My Small Suburban Garden

My Small Suburban Garden

Sunday 31 August 2014

Was That It?!...



We're just a few hours away from September and I have to say I feel rather cheated out of a decent summer this year. Although there's been several butterflies, numbers are down on previous years, and bees have been almost completely invisible. Apparently snails are thriving - or so it seems by the destruction of the leaves on my cherry tree despite my best efforts at removing the little pests.



You can't go far wrong with geraniums, and mine are no exception. The begonias have done unexpectedly well too, but other plants have been well below par. The buddleia is a disappointment as is the red jasmine (both should've attracted the bees but both lacked significant blooms).



The mint was a good idea as it's now filled the wall planters after I replaced the lacklustre lobelias. It's also beginning to flower, which is good. The chives are putting on a great display as always.

There's rumours of an 'Indian Summer' but I won't be holding my breath...

Thursday 7 August 2014

Dragonfly Days...



I love hazy summer mornings lazing around in the garden. At the moment, the butterflies are still enjoying the buddleia, although bees remain conspicuous by their absence this year. I've just started to see a few Southern Hawker dragonflies making an appearance.


The begonias are now almost all in flower and although the majority of those which survived the winter in the shed are red, at least 1 white and 1 yellow are now in flower.


I was lucky enough to be given a fuchsia (Tom Thumb) as a birthday gift and it's now in bud for the second time, which is fantastic as I've never owned one before. The pink geraniums are also flowering and looking lovely.


The chives have begun to bud and a few are about to flower, so very soon there will be pretty white flowers along an otherwise bland wall. The mint in the wall planters (which replaced the failing lobelias) are thriving. Long may it last...