It’s the first weekend in early July and here are some photos from my cottage garden for the theme of Six on Saturday.
Jasmine by the front door
Glorious scent right at the front door
This trachelospermum jasminoides by the front door is evergreen and right now it is filling the garden with the scent of jasmine. It’s a great plant giving so much value all year around. Do plant one in a sunny spot if you can.
A salvia out of its pot
This really didn’t work. It’s just brown sticks in a pot.
Oh dear, this pineapple scented salvia just lifted out of its pot intact and wasn’t thriving at all. The rootball shape is a solid lump of dry roots and clearly my watering the pot had had no effect. I think it’s been in the pot too long without the right care. It’s old and woody and I’m not going to nurture it any more.
Water mint in the pond
Water mint in the tiny pond
I love what this tiny water mint has done. I dropped a 7cm pot in the water and from there it has spread over half the pond and it’s flowering. Such a success and so unplanned. The duckweed is so mixed up with the mint leaves that I’ll never get it out but until it causes a problem I can enjoy what it’s doing. I imagine lots of creatures are sheltering in the mint leaves.
Hardy geraniums are the best cottage garden plants
A jumble of hardy geraniums
The garden is probably 70% hardy geraniums which I adore and keep on buying whenever I see them. Slugs don’t eat them which is a bonus. Here they are all mixed in together in true cottage garden style, covering the ground so no bare soil shows and with some foxgloves pushing their way up through them.
Sitting in the garden
So vital to have a table and chairs in a town garden
Just a snapshot taken today of what the garden is for – sitting with a coffee reading a gardening mag. Lots of herbs on the table and a box of Dreamies (for the cat, not me).
Gardening is ageless
No age limit to gardening
Here’s my Mum, who was 103 yrs old in February, with her pots of summer bedding that she has done every year. We have very different taste in plants as she goes for marigolds, pelargoniums, petunias and lobelia: the bright neon colours (to match her socks I notice). My husband is very fond of her, as you can see in this pic.
As long as you are able to, you can garden in some way or another, thank goodness. I’ve written more about her here
Thankyou to the Propagator who hosts this theme of Six on a Saturday. Over on his blog you can find other people’s contributions from all over the world. We are a community of gardeners who share our gardens and follow each others’ ups and downs.
