Half Finished.

Hello, I'm still here, just running hard to keep up with life and in a state of half finishedness in lots of things.

A few weeks ago I decided to prune the 'hedge' of eleagnus, cornus kousa and choisya but couldn't bring myself to cut the cornus as it was about to flower - so I have a half pruned hedge with a large tree growing out of one side!

Not sure if you can see it on this picture but it's the tall shrub with white bracts on in the middle at the back, what you can't see is the large gap to the right of it where the rest of the 'hedge' used to be!

The bracts are beautiful but almost impossible to see from anywhere apart from my study window as they are so high up!

I also have a half finished stairs and landing - I ripped the carpet up a few weeks ago and have so far sanded, filled and undercoated.

before

half finished

I can't paint the floor properly until the decorator has painted the walls, ceiling and woodwork etc.

But the roses have finally come out properly, so I'll leave you with a few beauties from last week:

William Shakespeare

Lady Emma Hamilton

The Generous Gardener

Fighting Temeraire

Now tomorrow I have an appointment a conference involving a new frock and these little beauties by Kurt Geiger.

Do I have a shoe habit? You bet I do.  Do I care? Not one little bit!

And Breathe....

I'm enjoying having a little more time to sit in the garden this week, the weather is still glorious and fortunately a little less humid today, and it's nice to be able to sit in peace (before the builders start next door) and look at the flowers.

There's quite a lot of purple and pinks: self sown viola, Eryngium, Hibiscus, Verbena Bonariensis

And quite a lot of orange: Rose Fighting Temeraire, Rose Lady Emma Hamilton, self sown viola, Dahlia Walzing Mathilda, Hemerocallis (name forgotten!).

There's a self sown Salvia growing out of the patio,

and Echniops, Shasta Daisies, self sown Hollyhocks and Echinacea White Swan, all growing happily together.

There's veg growing well too, except I might not have properly thought the bean support through when I made it out of very long hazel sticks as I can't actually reach the top and will soon need the step ladder to pick the beans!

Still Going Strong

It's not exactly peaceful in my house at the moment (I live in a terrace and next door is being re-roofed), and the garden isn't exactly private at the moment either due to men on the roof but it's still looking good.

Hydrangea Annabelle has thrived this year

Echinacea White Swan would really prefer a sunnier spot but is still flowering

and the Passion Flower is just getting into full swing.

But it's not all white in the garden, there is rather bright Cosmos

and a very pretty Potentilla

and some very delicate Thalictrum (Hewitt's Double)

and even though the Monarda (Prairie Night)  is a bit scruffy now, the bees are still loving it.

Echinops provides a contrast of structure

and there's still a lot to come as this Dahlia bud shows.

I'm hoping the roofers will finish soon as I really want my peaceful house and garden back!

Sights and Scents of Summer

What glorious weather we're having this weekend -  the garden is looking especially beautiful in the sunshine.  I love walking down it at this time of year, getting wafts of scent from all of the different roses (many complete with clematis for company).

This one, Generous Gardener, is by my first seating area and its scent is fabulous

and although Charles De Mills has less scent its colour more than makes up for it.

Here are some of the other roses and clematis currently flowering their socks off.

Top Row: Rose Abraham Darby and Clematis Etoile Violette, Rose Lady Emma Hamilton, Rose William Shakespeare

Middle Row: Clematis Star of India, Rose Christopher Marlow, Clematis Betty Corning

Bottom Row: Rose Fighting Temeraire, Clematis Blue Angel, Rose Heritage.

There are other scents too apart from the roses, the honeysuckles are just opening and are being enjoyed by the bees as well as me.

The bees are also loving the Deutzia.

I hope you're all enjoying the weather, and the tennis - we're currently in the 3rd set (I'm multi tasking, blogging on the computer whilst watching the final on the iPad).

A Rainbow of Colours

It's raining here today, and the sky is very grey so I thought I'd cheer things up with a rainbow of colours from the garden (taken on a sunnier day!).

RED - forgotten variety of strawberry!

ORANGE - Runner Bean 'Enorma' flowers

YELLOW - Sisyrinchium

  

GREEN - Rudbeckia Occidentalis 'Green Wizard'

BLUE - Delphinium Magic Fountains 'Dark Blue Bee'

INDIGO - Aquilegia vulgaris 'Miss M.I. Huish'

VIOLET - Scabiosa 'Butterfly Blue'

There - now that's better than grey skies isn't it?