A JULY AMBLE AROUND

Where did this month go? We're into the last full week of July already, so if you've got the time and the inclination I'm going for an amble around the garden.

The borders are still full and there's plenty of flowers to come yet.






I've also moved the Cannas in pots into the borders by finding some space....don't ask me how







From the rear of the garden





The Trellis entrance is definitely getting narrow and lower.




I've still got some Cannas of various sizes to move into the borders.....somewhere!






We've got Jenny supervising from the top of the Compost Heap


And Sally keeping an eye on you from the bench


I'm having to top up the pond more often in this hot weather but it's still nice to sit there and listen to the waterfall.


And there's this little Clematis that seems quite happy in the Jasmine Hedge lining the pond.


The Owl that's recently "flown" back to me after my sister moved from a house to an Apartment.


Well, it's been a hot day so it's time for a................

 

Well, Jenny sits either on the Compost Heap or on the Wall Bower using the ladder I built specially for her to get up there



.

 

Thanks, lolimac. When I first thought about putting "Armandii's Retreat" on GC I was really, and I mean really, apprehensive about it. I honestly didn't think people would like a garden that's on the edge of chaotic and definitely not to everybody's taste. I like having little places where you can sit in the shade or the sun and be completely out of sight from the rest of the garden and where there's a wall of plants around you. It's taken a few years to get there but I must admit I sat by the pond a couple of days ago and a little grin just came to my face because I suddenly realised that, to me, it was something positive and restful that had been created.

The Cats. loveweeds? Well, I got Sally as a tiny ball of fur, and Jenny came as a very young cat from my brother who lives in a cottage on a farm near Buxton. There are two cat litter trays in the Kitchen along with bowls of water and food 24/7. The Kitchen door into the garden is nearly always open, and if not the cats are safely in the house, so the cats come and go as they please although they cannot leave the garden due to the high fences and gates. They use the cat trays all the time and I have never find any cat faeces in the borders or anywhere else. They also ignore the birds and I have never had to pick up bits of feathers or the like. They're no angels, what cat is?, but they're well fed, comfortable with a fairly large garden/jungle to roam around in so I believe they're quite happy to lie in the Sun and look exhausted.

 

I'm going to do a "head count" of the Teasels tomorrow, Ziggy, as I have got far more than I planned, but I'm too soft to pull out such a magnificent plant even when it's in the "wrong" place. This fellow was enjoying this one in the border today.

 

You know, Mowgley, I've often thought about that while sitting somewhere in the garden! I do have lists of the different plants I've bought or grown over the years but I've never kept a really detailed record. There are 30 years of planting and growing in the garden so I would say, knowing that I have bought large quantities from certain favourite Plant Nurseries, without exaggeration that there are some thousands of different plants and varieties. Maybe one cold, wet, dark Winter's night........