Full on flowers: the front cottage garden bed
Six weeks of sun, water and weekend weeding, and finally I have something that looks more like a garden and less like some dirt with a couple of bits of green in it. The surprising amount of sun this patch gets – it’s west facing, but I didn’t expect it to be absolutely baking all afternoon – means some plants have thrived at the expense of others (those pink peliagorums in the background for instance were, only four weeks ago, two spindly little plants). The salvia May Night is doing brilliantly, the lupins are just about recovered from the snail onslaught that nearly saw them off a fortnight ago, and the Beard Tongue (Penstemon Andenken an Friedrich Hahn) is spreading like crazy. The bright pink spike of small flowers above is the first among many that are forming on its folliage. I love the way it echoes the foxglove that sits behind it, although sadly I can’t claim any credit: it’s a happy coincidence.
I’m still fighting against the weeds – taking a rather rubbish lawn out means that we have serious weed problems; you can see some giant dandelion leaves next to the calendula at the front – but as plants clump and spread, the bed is beginning to take care of itself. The perennial cornflower for instance arrived as a little cutting from a friend and has now firmly established itself. Perhaps too firmly. I’ll be keeping an eye on it – although for now, I’m just enjoying it.
