leaves this year. Nature, you are spoiling us.
Does anyone have an recommendations for squirrel proof bird feeders? The squirrel thats started visiting our garden has broken two in a week 🙁 I want to keep feeding the birds but it’s ripping out plants digging for seeds and chewing its way through plastic. Gah!
your garden looks absolutely lovely and tidy Gemma. i have been loving the combination of purple and green around me so much. and don’t even start with squirrels…. you know how i feel about those creatures. i think you should google squirrel proof feeders. because supposedly they do exist. x
Thank you Claudia 🙂 I’m loving purple and yellow at the moment. I didn’t mind it sharing the birds food but its taken things too far. It’s war!
Your garden is beautiful. I love the geraniums and the herbs. I’ll have to pop back and see if anyone has any squirrel solutions. I quite like them, but they have chewed through our metal feeders, so no suggestions here.
Thanks Cheryl! They chewed through metal!? Crikey! You must be putting out some seriously delicious food 😉
Heh heh heh bum burn! I’m sorry I’m sorry, really I am, I don’t mean to be CHEEKY *boom boom*
No idea of the squirrel proof bird feeder thing, sorry, you could ARSE-k Pinterest *boom boom*
Great that everything has sprung to life, my thouhgt-it-had-died-left-on-the-doorstep brown geranium stem has popped back to life. Obviously thanks to my CRACKing gardening skillz…
This post has brightened my afternoon, BOTTOM line I think it’s ace!
Thanks for joining in again Gemma 🙂
Hahaha!!! Best. Comment. Ever.
Ha ha the sunburn trick lower back was done by my husband on his only foray into the garden six years ago it was hilarious when he got ready for bed, very artistic lol.
Haha! I didn’t realise until I had a shower and it was feeling very hot all of a sudden!
You garden is looking wonderful – so much growing and beautifully laid out. I’m desperately in need of sorting out the little herb garden patch I made in mine. I want lots like yours! Must read up on the Grow Wild campaign, although luckily I’m surrounded by wild flowers where I live.
Thank you Kriss. I’d definitely recommend a herb garden – even if it’s just a few pots. We have our main herb patch and then some in pots dotted around the garden. You are lucky 🙂
I have no tips for the squirrel, I saw a supposed squirrel proof feeder and the squirrel was actually inside the feeder! No idea how it got in there, but I think if they are determined enough they’ll find a way, much like the poxy starling.
But oh I love your garden, so much gorgeous colour popping up!
I have never seen a geranium like this, it’s lovely and I’m totally coveting your daisy’s, I’m on the look out for some for next year, I want a garden full.
We’ve done the GrowWild thing, fabulous results.
Thanks Amanda! The starlings gobble up large amounts of food very quickly – I remember putting some fat cake out for them in the winter and it was all gone in less than an hour. The daisys self seed very easily so if you get some bit won’t be long before they have spread 🙂
That clematis was stunning, sorry to hear the wind wasn’t kind to it! Love the look of your herb patch too, I need one of those 🙂 As for squirrels, I have yet to find a feeder they can’t defeat…! #HDYGG
I’m starting to think concrete would be a good option 😉
We tested out the Grow Wild kits a couple of years ago, via my Dad who is in the RSPB – they worked brilliantly! Garden looks gorgeous, my clematis flowers all blew away overnight, I did a double take when I woke up to see them gone – they were amazing this year.
Same here, I’m glad I took photos when I did. Glad to hear you had success with the Grow Wild kits, I think it’s a brilliant scheme.
your garden looks like it is busy and about to burst forward some goodies, we to have a squirrel who comes to have breakfast with us so we leave one nut one for him and the others have the cages over them and they seem to work well, its the blooming starlings and crows I have issues with.
We don’t have squirrels in our garden but my dad uses one of those feeders with a cage round it. He also stopped buying peanuts as the squirrels went crazy trying to find a way to break into it!
Your garden looks fantastic. I have a love for geraniums and have quite a few varieties, I don’t think I have come across any that I don’t like either. We got the free seeds as well, they will go to the allotment when I find where I have put them *darn that secret place*. Bum burn! Ha I have done this as well a few times, one year I had a very brown lower back
the garden looks lovely and i sorry i found the burnt bum funny. The only plant i’ve grown with success here has been the marigold, they’ve been in bloom for 2 months now, but have finally come to their end this week
I was drawn to your lovely daisy shot, my little one’s middle name and always my favourite flower! Hard to be cross with squirrels isn’t it, playful scamps!?
Yay to an apple and boo to a naughty squirrel – we had almost no apples last year but things are looking up this year (fingers crossed).
Your garden is beautiful! I love all your pots, I recently passed on loads of pots that we inherited from the previous owner because I just couldn’t keep up with them, they just kept filling up with weeds. I still have a couple left so I’m trying to start again, at my own pace! Such a gorgeous herb patch too, I manage to grow basil on the windowsill but I’d love a real herb garden, perhaps that’s a project for another year!