August 2022

The drought continued until nearly the end of the month. when we had a huge thunderstorm and downpour and my water-butt went from empty to overflowing in about half an hour. There was flash flooding locally as water came down too fast to be absorbed by the parched ground. There was then more gentle but prolonged rain during the remainder of the month which had a chance to soak in. We are, however, still officially in drought conditions and the hosepipe ban continues. 

At the start of the month a lot of the garden was parched and browning, and I was only watering where absolutely essential. It was interesting to see which plants were coping well with the dry conditions and which weren't/ I thought my hydrangea had had it, as all the foliage died off and the flowers shrivelled, but after the rain and cooler conditions it started to sprout again. I just hope we don't have hard frosts as those would finish it off! Plants that did well include Fuchsias, Golden Rod, Mallow, Fennel, Rosa Rugosa, Teucrium, Sempervivum, Sedum, Lavender, Oregano, Mint, Passion Flower, Rosemary, and Lemon Balm. Many of these are native to hot, dry climates anyway so no great surprises. Many of the perennials have died back, but I have hopes that they will survive and resprout in the spring and run the gauntlet of the slugs! There were still a fair amount of flowers blooming which I will list later on.

Jobs have been fairly few and far between, mostly because it has simply been too hot, and also because there was a tent in the way for a few days as it was cooler to sleep outside at night than in the house. Anyway, jobs included moving potted plants to trays to minimise water loss and water could then be absorbed from the tray at the plants' leisure, deadheading and cutting back perennials as needed, potting up some pot bound succulents, and taking a large amount of non-compostable rubbish to the tip.

Flowers include:

Agapanthus, bindweed, blackberry, Hawksbit (previously named Cats Ear by me for some reason), white clover, fennel, enchanter's nightshade, echinacea, eupatorium, evening primrose, mexican fleabane, Fuchsia, Fuchsia 'Bella Soila', Fuchsia 'Winston Churchill', Geranium nodosum, Geranium endresii, lemon balm, Gladiolus 'Jessica', Honesty, hydrangea, lavender, toadflax, mallow, mint, oregano, passion flower, pineapple lily, cape figwort, penstemon, ragwort, Salvia 'Amethyst Lips', Scabious, Sisyrinchium striatum, soapwort, sweet william, teucrium, Verbena bonariensis, willowherb, Californian poppy, fennel, golden rod, hyssop, marigold, pelargonium, Sedum (yellow), Sedum spectabile, Sedum spectabile purpurea, spurge, perennial sweet pea, winter savory, wood sorrel, climbing rose, dandelion, and red deadnettle. 54 - not bad!