What’s Good in the Plot Now?

The weather is definitely hot, like the garden. As my first flush of roses fades, I dead head to help them flower again. Some people treat this as a chore and race round their bushes. I like to linger over this task. Inside my head, I thank each bush for the pleasure their blooms gave me and encourage them to work hard towards the next flush.

The erigeron is bolder than ever; geranium Rozanne is hitting its stride earlier than usual and my malva are in full bloom. Some foxgloves are over, but a few white stragglers in full flower support phlox showing colour a full month early. I said goodbye and thank you to the peonies and my wife insists I buy some more. I must now resist the temptation to tidy them, as they like to be left alone until autumn.

But the allotment too is in full cry. For the second time in my gardening life, I picked ripe tomatoes in June. They accompany great beetroot, broad beans and mangetout screaming “pick me,” along with potatoes who survived the drought, thanks to my local farmer’s huge tractor bucket of manure.

While staying dry, it rained strawberries. Eight kilos in two weeks. We have jam, coulis and fresh strawberry overdose. The third sowing of lettuce is ready, and I must eat it before it bolts. My cut flower beds keep vases full in every room. It is the time we remember why we ventured out in the cold months to do tasks which reward us now.

Tell me what brings you joy in your garden now.

The cut flower bed at the allotment

Broad beans cropping

Ripe tomatoes and first courgette

Clematis Verticelli and Geranium Rozanne

Grapes set well.