July 2022

This month has continued hot and and dry, with two of the hottest days on record recorded. There has been no rain, there are cracks in the soil, and my waterbutt has finally emptied, apart from the thick layer of sludge at the bottom. From the end of the week we will very likely have a hosepipe ban.

Most gardening jobs have taken place in the evening when the weather is marginally cooler. Jobs have included deadheading foxgloves and cowslips, saving seed from the latter, cutting back perennial geraniums and brambles, as well as part of the mallow which had snapped and fallen over. I have also had to throw out several potted plants that had succumbed to the heat and erratic watering. There is a lot of rubbish to take to the tip that cannot be composted at home. I have finally emptied the dustbin of rotted compost around the blackberry and the climbing rose, so will need to turn the big bin next month.

The Japanese Wineberry bush has produced a pleasing crop - I had forgotten how sticky they are, but they are delicious. The thornless blackberry is laden with unripe fruit so I am looking forward to harvesting them soon. I picked a kilo of berries from the wild bushes up a nearby lane today. They are my favourite fruit.

Flowers have been fairly abundant this month too! Over 60 varieties in flower over the month, which is not bad going for a small, somewhat neglected and slug-ravaged patch:

Alchemilla mollis, Astrantia, Blackberry, Cat's Ears, Cephalaria gigantica, White Clover, Creeping Jenny, Bellis perennis, Enchanters Nightshade, Eryngium 'Magical Blue Lagoon', Evening Primrose, Privet, Rosa 'Brother Cadfael', pink patio rose, Rosa rugosa, Tiarella 'Iron Butterfly', Fennel, Feverfew, Digitalis purpurea, Fuchsias, Geum urbanum, Grasses, Hebes, Hydrangea, Lemon Balm, Lavender, Purple Toadflax, Mallow, Salvia 'Amethyst Lips', Sweet William, Verbena bonariensis, Geranium nodosum, Pink Perennial Geranium, Calendula officionalis, Orobanche hederae, Passiflora caerulea, Pelargonium, Penstemon, Pinks, Potentilla, Sisyrinchium striatum, Spiraea, Strawberry, Teucrium, Willowherb, Helianthemum, Bindweed, Sedums, Scabious, Nigella, Self-heal, Ssoapwort, Sow Thistle, Spurge, Sweet Pea, Oreganum, Agapanthus, Echinacea, Lunaria annua, Plantain, Eupatorium, Gladiolus 'Jessica', Knautia macedonica, and Wood Sorrel.