foxgloves | Cardesque Garden

Yep we finally got the heatwave and yes it was very hot, but thankfully not nearly as hot as it got down South. I tried to do any watering in the morning and most of the work before lunch time as I don’t do well in the hot weather. Just now in the garden it is mostly dead-heading and weeding and I have made the decision to get rid of the viola as they are an absolute headache. They are popping up everywhere and spreading like wildfire. It is going to take quite a while before the garden is rid of them. I will need to find some clump forming perennials to replace them rather than ground cover plants. There is/was a pink astrantia in a pot on the patio which I thought would do ok in the stumpery where we pulled out the viola but it had been totally eaten by snails! I will give it ago anyway and see what happens. I have given some hardy geraniums a chop back and left a few others still for the bees. I will chop those back shortly. The heavy, thundery, showers that came along with the heatwave have brought down most of the petals from the philadelphus, some roses and some poppies. Luckily I had asked Amy to put up some canes to tie in the thalictrum just in time so they stayed more or less upright.

Sadly when we moved the potted astrantia Harry found a New Zealand flatworm sitting near it. Now I have to pull all the patio pots out and check underneath them! Huge job.

The bees are loving the yellow thalictrum and the campanula and the foxgloves (when they can get into them). The foxglove below is actually a nice apricot coloured foxglove but the colour didn’t photograph well.

a brown garden snail having a snooze inside an apricot coloured foxglove flower. — Snoozing snail in a foxglove.

The astilbe are in full flower now, as are the roses and the campanula (which I really aught to trim back). The foxgloves are always a joy but after the heavy rain and wind they are now all at a jaunty angle – this photo was taken just before the wind. There is a mixture of pinks, purples, white and apricot.

Foxglove plants ranging from purple, pink, apricot and white next to s seat. — Foxgloves in the stumpery.

A couple of foxgloves however which are growing nearer the back wall are being shredded by the snails! The flowers are ok but the leaves are now only midribs.

The other plant which has succumbed to slugs and/or snails is the Scot’s lovage It did still manage to flower but I am not sure if I will keep it as it never does very well. However some wildlife likes it. The ladybird and some kind of longhorn beetle shown here.

An iridescent green longhorn beetle on an umbellifer and a ladybird on the foliage. — Longhorn beetle and ladybird on Scot’s lovage.

We used to be able to have our dinner on a nice sunny patio, but with the increasing height of the golf course trees it gets very shady by 19:30 which in a heatwave is rather nice but I think I would rather be able to enjoy the sunshine a bit more on the patio in the evening.

A view of my back garden in the shade. — Shady afternoon in the garden.

In the conservatory the Echinopsis eyriesii (only just found out what it is called) has had 2 flowers this year and the scent is amazing. It is always a shame the flowers only last a day.

2 large white scented flowers on a cactus plant. — Echinopsis eyriesii flowers.

And I treated myself to a couple more succulent plants – lets hope I can keep them alive.

2 small green, succulent plants in terracotta pots. — Titanopsis calcarea and Haworthia cooperi v pilifera.

At the moment It is a case of keeping an eye on beasties, keeping things watered, and getting rid of unwanted plants that have become unruly.

I have found that most of the time while working in the garden or doing slug patrols, you tend to be so focused on the job in hand that you may not notice what else is going on in the garden. It is a good idea just to wander around and really see what is happening around you. Our rhododendron is flowering quite happily after it’s move last November so it never went in a sulk after all. Mind you, I did keep it well watered just to make sure, then gave it a wee feed just before flowering. We planted a couple of new shrubs (Enkianthus companulatus and Sambucus nigra f. porphyrophyla ‘Eva’). And to fill in a bit of space, added all the foxgloves that were found in the wrong place (just till I figure out what should go in there long term).

Rhododendron Gomer Waterer

Just along from the corner is arch that I have been trying to grow a rose over (Rose Generous gardener), in place of the Clematis montana alba that died. It is not an ideal place for them as they can only get the sun in the morning, and they are under the sycamore trees of the golf course. I need to keep them well watered and that has meant watering them almost every day this year. They are looking good so far, and once the elder is bigger I think the contrasting colours will look even better.

Rose, geranium and elder.

The foxgloves are the tallest they have ever been in this garden. Harry is a about 6′ 1” and he is standing next to one that looks about 7′ tall. There is one in the middle of the stumpery which is even taller. Although I read (Guiness world records) that the tallest ever foxglove was grown by Lydia Foy in Ireland in 1997 – 10’10” (3.29m) WOW!

Harry and the tall foxgloves.

In the conservatory there were a few nice colour combinations or just nice colours that I liked. I had a vase of roses and honeysuckle together and the buds of the honeysuckle were a bright deep red colour before they opened to release their exquisite scent. Little things catch my eye, like the purple foliage of the axalis against the pale green velvet cushion. Dangling roots of the sempervivums, and the little tufts of hair at the points of some of them. Others have web-like hairs across them, and some go through a colour change from green through to a mahogany brown. The tips of other sempervivums are very pointed and look like they have been dipped in ink.
It is always worth taking a few moments to do nothing but look and be aware of what is around you.