After a lovely month of warm and dry and sunny weather in May and some sunshine and showers in June, July has started off dull and wet and windy, though not particularly cold. Still not the weather to get out in the garden although after four days away I certainly needed to do some work. Even in such a short period away it is amazing how many things had stopped flowering and how many had started, not to mention how much has grown!
So let’s have a quick look at six things in the garden this week:
(1) This pretty deep pink unknown clematis is happily climbing the fence at the side of the conservatory which it shares with clematis texensis ‘Princess Kate’ which isn’t open yet, a white rose and the Jasmine thug, which has been kept cut short this year. (I don’t expect to see many flowers on that).
(2) Clematis ‘Prince Charles’ on the other-hand is in the woodland border where he grows up and through a very ancient clematis Montana which didn’t flower very well this year and desperately needs cutting down. But what on earth would I do with all the growth! These photos are taken with the morning sun behind which illustrates the lovely bars on the flower, however Charles is much bluer than these images suggest.
In containers are a selection of (3) Cosmos, now flowering their hearts out. I just hope the rain and wind don’t destroy them.
In the bee and butterfly bed the (4) daylily has gone mad, throwing out spikes of flowers which contrast beautifully with the purple (5) Verbena ‘Lollipop’ which is supposedly shorter than bonariensis , though it seems pretty tall to me.
(6) Also in this bed is a lovely deep purple Salvia, Lavender Munstead and a Cape Fuchsia (Phygelius) a lovely orange flower with a bright yellow inside, which sadly can’t be seen as the bell flowers hang their heads.
I really hope that the summer weather returns, but as Cornwall is now open to visitors I will probably remain close to home for the next few months. 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 
if only mine was looking this good. Hope today’s winds don’t cause too much damage. So blustery here
We are used to ‘blustery’ 😂
Love your clematis! Hope your garden comes through the windy weather safely.
Well we are very used to the wind here! Just as long as it’s not accompanied by heavy rain, that’s when the fun begins!
That would be awful – hope it stays dry!
I hope you had a lovely little break away to visit your family, Jude. There’s always so much garden work awaiting, even after a rainy day keeps me indoors for a day or two. I’m amazed at how much needs attention when I go out. But it looks as though you soon brought everything back under control.
Beautiful clematis – both ‘Prince Charles’ and the deep pink. No garden is complete without happy, summery cosmos. I’m always amazed that something so delicate-looking manages to cope with the worst that the weather throws at them. You’ve taken lovely photographs of the different cosmos flowers.
I have Verbena ‘Lollipop’ too, and like yours, it is growing higher than it should – even those plants that I grew from cuttings taken last year. I really don’t want them any taller, I’ll have to have a stern word with them.
Stay safe, I’m still remaining close to home too.
The break was good, and traffic light last week except close to London. I won’t be repeating the journey until September! The weather hasn’t been good for getting out into the garden and tidying up, but I have managed to clear some rampant Borage and cut down some Euphorbia in between showers. Probably a bit early for the Euphorbia but it was being blown all over the place and looked very untidy.
Last year a woodchuck ate all my Cosmos. I hope his offspring don’t return to nibble this year’s bunch. We have that same day lily all over my part of Connecticut. I often wonder who first put one in here and how they managed to proliferate all over, in yards and on the sides of roads.
There are so many lovely colours of daylilies. They do seem to spread quite easily give the right conditions. I guess your roadsides have!
I think they must thrive on neglect–the general condition of our roadsides!
You know I gave no talent with flowers Jude and I don’t know a single name other than daisies, sunflowers, magnolia and lilies. But I can enjoy every one of your images and picture your glorious garden, heck, if I close my eyes I can smell their bouquet. Thanks for sharing the bounty
Your visits are most welcome Tina, even though it’s still too windy to sit outside and enjoy a cream tea!
Have, not gave 😡
A beautiful six. I hope you get some more sun and the visitors are respectful. The weather has taken a turn for the worse up here too – it has been very windy at times.
Certainly busier on the roads; I am avoiding beaches – they’ll still be there next year – and coastal paths are far too narrow to want to meet anyone on them. I’m still wary of people even though cases here have been low, but many people have no sense of distancing – a family of four walked straight towards me yesterday in a row! I stopped dead until they’d passed me by. It was as if they were oblivious of me.
Some people are completely heedless as you say. If you meet twenty people along a path and pass by quickly without any social distancing, what is our risk of a bad outcome? Is it a similar risk to driving once to the local shops wearing a seatbelt or much more risky? Is it a greater or lesser risk than handling groceries? Is it a greater or lesser risk than staying inside, not exercising as much as we might? Is there anything we can do on a walk to mitigate our risk, given that some others really don’t care? I understand science does not have all the answers but I’d like to see all the information they have, not the simplistic information they think we can handle. Our cases tripled overnight when they included level 2 testing. Why on earth had they not included those before? Sorry for ranting.
I agree. It would be good to know. But as we are in the over 65 category we don’t want to take any risks. I can’t understand why everything had to be done at the same time. Why not phased openings – hairdressers and retail shops one week. Restaurants the following week, then pubs and then if everything was fine, tourism. It’s as if England needs to open everything at once!
chop your montana right back, it’ll thank you for it. if it were me i’d run the waste through the shredder and compost the lot.
You going to lend me your shredder then? 🙄
Clematis and Cosmos – perfect summer plants.