End of July and fruits of my labour

As I was off work, this past week was meant to have been orientated around doing some DIY and lots of gardening. But, as with all great plans of mice and men, fate steps in and decides otherwise, leaving me contemplating where am I at in the garden and what has been happening.
As my twitter followers know, the garden is now providing food for the table and colour for the soul.

The Agapanthus 'Peter Pan' is looking at it's best now, with many umbels of blue flowers. This is a plant that I have kept in a pot over the years, dividing it every so often, and it rarely fails to reward.
The border beyond, which did have edibles in it, as well as shrubs and flowers, has now been worked over, with the lettuce and baby spinach eaten and potatoes harvested, leaving just the colour. The bed is a good example of how to establish a mature looking bed quickly using annuals, the right shrubs and herbaceous plants (which I had grown in pots from last year). Visitors to the garden have commented a number of times about how they cannot believe the bed wasn't there six months ago.

Over on the decking area, which has not been used to sit on this Summer, I have placed many of my choicer plants including my three maples, pot grown Wisteria, purple Cercis and my Hoata collection along with the various Fuchia I have picked up this year. The whole arrangement looks very well, creating a sort of framed 3D picture, although this will change, as I earmark plants for various spots in the garden.

Speaking of pots and containers, around the door looks well. The rosemary and bay plants providing some structure and the wall containers providing the colour. My hanging basket looks well too, although in typical 'Hugh' style, I have not hung it up, deciding instead to opt for placing it on an upturned pot. Lovely.

On the edible front, we have now enjoyed strawberries, raspberries, black currants, loganberries, lettuce, spinach leaves, basil, some herbs, broccoli, broadbeans, and some lovely fresh potatoes. There is more to come too. The first tomatoes are nearly ripe, cucumbers are growing away, strawberries are still fruiting, autumn raspberries will start producing too and I will sow more salad crops for the next months ahead.

Not bad for a garden in its first year!


Comments