At the beginning of the month I was complaining about how unsummery the weather had been with damp days and cloud, well what a turnaround this week! Even here in the far south-west which rarely sees temperatures above the low 20°C it has been HOT. I imagine the beaches have been full despite it not yet the school holidays, but my car died a couple of weeks ago so we’re stuck at home for now until the specialist garage has time to investigate. Repair or replace is the question, but without a car to get to any car salesrooms it’s not easy, it’s a 20/30 minute walk each way down/up hill to a bus stop, which in this heat is a bit too far.
Before it became too hot I began the task of cutting down the bamboo in the garden which unfortunately turned out to be the type that runs, and run it has. I’m trying a combination of cutting down all the canes, poison (I know, not my favourite thing to do) and trying to remove the running roots which are rock solid. I’m not sure how successful I shall be, but we’ll see. It might be a case of getting the professionals in, but with the expense of the car looming I’m hoping not.
On to more positive things: let’s take a stroll through the garden towards the back of the house.
Finally my summer flowering clematis have begun to flower, I am sure they are usually a bit earlier, but maybe not. Here is ‘Prince Charles’ which opens out a light azure blue with a hint of pink along the central bar. As the blooms mature they become more mauve-blue, losing the pink tint. It romps away through the overgrown montana clematis on the woodland border between me and the farmyard.
If you stand next to where ‘Prince Charles’ is flowering and face the house, this is your view. Here is the last change I made in the garden last year with the removal of lawn around the pavers and replacing it with pebbles and cobbles.
I am hoping that the chamomile spreads to create a lawn in this area which is where my Snakeshead fritillary and Camassias grow. As it does I shall remove any other plants currently in this spot.
Before we continue along the path cast your eyes to the middle of the garden where the lovely Allium Sphaerocephalon or Drumsticks are now coming in flower. I love the way they sway in the breeze and the bees love them too. Though sadly this year I have not seen as many bees as I usually do. I ought to try and plant some of them next to my grasses to add interest now that the Thalictrum has finished flowering.
Now you can walk along the paving stones which lead on to the Zen Patio where my Pittosporum ‘Golden Ball’ grows next to this cute little Erodium ‘Bishop’s Form’ by the edge of the paving. The Pittosporum is supposed to have small purple flowers in May and June, but I haven’t seen any signs of them. Maybe they come when the plant is older.
It’s a cute little plant producing the small geranium-like flowers for months. Those of you who care will be delighted to know that it is slug proof!
Continuing onto the patio is where the majority of my container plants are. I am trying to reduce the amount of plants in pots, but not succeeding awfully well. Currently there are lots of pelargoniums (mainly scented-leaved from cuttings), aeoniums and hardy fuchsias. The fuchsias were intended for the courtyard, but have never really done well there so I brought them back into the garden where they get some sun. Maybe too much sun, but we’ll see.
Finally turn around and look back into the garden.
I hope you enjoyed the stroll. Now I need to get back to that bamboo…
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 
Like others have said, everything looks so gorgeous in your garden.
I enjoyed the stroll as usual but I’d love your heat. 113 here. 🥵. Even a bit humid because we actually got some rain recently, a huge blessing! Have a great weekend.
Very much enjoyed that stroll. Everything is looking so pretty. When you’ve finished with the bamboo can you come and fix my garden? It’s much cooler here. 😉
I had running bamboo in Washington State, a similar climate to yours, and the guy I got it from said the trick to prevent it running was to cut around the area where you wanted it confined in September or October. This was because the runners were still linked to the original plant, but over the winter they’d set down new roots and become independent. Cutting them in the fall, caused them to die. I did this and never had a single plant shoot up where I didn’t want it, much to the relief of me and my immediate neighbor!
Thanks for the tip Graham. I’ll make sure there is nothing attached in the autumn.
Love that second picture, Jude, with the path going who knows where. How tall does that pittosprum grow? Good luck with the bamboo!
The pittosporum is slow growing and gets to just over 1m height and spread. Hasn’t grown much in a year.
Hmm, at that size it’s one to consider…
I love this picture
https://cornwallincolours.files.wordpress.com/2022/07/gravel-garden.jpg?w=1000&h=750
Gravel Garden. I can imagine myself walking through there with pots and grasses flanking the pavers.
I also keep saying I am going to reduce my pots … but ….
I enjoyed my visit to your garden – it’s looking lovely. The gravel garden and the planting there particularly appeals to me. I’d like to do that with an area alongside our path…hmmm. (We did have a gravel garden right at the back but it eventually got too much shade from neighbouring trees.)
Experience with our neighbours’ running bamboo taught me that persistently pulling out any runners does keep it at bay. But it’s now growing among roots of established plants so that’s more of a problem. There’s such a lightness of touch about your path and planting, lovely. I need to get hold of some later flowering clematis as my Étoile Violette is done now, but it might also be the different climate…
I’ll have a good go at the bamboo once the weather has cooled down. I was keeping on top of it, until last year when a very painful abscess kept me from gardening from July to October. It doesn’t take long for a garden to rewild itself!
Such a beautiful garden!
Thank you for the stroll. All looking lovely, especially the patio planters. Good luck with the bamboo.