In Bloom for September

Summer is still clinging on here in London. We had a gorgeous couple of days last week where the temperature hit the mid 80's...and I was out planting Spring bulbs! It felt quite strange to be doing that in the sunshine, but nice to work while it is still warm.

There are lots of blooms still going strong, not least the roses nearly all of which are in flower again.  This is Joseph's Coat, my absolute favourite rose. I just love the myriad of colour changes it goes through and it's incredible scent. I can smell it a long time before I even reach the plant.

Arthur Bell, still producing it's beautiful blooms. This flower has some apricot shades that I've not noticed before. Very pretty.

My newest purchase is The Prince's Trust Rose, a climber that I've bought to grow up the trellis alongside Joseph's Coat. The full blooms are lovely, but not as deep a red as I was expecting. I do find plant labels can be very misleading a lot of the time, but it's growing well so I guess I shouldn't complain.

Korresia is just about to flower. I'm looking forward to seeing this plant mature as it's a gorgeous rose but was in my front garden for the best part of the year so I missed out on most of the blooms and it's fragrance.

The Japanese Anemone Honorine Jobert is showing no signs of giving up blooming. It still has many unopened buds and seems to be preferring its new spot in the woodland border.

Helenium Mardi Gras has joined the late summer party. I LOVE this plant and have my fingers crossed it will spread out quite a bit.

Echinacea is still going strong.

And so are many of the summer annuals like Impatiens, Nemesia and Geraniums.

They're looking really pretty around the pond area and are cheering up the patio.

The Fuchsias are looking spectacular and more Lilies are just beginning to bloom.

The Sedums are out. This is the least floppy of the ones I left after my mass culling.

Campanula, flowering for the third time this year. It's such a useful ground cover plant.

The Cyclamen are looking great under the Willow. They're gradually spreading out to make a lovely patch here.

The Pickerel Hyacinths in the pond are still producing, even though I had to divide the plant as it was starting to take over. Funny how I've had this a number of years and this is the first time it's ever really done anything worthwhile.

Lastly, I have Winter Pansies and Violas now in bloom. I'm in two minds if I should plant these now or leave them for a few more weeks as the Summer bedding is still looking great. Hmm, maybe I'll put my feet up for a week and then decide :-) .

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In Bloom for August

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In Bloom for August

There has been so much upheaval in the garden over the last few weeks, I'm surprised there is anything blooming in there at all. But despite the fact I have moved plants in the middle of summer, on some of the hottest days, nothing seems to have suffered, and the plants seem quite happy in their new spots. Just goes to show you can throw that gardening rulebook out of the window sometimes...and I frequently do, lol!!

Giant Dahlia Orange has been blooming in my front garden for a couple of months now and still has plenty of new buds appearing. I'm not sure why it's called 'orange' when the flowers are yellow, but oh well, it's still a stunner. Not much snail/slug damage on this one either.

'Lucky' is my newest Rose in the garden. It's such a pretty pink colour and smells amazing! I'm looking forward to the plant maturing so I can enjoy more blooms, there have just been a few this month.

Rose Arthur Bell has just started blooming for the third time this year, and considering I moved it just a few weeks ago, is quite surprising me with it's beautiful yellow flowers and soft perfume again.

Rose Deep Secret is in one of the raised beds in my front garden, and I make sure I sniff a bloom every time I'm going in or coming out. I've taken a few cuttings of this one as it's a complete beauty and more of a deeper red than pink that my photo shows.

The Primulas are still going strong in the woodland area, delighting the butterflies.

And they're very fond of the Buddleia too. This is Magenta Buzz, a compact variety that I have in a large pot near the shed and is looking its best at the moment.

Hydrangea Love is still looking great with lots of blooms, although many have started to turn brown in the last day or two due to the deluge of rain we've had. Thanks Bertha :-/ .

The Begonias have just started reaching full bloom. This gorgeous rogue red/orange one is looking a little odd, as all my others are pastel coloured, but the bloom is so much bigger. Maybe it was a sign and I should plump for this colour next year.

And speaking of rogues, my Clematis Freda suddenly produced two new blooms, just two, right at the top where I just about spotted them on the shed roof.

Petunias, Nicotiana, Trailing Geraniums and Nemesia are giving a lovely display in my raised beds.

                          

And Shasta Daisies and Rudbeckia are settling into their new home after I revamped this area.

The Anemones are looking really pretty, although the foliage has suffered a bit with the hot weather we've had.

A mention has to go to the Solanum, which blooms practically non stop in the garden, and is still going, although not as prolifically as earlier in the year. I love its delicate little flowers and it's such a fantastically fast growing climber. It has smothered a good part of the ugly concrete wall in just a couple of years and is now mingling with the apple tree.

And speaking of apples, just 7 on my tree this year, a measly 7. There were 8, but something got to that one. Oh well, enough for one with my lunch for a week I suppose. Hopefully a better yield next year.

And remember I said at the start of the post there were no casualties from my big garden move around. Well, that's because even the Salix Willow that rather looked like it had given up the ghost in THIS POST has started growing again. I gave the old branches a good crop and staked the tree to help support the roots and voila! it started sprouting new branches. I may have lost the old ones, but it's a fast growing tree anyway so the new ones should replace them in a year or two. I can wait!

That's some of what's blooming and growing in the garden just now. I've still a lot more work to do out there, including putting out some lovely new plants and I'll hopefully be sorted enough to share my progress on that next time.

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