Back to my garden this week for a quick look around. I have been doing a bit of work in it over the past couple of weeks whenever I have had a spare moment. Both raised beds have been weeded thoroughly (though not thoroughly enough it appears) especially the removal of Forget-me-not seedlings of which there are millions. Why don’t I have more success with the seeds I want to grow? Not that I dislike the FMNs, I don’t, I love their colour, but I don’t need quite so many! The smelly Eryngium have been removed and replanted out in the ‘Wild Garden’ i.e. the car park and two roses planted in their place. The Bee and Butterfly bed has also been semi-cleared and a new Leucanthemum superbum planted. Apparently this can also have a ‘distinct’ odour. I will keep you informed. The two Crocosmia have been pulled out at the side of the conservatory as they were far too big. Several corms have been replanted in the ‘Wild Garden’. Next year could be interesting in that space! The Cosmos are coming to an end and a lot of my pots are looking a bit scruffy. And more bulbs have been ordered.
- Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Little Goldstar’. I hummed and hawed about the ‘Goldsturm’ but eventually decided on this shorter version which is supposed to have up to 80 flowers through August and September. Attractive to bees and butterflies and hardy and perennial. What’s not to love?
- Lobelia ‘Asda’. A no name version but a pretty deep pink and only a fiver. This one is quite compact too unlike my towering L. Hadspen Purple
- The hated Jasmine officinale ‘Clotted Cream’ which I cut down savagely two years ago and carefully pruned last year to inhibit growth, still managed to grow back way too much! More flowers though and they are lovely, I just wish this climber was less invasive and had more flowers in ratio to foliage. In a couple of weeks time I shall be chopping it away again, leaving two out of five stems this time, not three as I did last autumn.
- Japanese Anemones – two new ones joined me this year. ‘Pamina’ with lovely dark pink double flowers and ‘Wild Swan’. Each pure white petal has a distinct grey-violet-blue streak along the reverse which is lovely in the morning and evening when the flowers are closed. These have been planted in the raised bed at the back of the garden which is shadier than the raised herb bed.
Wild Swan
Wild Swan
Pamina - Tomatoes. I have grown six different types of tomatoes this year and all have produced. Some better than others and all have grown a bit too tall for my conservatory. Next year I think I shall only grow a couple of plants and probably stick to the wonderful ‘Gardeners Delight’ which was exceptionally heavy cropping a couple of years ago.
Tomato ‘Caran’ Tomato ‘Tigerella’
‘Sungold’ and ‘Velocity’ - Conservatory / Orangery. Nearly a year since I had the roof removed and replaced on this building and it has been a bit of a nightmare. The roof itself is lovely, but we have been tormented by rain coming in on what was the external wall. After several visits by the builder and much sucking of teeth, we hope that we have solved the problem, but only time and rain and wind will tell. A new door and
cillsill to replace some rotting wood and finally we have painted the outside – a very pale green – which suits the house and garden I think. Next job, the interior! But that will have to wait until all the tomatoes have been harvested and I can give the inside a thorough wash down!
‘Bay Tree’ Paint
It has been a tad windy (again) up here this week with several showers one of which arrived before the paint had properly dried resulting in some spotting on the cills. (Yes it really can be spelled that way, or at least in the building trade, but most of us probably use sill) resulting in another coat of paint. And I suspect maybe another once I know that we are going to have a couple of consecutive dry days!
As always, if you want a peek over other people’s garden walls then please pop over to our host, the lovely Jon, AKA ‘The Propagator’ where you find links to many more wonderful garden enthusiasts from all over the world.
See here for the participant’s guide.
Cornwall in Colours 
Your Rudbeckia looks great, and I love Japanese anemones- they decay beautifully!
I love the anemones too, such fragile looking flowers that cope admirably with the wind.
They certainly do that! I like the texture, so furry you could stroke the reverse side of the petals!
My Japanese Anemone which I planted earlier in the year has not thrived. Yours look lovely.
The new ones are looking lovely, I wasn’t expecting any flowers this year as they were bought as very small plants.
All beautiful. Wishing I could reach into my iPad and grab a tomato. 😁
They are yummy!
I really hope your problems with the Conservatory roof are at an end. This has been haunting you for quite a while. I agree that the soft green is an excellent colour choice.
One of the downsides of having a granite wall which isn’t even (unlike bricks) 😕
My house has a textured brick so I know the challenges. Ugh.
I have similar feelings about the white jasmine. It does look lovely though. White Swan may now have to be added to the list. Hope your roof is all sorted. We had endless issues with water coming through the roof of the downstairs loo son after we moved in. Many builders came and never returned, we had a new roof and it still leaked. Turned out to be broken cavity trays (whatever they may be) in the end and so far so good.
I know what you mean about the builders! We tried to get a mezzanine floor over our bedrooms, but no-one seemed interested in a small job! The roof space is too low for a loft conversion, but in my mind’s eye I can visualise a mezzanine with light flooding in from Velux windows. Sigh…
I will follow your advice for jasmine. Mine gives a lot of leaves too and is a good climber but this year I have plenty of flowers that smell divinely. By cons I prune mine at the end of winter , you in the autumn: I don’t know if it makes a difference
I thought that the jasmine flowered mainly on old shoots which is why I prune in the autumn. Two years ago I just cut the whole darn thing to the ground! But it soon shooted again!
I read today that Jasmine officinale blooms on the new shoots of the year. A summer bloom that requires a pruning every 3 years by removing 1/3 of each stem and aerating the center. The other two years, simply cut dried stems. This pruning must be done at the end of winter. Normally, it will bloom the following summer. Trachelospermum jasminoides is pruned after flowering, ie in autumn.
OK. Thanks for that Fred. Maybe I will try leaving it until the end of winter then and see if that improves things. I wouldn’t dare leave it three years though!
Love the shade of the anemones! My you’ve been busy!
You’ve been busy – and everything you have shown us looks lovely. I know what you mean about things you don’t want propogating like mad – I had a similar problem with forgetmenots. Nice to see my favourites there – the Japanese anemones.
The Japanese anemones spread too, but my ‘ordinary’ones are confined to one part of the garden so can’t go too far. The new ones, I believe, are more compact! Time will tell.
I was very happy that my Japanese anemones spread. 🙂 Though they never went too far!
A new rudbeckia to me, looks great. Also White Swan is wonderful, which makes me wonder – WHY HAVEN’T I GOT ONE!!!!! Sorry to hear about the leak, I can empathise with you. Fingers crossed x
White Swam is very pretty and apparently not invasive so I am hoping for a nice bushy plant next year!
Ooh, toms! Very nice 😘. I always meant to do the growbag thing… I guess shorter plants are better because of the wind, Jude? Anyway I like rudbeckias 🤗🌻💕
Some tall plants don’t seem to mind the wind, but I try to buy those under 1m. You could certainly grow tomatoes on your roof terrace!
What a busy week! I tend to just cut back my Jasmine when it gets too straggly. There is plenty of healthy foliage and few flowers, so I need to change my approach. (The few flowers do have a strong perfume.) I like the colour of the conservatory, very gentle, if that makes sense.
The colour is lovely, a very soft green. And hopefully will last a good 10 years. Longer than we will be here most likely. The Jasmine will be getting a haircut, in fact I have pulled a lot of young stems off already. Next will be the climbing rose there which I shall cut down to the ground (or almost) to try and get it to shoot from below. At the moment all the flowers are way too high.
I may try the drastic approach with my climbing 🌹 too. All the flowers were at the top like yours.