Here's a shot of our garden after I mowed the lawn yesterday. The roses are blooming up a storm, as are the peonies:
What's not to love about a peony? And we're getting lots of flowers this year, too. We only had a handful last year but I think the heavy rain we got early this spring helped set more blossoms. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it.
I took the photos above with my big camera. Here's one taken with my phone from the back of the garden:
The phone tends to make greens slightly more electric looking, but I can't complain about the picture. I took all the pictures in yesterday's post from my walk along the Thames with my phone, too. It was the first time I used just my phone on one of my walks, and it sure was nice not to be burdened with the camera and lens bag.
You can see I left our daisy patch unmowed again. I might just leave it all summer, or I might mow it down next week. Depends how I feel.
And here's the state of my seeds:
I have two daturas in the tray on the left -- which is plenty. I have a smattering of foxgloves in the tray in the middle. And I have nine sunflowers on the right, which is probably too many but I'll figure something out.
I tackled several garden projects this weekend. I went to Homebase and picked up some petunias for our hanging baskets, and got those planted and hung up. I also got some gazanias, which I planted in shallow bowls for the patio, and something called a gaillardia that was on the damaged-plant shelf and priced down to £1.75. Oh, and another foxglove for our patio planter, and some larger pots for two of our indoor dracaenas. I carried all this home in my arms and got to the bottom of our street before I had to call Dave to come and help me lug it the rest of the way.
I was exhausted after all that, plus my normal indoor housekeeping.
I noticed that Homebase is still trying to unload its stock of royal zebras. The price is now £4 lower than it was when I bought King Zack a year and a half ago!
Yesterday was the year-end band concert for Dave's students, so I went to that and had dinner afterwards with Dave and some of his colleagues. One of his closest co-workers, Gordon, is retiring, and we'll be sad to see him leave the school -- but we're friends with him and his wife Donna so we'll still see them around. Gordon, an ardent cricketer, got a molded chocolate dessert that looked exactly like a cricket ball, which was pretty impressive. The restaurant is close to Lord's Cricket Ground so I'm guessing they sell a lot of those!
Nice to see long views of your garden. A lovely spot
ReplyDeleteI love your garden. It's a work of art. Wouldn't an entire matched collection of royal zebras be cool to display? After all, they're on sale. You'd save a lot of money.
ReplyDeleteI learnt about No Mow May in England. Local councils seemed to participating with selective mowing. The zebras are cute.
ReplyDeleteThe Russians have got big plants on their balcony. Those plants need watering. I know you watered them last summer. It's possible there might be leakage into your front room and I wonder what the flooring arrangement is like up there?
ReplyDeleteYour garden is gorgeous. I love the color.
ReplyDeleteAnd if that store has been trying to get rid of those Zebras for so long, they ought to make them Free With Purchase!
That's an amazing size for a city garden. And you keep it so well. Peonies! I used to have them back when I lived with plenty of garden space.
ReplyDeleteI think they'll end up making the zebras compulsory with purchase!
I love your garden. It just looks so lush. I have a large violet patch in my back yard that does not get mowed for the same reason.
ReplyDeleteI also have to say that I'm proud of your restraint. I imagine that because it was on sale, you really wrestled with the concept of bringing home a friend for Zach. Or better yet, a whole herd of them! Imagining the look on Dave's face adds an extra layer of hilarity to my thinking.
Your garden is indeed beautiful. So incredibly lush!
ReplyDeleteWow! Florida boy moves to London and turns a garden into a paradise! Beautiful, Steve.
ReplyDeleteYour garden is beautiful. Gallardia is also called blanket flower here because it blanketed that praires. They're beautiful flowers.
ReplyDeleteyou need to get one of those collapsable carts that I see people who walk use at the grocery store. but I guess you did pretty well. your garden is looking really good. I wish we could grow peonies here but alas, it gets too hot. I noticed a datura volunteer in one of the flower beds. it's still small but I haven't had one in that location for a couple of years so I guess the seed was dormant.
ReplyDeleteYour garden is really fabulous, Steve! Just amazing!
ReplyDeleteI wanted a photo of the cricket ball of chocolate! C'mon, Steve!
That pink peony is glorious! They're one of my favorite flowers.
ReplyDeleteI love seeing your flower garden there. It's so beautiful. Thank you for reminding me of gallardia flowers. We used to plant them, but haven't for a while, and now I want to go get some.
ReplyDeletePeonys have a very showy large blossom. . I like them.
