What's Looking Good in July 2024

Know what you mean @Plantminded. I've never known a season like it. I'm just hoping there are still Calamagrostis stems to come. Even my 'wispy' Deschampsia has been flattened, although thankfully not broken. But the Stipa gigantea seems to be shrugging it off.

 

Yes, it’s the first year for me to lose so many flowering stems @LunarSea. It’s probably because the flowers are fully expanded with seed now and get weighted down by rain, rather than their later slim shape. I was considering replacing them a few days ago but then thought the garden would be bare in winter! I’ve done two lots of pruning away the snapped flowers, they look a bit better this afternoon after some dry breezy weather, until the next downpour!

 

I've done three lots and there'll be more to do tomorrow! Good job Calamagrostis seed is sterile cos' it's all gone straight into the compost heap.

 

My Ammi Majus keep getting battered by the rain, then the sun comes out and they turn their heads up again. I'm ending up with some interesting U and S shaped stems! One of my lilies got broken so that's now next to my desk in a vase, and scenting the whole downstairs of the house.

 

Looking and smelling great - Lily "Polar Star"



Ammi Majus demonstrating the twisty stems from the rain battering:


Astrantia "Shaggy"

 

Now I know what caused the twisty stems on my Achillea @Escarpment!

 

@Escarpment Very nice white Astrantia. I will keep that name in mind.
My Ammi Majus broke in many parts because the heads were too heavy. I try to keep them upright, but t's now 2 meters high. My bamboo sticks are only 1,8m.

 

Yes I've got the same problem with the height. I have put the very tall twisty metal supports from B&Q on 3 of them.
I sowed some more directly in May and they have started to develop flower heads though they're only about a foot high!
The Astrantia is a new plant ordered as a bare root in the spring, so it's pretty small still. Hoping it will really take off next year.

 

I have a white Astrantia - Superstar. It's got too big really, for the site it's in, but it's a really good doer. These things all need well staked here or they'd be flattened every year with weather.
I hate the smell of it though.

My white lilies [maybe Mont Blanc?] have been devastated by slugs this year. In recent years it's been the rise of lily beetles getting to them, although they often get slug damage, but the beetles have been less problematic on some of them. Possibly that Grazers stuff I used has helped after all. This is one of the few relatively untouched flowers. I'm having to remove them after a very short time due to being eaten, which is annoying.

 

Francoa in a pot with Loropetalum - the seeds get everywhere but it is rather pretty



A rose I can't remember the name of (something velvet ? - deep velvet ?)
the colour is much darker than in the photo



Lewisia



Oxalis tetraphylla



Fuchsia 'Cecile'



Fuchsia 'Celia Smedley' (rather large flowers)



Weeds are doing well so I leave some alone ...

Pilosella aurantiaca



Anagallis arvensis (a very pretty little flower)



Prunela vulgaris



They're only wild flowers that come from the hedgerows

I am pleased with my little Hebe cuttings, I've got two trays of them

 

Your hebes are doing well @Michael Hewett !
Here I managed to kill a supposedly hardy dark leaf one

 

The perennials on my bank are now advancing to add colour to the grasses.



More purple and orange!

 

@Plantminded What is the climbing plant in the centre above please?