This week, the wind and rain have lashed the garden, whipping the tender shrubberies and blowing a sheet off the line and into a neighbour’s tree. I had to take down the wind chimes for a couple of days until the gusts settled. Even I, lover of tubular tinkling that I am, was driven to distraction by the cacophony that sounded more like an ice-cream van in melt-down than soothing music for the soul. Today it is warm, muggy even, and although a storm has been forecast for this evening, it’s lovely so far.
The little garden has taken quite a bashing too, but the flowers and shrubs are none the worse for some much-needed rain. I have decided to abandon the various plans I had for my tiny plot this year; it’s been hard enough to get compost, let alone the shrubs and the landscaping materials I had hoped for. The fences, thirsty for a coat of wood preserver, will have to wait a bit longer. The prospect of queueing outside B&Q for an hour does not appeal.
Strangely, I find that I don’t really mind. Some of my plants seem slow in getting going this year, but I am enjoying what there is so far, and the wildlife is enjoying it too. It’s not always a bad thing to be forced to slow down and enjoy right now rather than think about what’s next.
Most of my planting has been deliberately chosen to encourage bees and butterflies, and purple is definitely one of their preferred colours. I yearn for those bolder, brighter colours to come through but whilst the roses, geraniums and fuchsias are still just on the edge of revealing themselves, there is a lot of pretty purple in full bloom.
Scabiosa
Lavender
Thyme in flower
Verbena Bonariensis, a butterfly magnet
One of the most popular plants with the bees is Walker’s Low, cat mint. Like all mint it takes hold and spreads, offering the pollinators a fragrant feast. Oddly, there were no bees around when I took these photos.
It’s not just popular with bees either.
A carpet of cat mint under a honeysuckle canopy offers a cool and peaceful shade from the hot sun.
The heady scent of salvia is intoxicating.
We all love being in our garden.
Welcome to the Beautiful North 
Your garden looks gorgeous. Purple is by far the nicest colour for gardens by the look of yours. 🙂 The cats look like they love their minty space. X
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Thank you very much! I love the purple flowers too, and all the different fragrances and textures. The cats love to smell the mint and rub their heads against it. I love to sit and watch them. X
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Love cat mint – but we don’t have it, because it encourages cats! Fab shots – could almost smell the fragrance.
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Thank you
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You certainly have a nice garden. You obviously have green fingers – unlike me who is capable of killing the most resiliant of plants
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Thank you. It’s a tiny and very informal garden and my strategy is to let nature do most of the work, so I can’t really take much credit.
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Nature does the work in my little patch but it doesn’t look as nice as yours 😦
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Thank you. It looks a lot brighter now as I went to the Range for the first time since lock.down yesterday and went a bit OTT in my purchasing of solar garden lights.
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