Even rosier

All the roses are flowering beautifully.

I've taken up the membrane and underplanted the roses with Anna's Lady's Mantle.

The ill-fated Crocus chives have been planted in between the Laveders and Rosemaries. Nik's fennel's been popped in by the wall behind the Crested Harts Tongue (B&Q rescue) fern and the Thyme. I've also added Anna's deciduous ferns into the front of the fern border.

The Cosmos that I grew from seed have been put in next to the climbing patio rose
and are flowering. White and purple so far.

I've even had enough roses to cut for the house.

Everything's coming up roses

Nik and Moses sunning themselves and admiring Wally's flagging and my Tudor edging stones and path through the lavender.

Now all I've got to do is to take up the black membrane and put down a layer of compost. A few more plants and it'll be done.

The ground rose (Broadlands) is just starting to flower too.

Floribunda Rose Harvest Fayre...

...is blooming.

And Wally has flagged the front path. It looks marvellous. Just a touch more gravel to bridge the path between the lavenders and it'll be done.

My sister-in-law Sophie and I have been to Tatton Park gardens this morning and admired the roses there.

We particularly liked Scepter'd Isle, the Eglantine and Sophy's Rose in Lady Egerton's Rose garden.

Sophie would have liked to have sunbathed by the pool - which is now empty and filled with mini solar panel powered robot ferns. Lady Egerton had the right idea insisting that the gardeners had finished by 10am so she wouldn't be disturbed.

I'm going to buy a Sophie's Perpetual and plant it behind the seats in the back and underplant with catnip for Mr Knibbs.

Finnish Cabbage Hund

Spot the hole in the veg patch.

I thought maybe we had a visiting badger or a fox or maybe even a feisty rook.

But no, it's the Finnish Lapphund who's to blame - looking like butter wouldn't melt.

Cottage garden

Canterbury Bells, Delphiniums, Hollyhocks and Lupins.




Finally the second delivery of my cottage garden collection from Van Meuwen arrived.

But the plants are more like a garden shed collection. At least there wasn't a slug but they were still in a sorry state - dried out, mouldy leaves, timid looking things. At least I'm getting a refund. I've taken a chance and put them in hoping that a few will make it through to next year but my garden's not going to be blooming this summer.

Find that flower

There's a little plant in my garden that I love though I suspect it's classed as a weed as it's quite prolific and self-seeds all over the place. It's like a small, pink, low-growing forget-me-not.

But I couldn't find it in my wildflower book so this afternoon I went online and have found the most amazing website called Botanical Keys. You enter all the characteristics of the plant that you can recall (much easier with a snippet of the plant in front of you) from lobes to petal colour. It's quite technical but explains much of the technology.

And lo and behold, my little plant is an annual herb called Geranium lucidum L. commonly known as Shining Cranesbill. What a lovely name. I'm delighted.

Wildlife pond

Nik's coming back this evening. He's creating a sanctuary for wildlife around the pond. We've already got three frogs. I've collected some logs for insects. I'd love it if a toad found a home there.

Ann gave me some fluffy headed reeds and what I think is Toadflax so I've put them in behind the pond with a Sweet Woodruff which seems to have a thousand uses from tea to floor cleaner. And I've planted out the primoses that Liz gave me which have been in a pot on the table through the spring. Oh, and a red stemmed Euphorbia that I bought yesterday.

I've also created a mini pyramid for my sweetpeas in the tulip / daffodil bed by the steps and a trellis for the others at the back of the raised bed. They'd rooted quite deeply into the pots they were in so I hope they'll be ok.

I've only really succeeded with the sweetpeas, nasturtiums and cosmos from seed. I've got 8 or so tiny Mesembryanthemums which are still only about half an inch tall (and impossible to spell as well as grow).

I've put the Sweet Williams and Aquilegias in the front wall and regrouped some of the daisies.