THE WEATHER (and other stuff!) -

The month began very dull, cold and wet for the time of year, with cool and dull weather. July 9th saw torrential rain for much of the day, and showers with a thunderstorm in the afternoon on the 10th. However, on the 13th, the weather changed, and we had beautiful warm summer weather for the next few days! It became a little cooler as the month progressed, but a real heatwave occurred from the 26th to the 29th, with temperatures in the 80's (Fahrenheit). The weather broke on the 30th, with torrential, thundery rain in the afternoon, and rain for most of the day on the 31st. Maximum temperature this month, 28°C (84°F), and minimum temperature 7°C (44°F).

In the water garden, this beautiful water lily, called Nymphaea 'Attraction' is in flower. Water lilies are such gorgeous flowers, and with this variety, each one lasts for several days before more open. It looks like it's been delicately painted......

Continuing the water garden theme, I was just looking at the pond, when I spotted this newly emerged dragonfly, which had climbed up a leaf to dry off. It takes several hours for dragonflies' wings to expand and harden enough for them to fly off, and for the colouring to emerge. I reckon this one had hatched about an hour before this photo was taken. I was hoping to catch him again later, but when I went for another look, he had gone! All that was left was the empty skin from which he had emerged! (There are more pictures of the water garden, and its plants and inhabitants on the water garden page.)

I went with a friend to a really great nursery in Badsey, Worcesershire, belonging to Bob Brown, called Cotswold Garden Plants. It was raining hard, but he had a such a fantastic collection of plants, some of which I had never seen before, and others which I had been looking for for ages, and had never found anywhere, that I didn't notice the rain! I was so impressed with such a selection of plants that you won't find in an ordinary garden centre, I shall certainly go again very soon. I bought loads of plants (as usual), amongst which was this lovely Fuchsia arborescens, which has flowers reminiscent of a lilac. I will have to protect it in the winter, so I'll probably bring it into the conservatory.

Astrantias are such lovely flowers. They are charming in a quiet sort of way, and this Astrantia maxima is such a pretty pale pink colour. I hope it will seed itself about, as I could do with a few more of these!

One of my favourite groups of plants is Ligularia. I have several types of them, and they are all stunning. At the moment, this group of Ligularia stenocephala "The Rocket" is looking good. The thing I like about this particular Ligularia is that it never needs staking. It stays upright through rain and strong winds, and always looks great, with its spires of golden yellow flowers, and dark stems.

As usual, here's a view of the garden for you. This picture shows the gazebo and part of the south-facing border. In flower in the picture are red Crocosmia masonorum 'Lucifer', yellow Hemerocallis 'Little Men', tall purple Eupatorium purpureum (Joe Pye weed), cerise and white Lychnis coronaria, purple Nepeta mussini 'Six Hills Giant', yellow Lysimachia punctata, and in the foregound, purple Penstemmon 'Raven'.

That's all for this month...... Happy Gardening!!

Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Fritillary, Ringlet, Gatekeeper, Large White, Green-veined White.

Blackbird, Blue Tit, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Crow, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, House Sparrow, Jay, Magpie, Robin, Rook, Seagull, Starling, Swallow, Thrush, Wood Pigeon, Wren.