June is not flaming so far

With June, the Covid-19 lockdown is being slowly lifted, enough for garden centres to open. The summer plant pots are full so its all a little late for my current needs though looking at the plant list, I’m going to need more autumnal plants to fill the gaps.

The month so far has been unseasonably cold with no let up in the rain. Good for the potted garden after May’s scorching days but miserable too. In between the rain I’ve managed to get out to grow on the geraniums and verbena into the wall trough planters. Bought as plug plants they are still quite small though the verbena are already flowering. I notice a robin has been visiting them daily to remove strands of the (ugly) coco liners.

On the other hand it was a good thing I planted ‘Berries ‘n Cream’ in the adjacent Ajuga pot as mid flowering the leaves & new blue Bugle blooms became badly distorted. I’ve assumed an aphid attack and have cut these back to soil level. In the the bare spaces, a couple of geraniums now reside.

Another sign of my pessimism is this big pot of woodlanders cum shade tolerant plants. I had a very small pack of seed and fearing poor germination added another pack. These were sown in every decreasing circles and most of it seems to have germinated!! Best of all are the blue-purple flowers that match the pot – I have not been able to identify them though I’ve done many searches.

Optimism is not my strong point and after the winter, the lovely scented Nemesia ‘Wisley Vanilla‘ had just a couple of straggly stems remaining. Had I waited, I’d have seen the flourishing comeback of this favourite fragrant plant. But instead I added more Nemesia – Berries & Cream‘ though they do work well together.

Also I really love blue flowers and made an impulsive purchase of the blue star creeper Pratia pendunculata. Given its own small trough, it is spreading out nicely and for all its diminutive size, is definitely a star plant.

When the rain finally stops, I’m aiming to shoot more plant portraits to fill the Gallery