Massive thunderstorm and huge(ish) hailstones!

Wow! I’ve ever seen hailstones this big. I know there are bigger ones but these re the biggest I’ve ever seen…

It’s already melted, but it was so heavy my plants were bashed. Now? Bright sunshine. Mad weather, global warming? Could be, the thunderstorms these days are bad ass!

Flock or Phlox?

Next to my raspberries a tallish purple flower stands. I think it’s a phlox? I’m not sure of the spelling. Homonyms, words that sound the same but are spelt /spelled differently.

The English language can trip you up. It has evolved, with different spelling rules like ‘i before e except after c’, which isn’t always correct.

Anyway, back to this plant. I was really pleased I managed to get a reasonably close image of the flowers. With water droplets visible on the petals. Any ideas on identification?

Poppy

I just love them, their colour, brilliance, shape, papery petals. Colourful flowers that are imbued with sorrow because they were used to commemorate wars. They sprang up in the fields of flanders after the battles there. And yet to me they don’t signify fighting or fears, but memories of summers long gone, my favourite colour and how tiny seeds can create such magnificent flowers.

Ladys Mantel

When you see this leaf shape with beads of water on it you can pretty much identify it as a perennial plant, ladies mantel. I think the name is based on the fact that the edge of it looks like an old fashioned ladies collar. It’s used as a border plant because of its unusual shape and bright green colour. One of the plants at the Dorothy Clive Garden.

No cherries yet!

Last year we had loads of 🍒 cherries.

Sadly today we just have a few green cherries on our tree. They are not ripening because of the cool wet weather. Apparently we are on the north side of the jet stream and so low pressure systems are being drawn down from scandanavia towards the UK.

So we sit and wait. If I manage to pick any of this years crop I will post pictures of it. At the moment I’m using our umbrella for its correct use. Not for catching cherries.

My secret garden (mirrored)

By duplicating and flipping one side of the couple of photos I ended up with an interesting structure (in reality next doors small extension bathroom). The hanging baskets and pots pop with green and bright flowers. As they grow and bloom I will post more pictures (and include more if the rain stops!). Summer is here so they should take up more space. Gardening and rain, a typical British summer.