The Highlights of Summer

Now that the garden is approaching maturity, I find I have less to write about that I haven't covered in previous years. As a result, I'm only now gathering a few images from the last months that have struck me as worth a second, or even a third, look.



I've always enjoyed the brief but glamorous display of an unnamed red peony that predates our arrival. I moved it a few years back into more sun and more recently planted two Ranunculus 'Flore Pleno' beside it. The contrasting forms and colours made it a winning combination in late May.

Even after the peony was spent, the little white buttons of the Ranunculus kept on sparkling well into June.



A new bulb for me this year was Allium atropurpureum, actually darker than it looks in my photo. I've planted it around Salix lapponum, whose silver foliage sets off the wine-red flowers. I like the effect enough to plan on buying more of it.

Disporum 'Night Heron' was too small and innocuous to make much of an impact last year, but this year it has grown to more than a metre. It's a subtle addition to the shady back of the garden, but the  the drooping cream bells and unusual pleated leaves with their inky overtones are worth lingering to appreciate.

Anemone 'Wild Swan' goes from strength to strength. The crisp white face of the flowers brings a reminder of spring into the middle of summer, and the surprise of their lavender reverse is a nice bonus.

It seems to remain compact where it has more space and stretches readily to compete with other perennials when they crowd in around it. Here it's competing with a blue monkshood, purple Monarda 'Donnerwolke' and the dark brown leaves of self-seeding Angelica gigas 'Vicar's Mead'

Clematis 'Durandii' has never been better than this year. The buds looked like little snakeheads as they threaded their way through my oak leaf hydrangea,

... and the flower display was spectacular.

Tucked away in the shade, Roscoea cautleyoides 'Alba' has only produced a single flower stem in the several years I've had it, but it too has rewarded me this year with several of its strange, fragile flowers. It disappears so completely in winter that I have to mark its place with the top ring of a broken clay pot or I'm likely to trample it to death during early spring clean-up.

A year cannot go by without a mention of the roses. Their flowers opened early, before the end of May, and they faded quickly, but what they lacked in longevity they made up for in wealth of bloom.

Rosa pimpinellifolia

'Lykkefund'

'Rosa Mundi'

'Ghislaine de Féligonde'

A special mention this year for Rosa 'Bill Forsyth', named by me for the man who bred it and who gave me a plant that I later passed on to Free Spirit Nursery, who gave me back a young specimen this year. It has the blue-grey foliage of its parent Rosa glauca, but a larger, more vibrant pink flower. Bill is no longer with us, but I hope his rose will keep alive the memory of a quiet, modest man whose gardening skills and knowledge were legendary among those of us who value such things.

'Bill Forsyth'

The Highlights of Summer

Now that the garden is approaching maturity, I find I have less to write about that I haven't covered in previous years. As a result, I'm only now gathering a few images from the last months that have struck me as worth a second, or even a third, look.

I've always enjoyed the brief but glamorous display of an unnamed red peony that predates our arrival. I moved it a few years back into more sun and more recently planted two Ranunculus 'Flore Pleno' beside it. The contrasting forms and colours made it a winning combination in late May.

Even after the peony was spent, the little white buttons of the Ranunculus kept on sparkling well into June.

A new bulb for me this year was Allium atropurpureum, actually darker than it looks in my photo. I've planted it around Salix lapponum, whose silver foliage sets off the wine-red flowers. I like the effect enough to plan on buying more of it.

Disporum 'Night Heron' was too small and innocuous to make much of an impact last year, but this year it has grown to more than a metre. It's a subtle addition to the shady back of the garden, but the  the drooping cream bells and unusual pleated leaves with their inky overtones are worth lingering to appreciate.

Anemone 'Wild Swan' goes from strength to strength. The crisp white face of the flowers brings a reminder of spring into the middle of summer, and the surprise of their lavender reverse is a nice bonus.

It seems to remain compact where it has more space and stretches readily to compete with other perennials when they crowd in around it. Here it's competing with a blue monkshood, purple Monarda 'Donnerwolke' and the dark brown leaves of self-seeding Angelica gigas 'Vicar's Mead'

Clematis 'Durandii' has never been better than this year. The buds looked like little snakeheads as they threaded their way through my oak leaf hydrangea,

... and the flower display was spectacular.

Tucked away in the shade, Roscoea cautleyoides 'Alba' has only produced a single flower stem in the several years I've had it, but it too has rewarded me this year with several of its strange, fragile flowers. It disappears so completely in winter that I have to mark its place with the top ring of a broken clay pot or I'm likely to trample it to death during early spring clean-up.

A year cannot go by without a mention of the roses. Their flowers opened early, before the end of May, and they faded quickly, but what they lacked in longevity they made up for in wealth of bloom.

