The Mock Turtle

I should think so.

One bean

I love those window boxes Nine, they look so pretty.

I'm pleased for your one bean Cerise.

Thank you for being nice about my window boxes I wish the rest of the garden was that easy to sort out. I do have some nice plants appearing in it - just insane amounts of weeds too.

Your window boxes are lovely.

We had lots of rain and the weeds are out of control now.

As an aside I passed this bush when I was running last night and it was covered in bees, any idea what it might be?

Talking of bees, I sent my SIL some Beebombs the other day - she loved them. I might get some for myself to help save the bees and grow some pretty wildflowers.

https://www.beebombs.com/

Those sound fab Nine!

Hebe maybe, Duop?

Bee bombs are really good, we used a few this year.

I think you're both right it looks similar to a hebe rakaiensis, thank you

I’d like some bee bombs in the front, I think.

Another five beans for dinner tonight!

Some things are doing well out (sunflowers!) there but others are struggling. The plum tree is having its second bad year in a row. The first two years we were here there was so much fruit but the last two have been rubbish. The few plums that have developed this year have been stolen by my naughty squirrel family but pigeons have also caused havoc to the tree and something else is having a good munch on the leaves. I have a plum moth trap which seems to work but can’t see anything else on the tree.

Also, my courgettes are absolutely COVERED in black fly and struggling. The plants look bushy and healthy but are struggling to produce decent courgettes. I’ve tried hiding them off but that was useless. Humph.

You've had five beans, I had one strawberry.

Steady on!

Another one is going red.

I want smal to come back with her Darden updates.

Sunflowers are going great guns now. One is a little over 2.5m tall and another has 24 buds! Should I dead head one they’re done with a flower?

My dad is coming to stay for a couple of nights to help me with the garden at the end of the month, the lovely git. I don't really know what I'm doing and it's a lot of work for one (rubbish) person. I have managed to successfully hack down and kill the two-metre weeds on the end patio though.

I second the shrubby salvia Hot Lips recommendation. I planted one in the corner of a very dry, sunny bed about 10 years ago now. It goes mad every year, becomes huge with loads of flowers, then I hack it back in Spring and it does it all again. I never even had to water it in 2018.

My escallonia was at its peak a couple of days ago. My god the bees adore that. It's positively alive!

I love a Hot Lips and so do the bees.

S found a star jasmine under the climbing bindweed that’s come over next door’s trellis! It’s not very scented but had no sunlight until yesterday so I hope it does better now

Cerise wrote: ↑Mon Jul 13, 2020 8:31 am I want smal to come back with her Darden updates.

I meant to say, me too! Well, garden. Although I'm sure Darden is fascinating, whoever he might be.

Have an escallonia while we wait.

I think I have saved a courgette plant! One plant died due to the black fly and the other appeared to have that mildewy thing. I binned the dead one and cut off the white, manky leaves off the other. It seems to have recovered and has some healthy leaves and new courgettes growing now. Yay!

We’re also now getting raspberries and my tomato plants are MASSIVE. I hope there’s enough sun to ripen them!

I haven't been for a walk in the garden yet this morning but I was chuffed to bits when I saw that my poppy had popped.