What is Looking Good in JULY 2021

I expect you will be getting on the striped jumper and beret, get out the bike and start wandering the streets.


Or have I been watching too much allo, allo.

 

@Cordy I love your ID posts. Are they wood? Did you make them? Very classy.

 

I'm finding the simple beauty of individual scabious/knautia flowers increasingly captivating lately for some reason. Scabiosa 'Butterfly Blue', Knautia 'Mars Midget' and 'Melton Pastels'.

Nick

 

@Victoria
Yes, I made those plant markers
The wood including uprights is English Oak; although any wood should be Ok - just needs to be sanded quite smooth in order to write with the pyrography burner - bought from eBay- I sand up to about 350 grit
The uprights are made by driving square rods through a dowel-maker which I made, although with flat uprights you won't need the Dowel-maker
I learned it all recently by watching several YouTube videos
If you have a try you will need carbon paper, a printer and lots of patience; but you will soon get the idea
John
Edit, forgot to mention; I give 4 coats of water based varnish, here in UK we call it Yacht Varnish

 

@Cordy Hi John, you are very talented. It is a craft I could do ... I actually have a set of carving tools given to me by my boss as I fancied carving totem poles which never materialised. I don't label things here as I know the names of everything, both Latin and common. I certainly admire your ability and I think you could easily sell them. Have you ever thought of doing that? Perhaps sets or just individual pieces. They would make lovely gifts.

 

Too hot for jumpers, electric bikes are the thing nowadays and just you watch yourself with allusions to me wandering the streets!
The idea is to be self-sufficient in alliums for the year, but that only works if they ripen and store well. There's much less sun than usual this year, so remains to be seen whether they'll keep. If not, there'll be a few frantic chopping and freezing sessions

 

Were they overwinting types, only mine will be another couple of months before they are ready.

Or are you two months ahead, some of them seen to have quite a lot of foliage still.

 

Finally after planting them last year and watching them get bigger and bigger every day my lilies finally started to bloom. And how they are blooming. My whole house entrance is engulfed in their sweet heavy scent. Blossoms are about 20cm in diameter.


And in the back yard my allium flowers started their annual bee orgy with 2-4 bees sitting permanently on each and every blossom.

 

Not sure if they're specifically meant for overwintering, but I've always planted sets in October for harvesting in June/July. Due to the weird weather they probably would have rotted if not harvested now.

 

Your colour schemes are beautiful.

 

The way out from the bottom of my garden, to a little road that leads nowhere ...



You have to duck under these Dorothy Perkins Roses and a tall Fuchsia called 'Margaret' ...

 

Fuchsia microphylla

Mitraria coccinea "Lake Puyehue"

Sisyrinchium "Hemswell Sky"

Ferocactus emoryi

Tulbaghia coddii

Morina longifolia

Scabiosa rumelica (was Knautia macedonica when I first grew it )

Ugni molinae Chilean Guava flowers smell like the fruit tastes


Rosa "Ingrid Bergman"

Cinnamomum camphora; this really didn't like the weather earlier in the year and a lot of the early growth got burnt in the cold dry winds.