End of the month - June

Missed it again! 

Although to be fair I feel we have a proper excuse this time as the turn of the month was spent tearing down the ceiling in the kitchen (on the hottest days of the year so far too). Hurrah - no more Artex!

This is just the start of a larger update in the kitchen but by the end of summer it will be all over - I hope!

The weather here is glorious - a real benefit to our DIY as we hardly missed the kitchen, using instead the utility room and the outside dining area, but the lack of rain is dire.

All water butts are empty and we are on a water meter so restrict our hose usage to a minimum. Water is being saved from the house wherever possible which is keeping my pots alive but the wider garden is a dessert.

Earlier in the month everything was coming along beautifully...

Ginger Snap Rose

 Geums

Alliums

Oriental Poppies

and my two favourite Geraniums.

But where some of those things often flower on into July, this year they all finished very quickly when the soil began to dry out.

Now the wider garden is still alive but looking so tired and bleached...

and the vegetables are struggling. The beans are flowering but there are no beans setting. I'm watering them but not really enough for them to be productive.

The pots at the back in the 'hot' garden (really hot this year!) which are easier to water and which I add water retentive gel to are fairing better. The Helianthemums are lovely...

and the Pelargoniums are glorious...

I never go subtle with Pelargoniums!

My two Jasmines (Clotted Cream and Officinale) are absolutely loving it, covered in flowers and pumping out fragrance like it's going out of fashion!

And my new succulent bowl is happy too - in this weather 'free draining' is really not a challenge! 

My mini Eucomis, with its lovely spotty leaves is looking happy (bearing in mind when I got it out of the shed in April I thought it was well and truly dead) but there is no sign of any flowers. There are no signs of flowers on the larger Eucomis Sparkling Burgundy either.

The same is true of my Agapanthus plants that are in the ground - not so much as a hint of a bud. Perhaps there is still time.

😟

But the Banksia is taking off again - shooting for the sky...

and my Tumbling Toms (aptly named Sunshine Yellow) are going well, heading in the other direction.

 

And still there are seedlings that need to go out, but it's just too dry!

The weather is so glorious I do hope it continues - garden aside, it makes for lovely days on the beach, meals outside and long warm evenings. Down in Cornwall it has also meant glorious sunsets, viewed over BBQs on the beach...

perfect!

-x🌞x-