Rosa pimpinellifolia

'Lykkefund'

'Rosa Mundi'

'Ghislaine de Féligonde'

A special mention this year for Rosa 'Bill Forsyth', named by me for the man who bred it and who gave me a plant that I later passed on to Free Spirit Nursery, who gave me back a young specimen this year. It has the blue-grey foliage of its parent Rosa glauca, but a larger, more vibrant pink flower. Bill is no longer with us, but I hope his rose will keep alive the memory of a quiet, modest man whose gardening skills and knowledge were legendary among those of us who value such things.

'Bill Forsyth'

Sliding into May

What happened to April? All growth was on hold, as the unusually warm weather of March returned to cooler temperatures.  Exceptions were the old pear tree,

 and the espaliered apples.

We've long since given up expecting anything edible from the pear, but we keep it for the structure it gives to the garden. The apples, on the other hand, gave us a basket full of fruit last year and look set to do the same this year.,

Once May began, everything moved ahead once more. In the front garden, Royal Azalea (Rhododendron schlippenbachii, for those who like a tongue-twister) opened its candy floss pink flowers that team so nicely with the crisp green foliage.

Shortly after, came the Ballerina tulips.  I'm not a big fan of orange, but these sultry beauties are so elegant on  their tall stems and blend so well with the surrounding greenery that I keep buying more.

Now I have a young Enkianthus 'Red Bells' to keep them company.

The flowers on both come later than the azalea and die away before they can clash with some other soft pink shades that follow on the surrounding plants.

Across the sidewalk a few plants in my boulevard beds are doing better than expected. Centaurea 'Amethyst in Snow' is possibly going to get too vigorous as it loves the dry, poor soil there.

Meanwhile on the other side of the house, shade-lovers are demanding attention in their subtle way. Arisaema ringens is outgrowing its pot, but still managing a good show. 

You can see where I've cut away a few leaves so that the curious flowers are easier to see.

Close beside it is Disporum 'Night Heron', which is now tall enough to be noticeable. It's a graceful plant, surprisingly striking with its contrast of small, pale green flowers and dark-stained foliage.

At the right side of that image are more dark leaves on Hydrangea 'Kumasaka'.

And further along, the buds of Allium siculum rising through the speckled leaves of Podophyllum 'Spotty Dotty' complete the green and purple composition.

Hosta 'American Halo' under the pear tree is unfurling too. Its leaves bring an echo of pale sunshine to another shady area. 

 The other excitement of May was the appearance of a raccoon in broad daylight, making her way through the garden from front to back several times. I managed a blurry photo of her on one of her return journeys through the next door yard.

We realized that she was transferring her babies away from the house across the street, having a sixth sense of what was about to happen there.

Sliding into May

What happened to April? All growth was on hold, as the unusually warm weather of March returned to cooler temperatures.  Exceptions were the old pear tree,

 and the espaliered apples.

We've long since given up expecting anything edible from the pear, but we keep it for the structure it gives to the garden. The apples, on the other hand, gave us a basket full of fruit last year and look set to do the same this year.,

Once May began, everything moved ahead once more. In the front garden, Royal Azalea (Rhododendron schlippenbachii, for those who like a tongue-twister) opened its candy floss pink flowers that team so nicely with the crisp green foliage.

Shortly after, came the Ballerina tulips.  I'm not a big fan of orange, but these sultry beauties are so elegant on  their tall stems and blend so well with the surrounding greenery that I keep buying more.

Now I have a young Enkianthus 'Red Bells' to keep them company.

The flowers on both come later than the azalea and die away before they can clash with some other soft pink shades that follow on the surrounding plants.

Across the sidewalk a few plants in my boulevard beds are doing better than expected. Centaurea 'Amethyst in Snow' is possibly going to get too vigorous as it loves the dry, poor soil there.

Meanwhile on the other side of the house, shade-lovers are demanding attention in their subtle way. Arisaema ringens is outgrowing its pot, but still managing a good show. 

You can see where I've cut away a few leaves so that the curious flowers are easier to see.

Close beside it is Disporum 'Night Heron', which is now tall enough to be noticeable. It's a graceful plant, surprisingly striking with its contrast of small, pale green flowers and dark-stained foliage.

At the right side of that image are more dark leaves on Hydrangea 'Kumasaka'.

And further along, the buds of Allium siculum rising through the speckled leaves of Podophyllum 'Spotty Dotty' complete the green and purple composition.

Hosta 'American Halo' under the pear tree is unfurling too. Its leaves bring an echo of pale sunshine to another shady area. 

 The other excitement of May was the appearance of a raccoon in broad daylight, making her way through the garden from front to back several times. I managed a blurry photo of her on one of her return journeys through the next door yard.

We realized that she was transferring her babies away from the house across the street, having a sixth sense of what was about to happen there.