Long evenings and a stag beetle sighting

My 9.00 pm stroll with wine glass in hand brought an unanticipated treat on Saturday night - a large stag beetle circling over several neighbouring gardens. I think it may even have landed in my Judas tree. I hope it doesn't see it as suitable site to lay eggs, it is looking rather unhealthy this year. A friend has seen several just recently.

In spite of the weather it's still a great novelty to have long enough evenings to allow for some actual gardening. This evening I went out with a mug of tea and managed to plant out most of my dahlias before it began raining. After buying fewer tubers this year (2 did not come up at all - oh dear Parker's!!) I now discover I have spaces to fill. That is a novelty! The roses mostly seem to be doing well this year, seeming to have benefitted from a hard spring pruning - all except Bourbon rose Prince Charles which flowers only once and - apparently - not at all this summer. Hopefully it will forgive me next year (lesson learned!). In the past few days my Kiftsgate has begun its great display. It really is the metaphorical icing on the cake. The only down side with it is a very bad case of black spot as I haven't managed any preventative measures. The little old white rose pictured suffers particularly badly as a result of Kiftsgate shedding infected leaves onto it which seems to limit its growth. It's still a little treasure though. I still haven't managed to pick the first rather weedy-looking raspberries. But the birds haven't beaten me yet. I think that's the only advantage of having neighbours with cats.