Well, after a pretty miserable couple of weeks of constant rain, Dahlia season has finally begun. The intermittent glows of sunshine this week has tempted buds away from their drenched doom and into their full glory. Long may it continue, although I’m not holding my breath with the forecasts for the week ahead.
The beautiful Lychnis chalcedonica, 'Carnea' I sowed a year ago have come into flower and the pollinators have been loving their delicate spray of of tiny flowers. Grown here for ornamental value in the garden, but have multiple purposes as they can also be grown for cut and would make for a whimsical addition to a bouquet.
Gratefully i’ve been in Antirrhinum abundance for a number of weeks whilst perhaps little else has been thriving due to the ‘great’ Pennine weather. They are tremendously pest resident and resilient to a beating of rain, bouncing back whenever the given chance. The annual Phlox too have been showing with much vigor and determination despite non-ideal conditions.
The Verbena hastata 'White Spires' was slow to start and it’d certainly consider this plant as a high summer flowering perennial, as it now just begins to bush up and offer enough flowers to be cut. 50 plugs were planted over winter and year on year we’ll see a greater reward from these plants as they establish a permanent root system.
A great triumph this year has been the continual flowering of the Verbascum ‘Southern Charm’. I’ve sown and grown from my own stock for the past 3 years or so, but this year they have been tall, spraying multiple full flowering stems, gracefully amongst the roses. I’ve not cut from any of the plants, again as they establish, in return of plenty reseeding around the garden as they bring so much pleasure wherever they pop up.
Tomorrow we drive back up to Stockport to return two of our Indian Runner ducks, who unfortunately turned out to be drakes. Whilst i’ve become quite attached to them both, (even with Cherry, the head honcho chasing me around the garden, nipping my ankles and asserting his authority), Kiwi our only female is getting rather too much attention so to speak. Therefore they’re heading back to the farm. We’ll be making our way to Skipton to collect two female Welsh Harlequins on Sunday morning to become Kiwi’s adopted sisters. Have a wonderful weekend everyone. x