Petunia or Surfinias?

Double flowers, pretty but not good for bees, I have a lot more open flowers. Much better for insects. My garden is looking lovely.

Sometimes called petunias or Surfinias, these plants get covered in flowers in the summer. I think these flowers look like the dresses of Spanish dancers, skirts flying to the music of the Flamenco. So exuberant.

Part done…

My birthday treat, hanging baskets up, some plants on the wall. I still need to empty some pots that have weeds in and do the rest of the wall and on the ground. Sometimes I will place pots on top of other pots that have soil in them so they get more light and the roots can grow down into the lower pot. Possible further plants I want are trailing lobelia, fushias, pelargoniums, nemesia, montbrecia, busy lizzies, sweet peas and oriental poppies.

I have a hosta in flower, lilies that are away from where the cats can go (it’s pollen is poisonous to them), a hydrangea, Welsh poppies. I also have an apple tree that my hubby put in that I’m trying to trail horizontally against the fence.

My main concern is the garden is very shaded now as my neighbour has put an 8 foot fence in. I’m hoping the shelter it offers will create a microclimate and allow the plants to last well into the autumn.

Garden maintenance

Wish I’d taken a “before” photo. In the past my back yard would have already been a riot of colour. But age and infirmity have made it difficult to get out there and garden.

But my kind friends Lin and Twiggy  came round and gave me a couple of hours of their time. Weeds removed, pots emptied ivy cut back, apple tree tied onto the fence. It’s still in need of sorting but it’s getting there!

Might be done in a couple of weeks all being well. Me? I’m knackered!

Dinotime

I went to a garden center a couple of days ago. It’s full of all sorts if stuff, a bit like temu in a big shed. To get to the plants you have to walk round lots of displays. There used to be a way through to avoid them but they’ve blocked the routes. If there was ever a fire I think we would be trapped. There’s jewellery, glass ware, pottery, clothes, shoes, houseplants, garden furniture and other stuff. Once you get to the plants there are a miriad of different garden plants (dinosaur included). I didn’t buy any as I need to sort my garden out first. On the way out we looked at toys and sweets and cakes. There were also three separate cafes/resteraunts. It was full of people, that’s where I think I caught this sore throat.

Upside down/ sideways poppies.

I took this photo and realised that it’s been swivelled round somehow. I think is sideways or upside down. So it looks a little odd.

I also like the colours, red, green, pale grey and dark grey. And of course the black in the centre of the flowers, the colours are brilliant in the sunshine. The shapes give it an abstract feeling.

Disappointed

My sister was going to visit this weekend but she’s got to work. I was really looking forward to seeing her. We would have bought some plants for the yard and I would have twisted her arm to help me put them in the pots round there.

I feel like I’ve abandoned my garden. I can’t do as much as I used to, I need to be stable and not risk falling over. Friends are busy and I have got into a situation where I don’t want to ask for help. I’m as disappointed in myself as anything else. I’m losing my ability to want to keep going.