Far too hot here to do any gardening, 35 degrees C forecast for later today. Not one for huffing and puffing, I embrace it and like to sit out in the shade with a cool drink (Pimm’s with a few borage flowers thrown in would be nice, or a sparkling elderflower cordial) and read a good book. It gives a relaxing holiday vibe, this kind of heat. I am glad though that I don’t have so many pots to water this year, plants in pots probably don’t feel like they’re on holiday right now, poor dears!
For the first of this week’s Six on Saturday, here’s a plant that relishes these Mediterranean conditions: lavender. It’s spilling over the front path and giving passers-by a nice whiff. Goes rather well with Alchemilla mollis. One of these days we’ll replace the mesh fence with something more aesthetically pleasing, I was thinking a wrought iron one would look nice and still allow for plants to spill over.
Did anyone says Pimm’s? Here’s the plant closely associated with that most British of summer drinks (nobody here has ever heard of it, but when they try it they do like it, who wouldn’t?). Borage is a wonderfully photogenic plant, and of course a valuable addition to a garden that welcomes the pollinators.
And here’s a bee coming in to snack on the wonderfully fluffy Thalictrum flavum glaucum, or meadow rue is less of a mouthful, growing near the pond.
It’s combining rather well with the yellow climbing rose on the corner.
I’m enjoying this front path combination of Nepeta faassenii ‘Walker’s Low’ with the pink geranium. A couple of my Nepeta didn’t get through the winter this year, but it’s an easy one to take cuttings from, so I must do that after this first flush of flowering.
Another combo of the soft and gentle type, here we have feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) with Ceonothus x Delileanus ‘Gloire de Versailles’, and the first Oxeye daisies will be joining the party soon.
And a close-up:
For the last spot this week, it’s going to have to be another rose, this one is Rosa ‘Compassion’ on the arch. It’s a great one for cutting bunches for the house and adding in a few sweet peas to the mix.
That’s all for this week, hope you all have a lovely and relaxing weekend.
This looks like a perfect alternative for gardening today…. 🙂
Stay cool !!
You’ve got some really lovely combinations there and Compassion looks beautiful, as well as being a wonderful sentiment. Enjoy your relaxation in a shady corner. Raining here, but still warm, we need a couple of thunder claps!
A lovely selection and great colour combinations too.
What lovely combinations and I agree, a wrought-iron fence would look lovely. My feverfew is being tardy, no flowers yet! I freeze borage flowers in ice cubes to add to my G&Ts – a reminder that I must go and pick some! Hope it cools down for you, rain here!
I do the same with borage and ice cubes! Been thinking must get round to it, we are certainly getting through the ice cubes today! Should cool down tomorrow.
The nice weather and the heat are very pleasing to the nepeta which are really thriving in the garden this summer, aren’t they?
Nice last combo with ceanothus!
Very hot here too ( 37° now at 4pm) , a little warmer than you but it’s normal, fortunately the cool weather comes back tomorrow.
Wow that’s hot! Luckily Belgian houses have cellars, am hanging out there now 😂
Your Thalictrum is beautiful, I have never seen it but it has that same lightness with the flowers as my Thalictrum delavayi. Amelia
Thank you Amelia!
What a beautiful selection of colour combinations………..including the rose against the red brick wall…….we all seem to be admiring them. Lovely Six-on-Saturday.
What the others have said – such lovely combinations. I must give Borage another go as I didn’t have any luck with it last year (too shady a spot I think). Good luck with the exams on Monday.
Thanks hope yours went ok too, heard R2102 was tough this time!
It was! There was a stupidly vague question on water drainage (I wasn’t sure what they wanted) and some of the questions seemed to be asking the same thing each time – I was certainly repeating myself with my answers!) R2104 was a bit more pleasant.
I know. Sometimes it feels harder to work out what the question really is about than to remember all the stuff I had to cram into my poor little brain 😂
Your choices this week have such a beautiful soft colour palette – the blues, lavender, creamy yellow and peach. Dreamy. ‘Only’ 30 C here and I also found it too hot to do anything energetic and read a book instead.
In the end even I found it too hot!
The benefit of these hotter days are the long evening dinners outdoors.
Borage is so pretty, the blue and the delicate flowers, i could look at it all day.
Such beautiful photos. My borage is just about over already.
Thank you!
[Happy sigh] … I think I’ll just stare at those lovely photos and forget the world for awhile. What a relaxing garden you have created.
I planted my first ever borage plant and am hoping it survives the winter to burst forth in spring ( it’s still very small). You have some lovely delicate colour combinations in your garden.
Thank you, I think you will enjoy the borage – only problem is they have brittle stems and in my garden they have a tendency to topple – some staking might be in order.