Too Busy Smelling Roses

Our tasks over the last few days .... tying things in, picking sweetpeas and harvesting fruit.

We always lose sunflowers to the wind, so we have constructed Heath Robinson type frameworks using the old yurt trellis.

 The hollyhocks continue to suffer from the ravaging rust. I remove the lower leaves as they get bad but never put them on the compost heap.

After picking the raspberries and blackcurrants, I tended the sweetpeas, detendrilling and tying in.

Dead-heading cornflowers is a never-ending job but I do enjoy it.

This is the new bed in the raised area. I made the mistake of planting lychnis behind the cornflowers so we can`t see the magenta flowers unless we go round to the back path. So much for following heights on seed packets. It is always wrong.

In the middle of my carefully planned scheme, up comes a dahlia which I had forgotten about.

Talking of dahlias, here is one that was grown from seed last year. I left it in the ground. Quite pretty.

 

 

And here are a few more just starting.

 

We are having to keep sharp eyes open for pests as there are a lot of strange new insects around. Thank goodness for Neem oil.

Above our heads as we have a teabreak, ornamental cherries cluster. 

We harvested our first tomatoes, eaten in our salad tonight. Oh the flavour, my goodness, after a winter and spring of shop-bought.

At home we had cucumbers too. 

Tomorrow is a jam-making day I think.

I tried to get her to look but she was too busy smelling the roses.