St James's Park late summer colour

I don't know if the plantings in St James's Park are always as spectacular as they were this August (may be something to do with state functions...) but I was astonished at the late-summer colour a week or so back. It is not enhanced!!

I particularly like the Mina lobata (syn.Ipomoea versicolour) growing up the post - particularly the inspired combination with a dark-coloured version of Black eyed Susan. I must give it a try next year if I can find a space....

French beans in a grow bag

Picking, pruning and training have kept me really busy over the summer but the majority of the fruit has now been consumed or turned into jam (blackcurrant this year!) and the dahlias are now well in flower (pics to follow). But one of my successes of the summer is the one Growbag in the greenhouse I planted with 6 French beans which just keep on producing beans! I shall be repeating this exercise next year.
Apologies for dearth of posts - will try harder!

The Royals in harmony!

I should be working but just found this pic of Regal lilies and a delicious spray of Clematis Prince Charles - such a happy combination, albeit taffled up with hop leaves.

I have struggled to grow this clematis since the first I planted adjacent to the (former) Judas tree succumbed to ants. It is just about doing OK this year in a pot, although nowhere near as well as Cl. Princess Diana which has done amazingly well in a large container.... Pity as I particularly love the blue clematis.

Delicious July rain

This afternoon has brought a good downfall of soft warm rain - and an excuse not to cut the grass or pick the last of the pink gooseberries but sit down and write a new post, albeit brief! As I'm stopping in (for now) I thought it would be fun to show the Regal lilies from above, where the circular formation is seen to best advantage, an angle one seldom gets to appreciate.
The heat of the past few days has brought Kiftsgate's flowering to an end with just the remnants of the pink the petals always turn as they catch a little rain and age. After a battle to cut back rampant forsythia and bay (with attendant climbers and ramblers) from the "winter" or "patio" garden nearest the house it will soon be time to have a major all-round pruning session for Kiftsgate, Montana clematis, bay, various ivies and anything else that is rapidly getting away from manageability! But they have all been doing their bit in providing a great habitat for fledgling birds - especially baby robins who have, this year, taken over from the blackbirds in stuffing themselves full of mahonia berries. This morning I saw one helping ittself for the first time, unaided by an adult. What a digestive system they must have!
I picked a small bunch of sweet peas today, having successfully brought some on in a large pot from bought seedlings. They never seem to come out with the rich colours on the labels but their scent makes up for everything. With the honeysuckle in full bloom, Regal lilies and sweet peas the smells are quite overpowering at any time of day or night!

Lilies in the rain!

Summer colour

No time for blogging just now - but here are a couple of pictures from this week!

Yes, it IS a jungle. I just can't find enough time to spend in it! Not that that's much of an excuse.

Cosmos seeds speedy germination

Thanks to The Garden magazine for saying it's not too late to plant Cosmos seeds in June for late summer flowering. I planted up a few pots last Saturday and here they are popping up only a week later, in spite of germination time on the pack marked as 15-20 days!

peonysenvy

What a brilliant name for a web site with comprehensive advice on how to grow great peonies - see peonysenvy.com

This year my white peonies are both doing very well, unlike the common deep pink form which seems to be sulking about being disturbed while a nearby fence panel was replaced, or, more likely, it is too much overshadowed by the rampant Rosa Canary Bird which is STILL flowering, making it harder for me to commit to moving it to goodness knows where. If I can't find a new space for it I may have to resort to putting it out for adoption. This weekend I was thrilled that about 10 pots of lily of the valley I put outside the house with a Help Yourself notice all disappeared - so great to share plants!
Except for Kiftsgate which is budding up as well as ever, all the roses are now flowering, seemingly benefiting from increased light levels and the mid-season clematis have begun to flower - exciting to see the first delicate nodding heads of pale pink-mauve Betty Corning. Cl. Princess Diana is doing really well in a pot on top of the stump of the Judas tree, apparently unaffected by ants this year.
First buds of R. Prince Charles opening with Allium Christophii and a rubbish picture (taken in poor light) of R. William Morris with its lovely old fashioned, many-folded centre. In spite of the administrations of Greensleeves my grass is definitely suffering from being too overshadowed. I am experimenting with an increased watering regime so it's at least less stressed. One area only gets about an hour of direct sunlight a day, which is asking quite a lot of it.
I also need to learn the lesson of keeping my fruit area clearer. The superb crop of foxgloves is taking over the strawberry patch (and will doubtless self-seed even further) and I need to hard-prune my remaining gooseberry bush as it is covered in a great mass of very small fruit - no fun for picking or topping and tailing.
Geraniums, alliums and dahlia plants are all doing well and I was pleasantly surprised to find some Nicotiana Lime Green st Wyevale garden centre on Saturday. Just need a few more hours each day....