ReplyDeleteWow, the garden looks pretty spectacular. It looks so lush! You have a little bit of heaven right outside your door.
ReplyDeleteWow... the peonies are gorgeous! You garden is so lush and beautiful. Love that you've allowed the daisy patch to remain growing.
ReplyDeleteMy garden - to my shame - looks much like your seeds for most of the year! I have some nice lupins at the moment, but otherwise, it's quite sparse. 'Must try harder..."
ReplyDeleteHi Steve,
ReplyDeleteYour garden is so lovely, and I love that un-mowed patch. I think that it would be very beneficial to leave it as it is and at the end of the growing season to mow it down.
It just feels like some kind of good insects need all the help that they can get with so many people continuing to use chemicals to get rid of all kinds of plants and I know that it is your garden, and, in the end, you will do what your mood strikes you to do as it should be.
I miss not having room to even have a nice patio garden. It is so lovely to enjoy yours.
I think that a couple of those zebras would be striking to your garden or patio. On sale I would have loved buying just one because I love Zebras!
I didn't get a chance to read your blog yesterday. It was house cleaning day and I had a ton of things to deserve my attention and time. I packed away all of my winter clothing and some things that I really didn't have room for, stripped the bed and did the bath towels and helped Jon sweep and mop by moving some things out of the way.
It was 9:30 last night before I was able to turn on my laptop and set my game up for today. I should have just waited because I have a long way before I can do anything. I will skip it tonight and start fresh tomorrow, but I enjoyed your walking experience, and I just loved the mural and the old pipes. I am glad that you were able to get a good walk in.
Enjoy your evening.
Your garden is beautiful. What's on the floor above the Russians? Is it part of their space or is it just storage for the building owner?
ReplyDeleteThank you for leaving the daisies. They are such happy wee flowers and too often get mowed down.
ReplyDeleteThat's a beautiful garden especially with the colorful blooming flowers. I love peonies! I haven't heard of a couple of the others you mentioned. Hanging baskets and I don't get along very well.
ReplyDeleteI would think after a year the Royal Zebras would be sent back to where they came from.
ReplyDeleteYour garden looks lovely, the peonies especially.
GZ: Thanks! It's our retreat!
ReplyDeleteMitchell: Dave rolled his eyes at me when I brought home one. Can you imagine if I brought home a herd?!
Andrew: Yes, a lot of public land is going unmown for the month!
YP: I suspect those plants are terrible for the roof over our lounge, and we have had some evidence in the past of water intrusion. But it's not my building. If the roof collapses, we'll move!
Bob: Ha! Then I really COULD bring home a few more without Dave complaining. (Actually, he'd still complain.)
Boud: We are very lucky in that respect. It's a big garden for London.
Debby: They would make cool bookends, now that you mention it...
Michael: We love it, as do the insects and wildlife!
Ms Moon: It seems so easy to garden in England. The temperatures are moderate and there's usually plenty of water -- unlike Florida, where it's baking hot for part of the year.
Pixie: Yes, blanket flower! That's what the tag said. I hope it forms a blanket in its pot!
Ellen: I always think I can carry more than I actually can!
Ellen D: The funny thing is, I took a photo. I just didn't blog it! I'll put it in a future "random photos" post, I promise. :)
Bug: It's a variety called "Bowl of Beauty." We have another pink one that's darker without the white center.
Robin: I hope ours does well. This particular plant looks a bit traumatized, which is why it was on sale.
Red: I do too. Dave says they attract ants, but if they're in the garden and not in the house, who cares?
Sharon: It is indeed our own little bit of (rented) heaven!
Damselfly: I love those daisies in the lawn!
Bike Shed: Interesting. Our lupins have had a bad year. Two of them died and two haven't bloomed this year. (And we only had four!)
Beth: Don't ever feel bad for missing my blog. God knows we all have lives! I feel the same about "good insects" and we never use any chemicals for that reason.
Kelly: That's all their flat. They have two floors, and we have the ground floor and the garden.
Caro: They're cheerful, aren't they?!
Margaret: Hanging baskets tend to dry out quickly, particularly after they've been planted a while. They just need more attention.
River: I hope they sell. I hate to think of them all going to the royal crusher. :(
Brilliantly Tended To
ReplyDeleteCheers
Your garden takes my breath away. That has to be loads of exhausting work. (I have five bags of mulch to spread. I'm waiting for my strawberries to finish before I do. I bet I get five berries this year, the garden is so overgrown.)
ReplyDeletePoor little zebras...